Exploring Factors Affecting Farmers' Implementation of Wildlife-friendly Farming on Sado Island, Japan

影响日本佐渡岛农民实施野生动物友好型耕作的因素探究(英文)

Implementing wildlife-friendly farming （WFF） practices is a sound approach to sustain ecological restoration of farmland. The aims of the study were to explore factors affecting farmers’ implementation of WFF practices on Sado Island, Japan and to consider the policy implications of disseminating such practices. All 5010 farming households on Sado Island, who are distributing rice to Japan Agricultural Cooperatives （JA）, were surveyed. In total, 2231 households responded to the questionnaire （response 44.5%）. By comparing the attitudes, beliefs, and attributes of non-certiifed versus certiifed farmers, we identiifed key factors affecting farmers’ implementation of WFF practices. Compared with non-certified farmers, certified farmers： （i） showed a greater interest in biodiversity and the ifnancial beneifts of WFF; （i） had a larger number of certiifed farmer friends; （ii） felt many more pressures and expectations from consumers, in particular; and （iv） were not hampered by bad labor or farmland conditions when implementing WFF practices. To further disseminate WFF practices in Sado, we suggest that the information on the effectiveness of WFF on paddy ifeld biodiversity is used in public education, and opportunities for interchanging opinions are set up between non-certiifed and certiifed farmers, as wel as between farmers and consumers.

野生动物友好型耕作(Wildlife-friendly Farming,WFF)实践是一种维持农田生态恢复的良好方式。本研究的目的在于探讨影响日本佐渡岛农民实施WFF的因素和提出影响这种实践传播的政策。对佐渡岛上把大米销售给日本农业合作社(Japan Agricultural Cooperatives,JA)的5010个农户进行了问卷调查,总共收到2231农户反馈问卷(反馈率45%)。通过与未经认证农民的态度和属性对比,我们确定了影响农民实施WFF的关键因素。与未经认证的农民相比,已认证的农民:(1)对生物多样性和WFF的经济效益表现出更高的兴趣;(2)拥有更多的已认证农民朋友;(3)感受到了来自消费者的更多的压力和期望;(4)当实施WFF时,不受恶劣劳动力或农田条件的限制。为了在佐渡岛进一步宣传WFF,我们建议把WFF实践对稻田生物多样性的有效性信息应用到公共教育中,并在非认证农民和已认证农民之间、农民与消费者之间创建交流的机会。