Abstract
This paper presents some results from a survey carried out in 2004 among 223 olive tree farmers from mountainous areas in the Spanish Southern provinces of Granada and Jaén regarding the adoption of soil conservation and management practices. Olive tree groves in mountainous areas are subject to a high risk of soil erosion and incur a higher cost of soil conservation. This results in greater difficulty to comply with the requirements of the new single payment scheme (cross-compliance) and to benefit from agri-environmental schemes. The main objectives of this study are to analyze the current adoption level of soil conservation practices in this area and to address which socioeconomic and institutional factors determine such adoption. Three probit models are estimated. Dependent variables are three different soil conservation practices, namely tillage following contour lines, maintenance of terraces with stonewalls, and non-tillage with weedicides. Results show a significant increase in the adoption of several soil conservation measures in the last 15 years, especially of non-tillage practices. Some factors positively related with the adoption of soil conservation practices are farm profitability, the presence of young farmers, and continuity of the farming activity by relatives and the use of family labour.
Highlights
The process of intensification in agricultural production has increased soil erosion in agricultural systems up to a point in which it is a main agricultural externality and a main threat for agricultural sustainability, as it reduces the potential for agricultural production
It increases production costs to maintain the level of agricultural production in the farm
This paper presents some results from a survey carried out in 2004 among olive tree farmers from mountainous areas in the Spanish Southern provinces of Granada and Jaén regarding the adoption of soil conservation and management practices
Summary
The process of intensification in agricultural production has increased soil erosion in agricultural systems up to a point in which it is a main agricultural externality and a main threat for agricultural sustainability, as it reduces the potential for agricultural production. Previous economic studies of soil erosion have mainly focused in two main aspects of the problem, namely the decline of soil fertility and the resulting loss in agricultural productivity, and the pollution effect of sediment load in water courses. Those related to conservation have mainly focused on the individual incentives to adopt conservation techniques. Production costs may rise because of increased costs from current agricultural practices or the requirement of new practices (soil conservation, soil amendment, etc.) In both cases, soil erosion results in a land rent loss and in a productive capital loss that may result in a decline in the market value of eroded land
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