Michael Eder

Agricultural Decision Support System for Soil and Water Conservation Measures

Soil erosion and associated nutrient translocation cause damages on the field but also off-site. Several simulation models are available to assess the amount of soil erosion and sediment yield in agricultural used areas. These models allow the calculation/evaluation of ecological and environmental impacts of erosion processes but are not able to cover also socio-economic and economic aspects. For comprehensive planning of sustainable land use of agricultural watersheds the consideration of ecological as well economical factors is imperative. Objective of this study was to develop and apply a decision support system (DSS) for sustainable agricultural land use planning with respect to following goals: 1) to conserve and improve soil quality, soil fertility and local water balance, 2) to minimize soil and nutrient translocation into surface water bodies and downstream fields, and 3) to optimize benefits for the farmers as well as for the society. The DSS consists of a soil erosion and a phosphorus transport model to cover the ecological effects, of an economical model for the monetary assessment, and of a value benefit analysis for evaluation and ranking of the compared scenarios. The results showed that under the existing agricultural and economical framework in Austria conservation tillage systems are favorable soil protection systems. All other compared treatments did not fulfill the required economical and ecological targets. The developed DSS has a great potential to be used by public administration and authorities for decision making in sustainable land use planning.

Barriers to the adoption of organic farming by cash-crop producers in Austria

Most of Austrias organic farms are located in mountainous areas und produce minly milk und beef; whereas a low percentage of cash-crop fanns are organic. As a result, the demnd for organically grown crops cannot be fully met by domestic production. This paper investigates the barriers to adoption of organic agriculture by cash-crop farmers in Austria. In a written survey, 383 conventional farmers provided information on their perception of organic farming und rated the importance of potential barriers to adoption. Technical challenges in cropping und additional labor requirements were rated as the most important barriers, followed by fear of decreased income und marketing problems. Structural und social issues, such as farm size und lack of support from family members, were less important.