Assessing the Difficulty of Implementing Wildlife-Friendly Farming Practices by Using the Best–Worst Scaling Approach

Abstract

On Sado Island in central Japan, wildlife-friendly farming is widely practiced, using the crested ibis (Nipponia nippon) as an icon. On the basis of farmer preferences, we applied the best–worst scaling (BWS) approach to evaluate the difficulty of implementing seven representative wildlife-friendly farming practices on Sado Island. Typical wildlife-friendly farming practices include reduced inputs of agrochemicals (50 % or 80 % agrochemical reduction), organic (agrochemical-free) cultivation, winter flooding, installation of diversion ditches, installation of fishways, and installation of biotopes (fallow flooding). We conducted a questionnaire survey of 5,010 farmers on Sado Island who distributed rice to Japan Agricultural Cooperatives (JA) at the time of the survey. We employed two approaches to analyze the BWS data: counting analysis and econometric analysis. The results of both analyses showed that organic cultivation was the most difficult of all types of farming practices and that 50 % agrochemical reduction was the least difficult. As expected, the burden of implementing the various farming practices differed. When a farming practice can produce a certain amount of biodiversity with less burden, the practice is considered more efficient. The results of our analysis can be utilized to evaluate each farming practice by quantifying its cost-effectiveness. Our study approach may be an effective assessment tool for disseminating wildlife-friendly farming practices.