Willingness to Adopt Biochar in Agriculture: The Producer’s Perspective

Most research on biochar has focused either on the mechanistic or the biophysical aspects, and there has been relatively little research into the social applicability and acceptance of biochar as a soil enhancer in agriculture. However, whether to adopt biochar in their practice is ultimately the farmers’ decision, and their willingness to do so is crucial. Here, we show the producer’s perspective on adopting biochar, using Polish farmers as a case study. Poland is an interesting case study because biochar has only recently attracted the attention of researchers, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders there. We performed standardized, semi-structured interviews with 161 Polish farmers to evaluate the socioeconomic potential of biochar application in practice. We found that 27% of the respondents claimed to be familiar with biochar. The respondents with a technical, non-agricultural level of education were most familiar with the term ‘biochar’ (36%), followed by the group of respondents with a higher-level agricultural education (31%). It was surprising that among the latter respondents, the majority (69%) did not know the term ‘biochar’, either in the context used for this study or in any other context. Twenty percent of the respondents expressed an interest in using biochar, while 43% were not willing to adopt it in their agricultural practice (37% ‘did not know yet’). If a farmer was familiar with the concept of sustainable agriculture, the probability of familiarity with biochar increased by 16% (p < 0.05). In addition, farmers interested in using biochar indicated that sustainable agriculture might improve the financial situation of their farms (52%). The perceived benefits of biochar that drive the willingness to adopt it included improved soil quality and increased income due to increased yields, while the constraints on its adoption were associated mainly with high costs. Our results also point to the necessity of information flow as well as engaging farmers in participatory research to adjust the research to their needs. Furthermore, our results highlight the importance of transparency with the farmers and appropriate dissemination and presentation of both the positive and the negative aspects of biochar adoption. We urge those studying biochar to engage in more interdisciplinary research and to go beyond laboratory and field research. Many innovations, even those that work, will not be adopted if socioeconomic considerations are not incorporated into the research

Analysis of economic and agricultural indicators under sustainable agriculture conditions with the use of Bayesian modelling

Searching for relations between the level of production intensity, land efficiency and work performance, comparative analyses were carried out on international scale taking into consideration 45 countries from around the world with the use of the Statistical Yearbook (2013) and International Statistics Yearbook (2015). The research covered basic qualification criteria of sustainable agriculture, i.e. the level of mineral fertilization and stocking density as well as productivity rates, i.e. land efficiency and work performance and factors which shape them. The main aim of the research is the use of Bayesian modelling in order to predict the development of various economical and agricultural indicators and also show relationships between events basing on the theory of probability.</jats:p

Analysis of economic and agricultural indicators under sustainable agriculture conditions with the use of Bayesian modelling

Searching for relations between the level of production intensity, land efficiency and work performance, comparative analyses were carried out on international scale taking into consideration 45 countries from around the world with the use of the Statistical Yearbook (2013) and International Statistics Yearbook (2015). The research covered basic qualification criteria of sustainable agriculture, i.e. the level of mineral fertilization and stocking density as well as productivity rates, i.e. land efficiency and work performance and factors which shape them. The main aim of the research is the use of Bayesian modelling in order to predict the development of various economical and agricultural indicators and also show relationships between events basing on the theory of probability

Wykorzystanie sieci bayesowskich do prognozowania przyszłościowego modelu gospodarstwa rolnego

Comparative analyses in the national scale were carried out in 300 individual farms from Małopolskie and Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship in order to search for relations between the production intensity level, work performance and land efficiency and factors which shape them. The analyses concerned the use of Bayesian modelling algorithms for forecasting development of various economic and agricultural indicators which decide on the intensity and competitiveness of agriculture. The paper constitutes the second stage of research, which was preceded with previous preparation of data for modelling with the use of an exploratory overview of available data and TwoStep Cluster Analysis (Grotkiewicz et al., 2016). Based on the analyses, which were carried out, networks were built which present the relations between the analyzed variables, and conditional similarities were verified.Poszukując zależności między poziomem intensywności produkcji a wydajnością pracy i ziemi oraz czynnikami je kształtującymi, przeprowadzono analizy porównawcze w skali krajowej na tle 300 gospodarstw indywidualnych z województwa małopolskiego i świętokrzyskiego. Analiza dotyczyła zastosowania algorytmów modelowania bayesowskiego do przewidywania rozwoju różnych wskaźników ekonomiczno-rolniczych decydujących o intensywności i konkurencyjności rolnictwa. Praca stanowi drugi etap badań, który poprzedzony był wcześniejszym przygotowaniem danych do modelowania wykorzystując do tego eksploracyjny przegląd dostępnych danych, oraz technikę TwoStep Cluster Analysis (Grotkiewicz i in., 2016). W oparciu o przeprowadzone analizy zbudowano sieci obrazujące związki pomiędzy analizowanymi zmiennymi oraz sprawdzono prawdopodobieństwa warunkowe

