Farmer Perceptions of Silvoarable Systems in Seven European Countries

Abstract

Between 2003 and 2004, 264 face-to-face interviews were undertaken to determine farmers' perceptions of silvoarable agroforestry across 14 sample areas in seven European countries. Across the 14 sample areas, 40% of respondents had heard the term “agroforestry” and 33% then defined it as an association of trees with crops or livestock. By contrast those farmers, who had not heard of the term, were almost as likely to define “agroforestry” as “silviculture” (24%) as an “ association of trees and crops or trees and livestock” (25%). Farmers were then shown pictures of silvoarable agroforestry, where trees and arable crops were grown on the same land unit. Farmers in Mediterranean areas felt that the principal benefit of silvoarable systems would be increased farm profitability (37%), whereas farmers in Northern Europe placed greatest value on environmental benefits (28%). When asked to identify the greatest negative attribute, Mediterranean farmers tended to identify intercrop yield decline (31%), whereas farmers in Northern Europe tended to highlight the general complexity of work (21%) and difficulties with mechanisation (17%). When asked to design a silvoarable system for their farm, Mediterranean farmers tended to envisage systems with a higher tree density (100 trees per hectare) than those in Northern Europe (55 trees per hectare). Overall half of all farmers interviewed indicated that they would “attempt” silvoarable agroforestry on their farm, ranging from 18% to 90% within the individual sample areas. These results suggest that with appropriate promotion and support, silvoarable agroforestry would become a more common feature of the European landscape.