Time to Transition: Barriers and Opportunities to Farmer Adoption of Soil GHG Mitigation Practices in Dutch Agriculture

As the second largest exporter of agricultural products worldwide, the Netherlands is a production hub, a leading example of high yields per hectare. However, this productivity includes intensive farming practices, placing a risk on the climate through the emission of greenhouse gases N2O and CO2 fr...

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Main Authors: Anna Gomes, Pytrik Reidsma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-09-01
Series:Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2021.706113/full
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spelling doaj-2632b9bb56a74c1291720671809e6d0d2021-09-28T15:09:04ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems2571-581X2021-09-01510.3389/fsufs.2021.706113706113Time to Transition: Barriers and Opportunities to Farmer Adoption of Soil GHG Mitigation Practices in Dutch AgricultureAnna Gomes0Anna Gomes1Pytrik Reidsma2Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United StatesCentre for Sustainability Studies, Lund University, Lund, SwedenDepartment of Plant Sciences, Plant Production Systems, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, NetherlandsAs the second largest exporter of agricultural products worldwide, the Netherlands is a production hub, a leading example of high yields per hectare. However, this productivity includes intensive farming practices, placing a risk on the climate through the emission of greenhouse gases N2O and CO2 from soil. To meet global efforts, the Netherlands must reduce its climatic impact, including soil emissions, but the transition to alternative farming practices can be challenging. This research identifies the barriers and opportunities for arable farmers to adopt practices which mitigate emissions from agricultural soils, and consists of a literature review, informant interviews, and semi-structured interviews with farmers, policy-makers, and boundary organizations. Main findings are (1) a lack of awareness by farmers of their soil greenhouse gas production, and (2) six barriers and five opportunities for farmer adoption with placement of these findings into different steps of adoption. Critical barriers include economic challenges, personal mindset, on-farm complications, and the need to reconcile different stakeholders' rates of adoption. Opportunities lie with farmers becoming interested and able to quantify soil health, positive framing in the media, and policies or economic mechanisms to assist farmers. If the Netherlands can transition its farming system, the opportunities for the global food system could be significant.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2021.706113/fullagricultural productionsoil managementclimate changefarmer adoptionthe Netherlandssustainability science
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Anna Gomes
Anna Gomes
Pytrik Reidsma
spellingShingle Anna Gomes
Anna Gomes
Pytrik Reidsma
Time to Transition: Barriers and Opportunities to Farmer Adoption of Soil GHG Mitigation Practices in Dutch Agriculture
Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
agricultural production
soil management
climate change
farmer adoption
the Netherlands
sustainability science
author_facet Anna Gomes
Anna Gomes
Pytrik Reidsma
author_sort Anna Gomes
title Time to Transition: Barriers and Opportunities to Farmer Adoption of Soil GHG Mitigation Practices in Dutch Agriculture
title_short Time to Transition: Barriers and Opportunities to Farmer Adoption of Soil GHG Mitigation Practices in Dutch Agriculture
title_full Time to Transition: Barriers and Opportunities to Farmer Adoption of Soil GHG Mitigation Practices in Dutch Agriculture
title_fullStr Time to Transition: Barriers and Opportunities to Farmer Adoption of Soil GHG Mitigation Practices in Dutch Agriculture
title_full_unstemmed Time to Transition: Barriers and Opportunities to Farmer Adoption of Soil GHG Mitigation Practices in Dutch Agriculture
title_sort time to transition: barriers and opportunities to farmer adoption of soil ghg mitigation practices in dutch agriculture
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
series Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
issn 2571-581X
publishDate 2021-09-01
description As the second largest exporter of agricultural products worldwide, the Netherlands is a production hub, a leading example of high yields per hectare. However, this productivity includes intensive farming practices, placing a risk on the climate through the emission of greenhouse gases N2O and CO2 from soil. To meet global efforts, the Netherlands must reduce its climatic impact, including soil emissions, but the transition to alternative farming practices can be challenging. This research identifies the barriers and opportunities for arable farmers to adopt practices which mitigate emissions from agricultural soils, and consists of a literature review, informant interviews, and semi-structured interviews with farmers, policy-makers, and boundary organizations. Main findings are (1) a lack of awareness by farmers of their soil greenhouse gas production, and (2) six barriers and five opportunities for farmer adoption with placement of these findings into different steps of adoption. Critical barriers include economic challenges, personal mindset, on-farm complications, and the need to reconcile different stakeholders' rates of adoption. Opportunities lie with farmers becoming interested and able to quantify soil health, positive framing in the media, and policies or economic mechanisms to assist farmers. If the Netherlands can transition its farming system, the opportunities for the global food system could be significant.
topic agricultural production
soil management
climate change
farmer adoption
the Netherlands
sustainability science
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2021.706113/full
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AT annagomes timetotransitionbarriersandopportunitiestofarmeradoptionofsoilghgmitigationpracticesindutchagriculture
AT pytrikreidsma timetotransitionbarriersandopportunitiestofarmeradoptionofsoilghgmitigationpracticesindutchagriculture
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