The role of farmers' social networks in the implementation of no-till farming practices
The role of farmers' social networks in the implementation of no-till farming practices
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DOI：
10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102824
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发表时间：
2020-05-01
影响因子：
6.6
通讯作者：
Urquhart, Julie
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Skaalsveen, Kamilla;Ingram, Julie;Urquhart, Julie
本文借鉴网络科学，并使用社会网络分析，以提高我们的理解如何在英国的免耕的实施是由农民的社交网络的影响。免耕是一种低干扰的农业实践，有可能有益于土壤健康，水生环境和农场经济，但目前仅在欧洲小规模实施。人际网络对农民很重要，影响农民的学习和决策，农民往往把彼此视为主要的信息来源。在这项研究中，社交网络的16个免耕农民在英格兰进行了映射和半结构化访谈，以评估农民网络特征和免耕在英格兰的实施之间的联系。我们还旨在提高我们的理解的性质和范围内的农民网络及其空间和时间动态知识交换。我们的研究结果表明，中介农民有一个重要的作用，增加信息流和知识交流之间的不同集群的免耕农民网络。这些中间人也是最大的影响者，因为他们往往是具有高度经验知识的免耕农民，被其他农民视为重要的信息来源。免耕农民网络的地理分布，因为农民更喜欢讨论农业实践与类似的想法免耕农民，而不是当地的传统农民谁不明白他们正在努力实现。因此，社交媒体等在线交流平台对于交流非常重要。我们质疑正规的推广服务在支持农民创新的做法，如免耕的作用，并建议顾问应努力提高他们的理解这些发达的信息网络，使一个更精简和有效的信息传播。
This paper draws on network science and uses a Social Network Analysis to improve our understanding of how the implementation of no-till in England is influenced by farmers' social networks. No-till is a low disturbance farming practice with potential to benefit soil health, the aquatic environment and farm economy, but is currently only implemented at a small scale in Europe. Interpersonal networks are important for farmers and influence farmer learning and decision-making and farmers often view each other as their main source of information. In this study, the social networks of 16 no-till farmers in England were mapped and semi-structured interviews carried out to assess the link between farmer network characteristics and the implementation of no-till in England. We also aimed to improve our understanding of the nature and extent of knowledge exchanged within farmer networks and their spatial and temporal dynamics. Our findings suggest that intermediary farmers had an important role in increasing the information flow and knowledge exchange between the different clusters of the no-till farmer network. These intermediaries were also the biggest influencers as they were often no-till farmers with a high level of experiential knowledge and viewed as important sources of information by other farmers. No-till farmer networks were geographically distributed as the farmers preferred to discuss farming practices with similar minded no-till farmers rather than local conventional farmers who did not understand what they were trying to achieve. Therefore, online communication platforms like social media were important for communication. We question the role of formal extension services in supporting farmers with innovative practices like no-till and suggest that advisors should strive to improve their understanding of these well-developed information networks to enable a more streamlined and efficient information diffusion.