A study of farmer attitudes towards riparian management practices

Abstract

Transcripts from a survey of 60 farmers were analysed to identify the attitudes they held towards a range of riparian management practices, and the criteria they would use to select their most preferred practices. Most farmers had mixed attitudes towards managing the riparian area, combining aspects of "pressure farming"1, and "conservation farming"2. Pressure farming was considered to result in problems with erosion, sediment, boggy areas, and a lack of stock safety. Conservation farming was considered to be able to provide increased farming income and greater biodiversity. Farmers selected riparian management practices that they thought would reduce the problems caused by pressure farming, and obtain the benefits of conservation farming. But adoption of new technologies would take place only if the technologies were considered to be practical and not to increase management complexity. An understanding of farmers' perceptions about managing riparian areas can help policy agencies target educational interventions encouraging farmers to improve the sustainability of their resource use. Keywords: environment, extension, farmer attitudes, riparian areas, waterway management