Abstract
Sustainability has been an emerging issue for years in the economy and agriculture. Making agriculture sustainable has become so essential that it has become part of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). However, producers ultimately decide individually the practices they implement. This is why farmers play a central role in ensuring a sustainable agricultural system, which results from farmers’ knowledge and expectations. Although numerous studies address sustainability issues, little is known about farmers’ knowledge and implementation of sustainable practices at different types of farms, especially in central and eastern Europe. This study aimed to determine Polish farmers’ awareness of sustainability with regards to animal and crop production. This paper also shows how farmers value the advantages arising from sustainable production. The study was carried out among 300 farms classified by type (dairy, beef cattle, pork, and crop production). The research instrument used was a questionnaire, with the Likert scale. The results show that dairy farmers and pork farmers declared higher knowledge and better implement sustainable practices than other farmers. The producers’ views on the benefits coming from sustainable agriculture varied. However, the two most significant advantages were recognized—the protection of water against pollution and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
Highlights
Many studies indicate that it is necessary to organize the economy, including agriculture, according to sustainable development principles [1]
Intensive agricultural production requires the use of many industrial inputs, and their inefficient or excessive use can cause a significant threat to the environment, for example, soil quality, biodiversity, and animal welfare [5,6,7,8,9]
It can be concluded that the degree of the negative impact of agricultural production on the environment depends on the farm type and production system [15,16]
Summary
Many studies indicate that it is necessary to organize the economy, including agriculture, according to sustainable development principles [1]. Intensive agricultural production requires the use of many industrial inputs (i.e., mineral fertilizers and plant protection products), and their inefficient or excessive use can cause a significant threat to the environment, for example, soil quality, biodiversity, and animal welfare [5,6,7,8,9]. Agricultural production is not homogeneous in terms of farm type This factor is vital for its environmental impact. The industrialized system can be run on farms with arable land and farms with almost no arable land (e.g., pork production based on purchase feed) Such high animal concentration creates many environmental issues related to waste management, manure, and odor emission [18]. The high concentration of rural production is an issue under consideration in several provinces in Poland, in the central and north-eastern parts, where farming is very intensive with a high livestock density (e.g., Kujawsko-pomorskie, and Wielkopolskie)
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