Metodyczne uwagi dotyczące określania wskaźnika postępu naukowo-technicznego i jego efektywności

Based on the previous micro and macro-economic scale research studies concerning agri-economic rates, not only positive aspects of the suggested and tested methods of assessment of the mechanization level were taken into consideration, but also repeatable methodological weaknesses which ultimately affect the final research results. Thus, this paper suggests methodological changes concerning determination of indicators which decide on the level of the management intensity and in particular of the scientific and technical progress and its effectiveness for individual farms. Numerical data obtained from Małopolskie and Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship were used in the paper.Na podstawie wcześniejszych badań w skali mikro i makroekonomicznej dotyczących wskaźników rolno-ekonomicznych, zwrócono uwagę nie tylko na pozytywne aspekty proponowanych i testowanych metod oceny poziomu mechanizacji, ale także na powtarzające się słabości metodyczne, rzutujące ostatecznie na końcowe wyniki badań. Stąd też w niniejszej pracy zaproponowano metodyczne zmiany dotyczące określania wskaźników decydujących o poziomie intensywności gospodarowania, a w szczególności postępu naukowo-technicznego oraz jego efektywności dla gospodarstw indywidualnych. W pracy korzystano z danych liczbowych z województwa małopolskiego i świętokrzyskiego

Initial Treatment, Sublimation Drying and Storage Time of Sweet Pepper Crisps. Microbiological Quality − Part II

Abstract The paper presents the impact of the initial processing, cultivar, and storage time on the physical and chemical quality of freeze-dried sweet pepper crisps. Sweet pepper after initial washing and crushing was subjected to further four combinations of the initial processing. The first combination included freezing, the second one blanching in 98°C and 2-minutes time, the third one -dehydration in 2% solution of ascorbic acid and the fourth one - dehydration in the 2% solution of sodium chlo-ride. Both types of dehydration were carried out in 70°C for 20 minutes with a 1:4 participation of raw material to osmotic solution. Blanched and dehydrated raw materials were subjected to freezing in -18°C for 24 hours. After the completed process of freezing, the samples were moved to a freezer-drier and were dried by sublimation in -18°C and the reduced pressure of 63 Pa. The research that was carried out proved that the microbiological quality of the obtained sweet pepper lyophilizes was significantly affected by the cultivar, treatment type and storage time. These factors significantly diversified the number of micro-organisms in sweet pepper crisps. No initial processing before sublimation drying caused a considerably average increase of the number of psychrophile and mesophilic bacteria in crisps from both sweet pepper cultivars. A considerable reduction of their total number took place during blanching and dehydration in the ascorbic acid solution and sodium chloride solution. Additionally, along with the storage time, reduction of the total number of psychrophilic, mesophilic bacteria, fungi and yeasts was reported.</jats:p

Place and role of the scientific progress under conditions of sustainable agriculture

W pracy przedstawiono rolę nauki i techniki w przeobrażeniach cywilizacyjnych świata, wskazując równocześnie na ważną rolę ludzi nauki w podejmowaniu decyzji odnośnie do granic eksperymentowania. Omawiając kryteria obowiązujące w rolnictwie zrównoważonym, zwrócono uwagę na rolę poszczególnych kategorii postępu naukowego, wykazując powiązania między poziomem nawożenia i obsadą zwierząt a wskaźnikami wydajności ziemi i pracy.Paper discussed the importance of science and technique in civilization transformations of the world. Important role of the scientists in resolving on the acceptable limits of experimentation was also emphasized. At describing the criteria compulsory in sustainable agriculture an attention was paid to the role of particular categories of the scientific progress. Some connections among the fertilization level, livestock density, farm land productivity and work efficiency were indicated

Scientific and technical progress and the productivity of land and human labour in selected regions of Poland

Praca stanowi trzeci etap badań dotyczących oddziaływania postępu naukowo-technicznego na wskaźniki wydajności ziemi i pracy w rolnictwie. Ten etap zawiera badania porównawcze pomiędzy ośmioma regionami w Polsce. Obejmuje wskaźniki technicznego uzbrojenia oraz postępu naukowo-technicznego uzbrojenia oraz postępu naukowo-technicznego wykazane dwoma metodami. Pozytywnie zweryfikowano hipotezę o wpływie postępu technicznego na wydajność pracy.Paper presents the third stage of investigations dealing with the influence of scientific-technical progress on the indices of land and human labour productivity in agriculture. This stage includes the comparative studies among the eight regions of Poland, concerning indi-ces of technical equipment of the farms and scientific-technical progress revealed by using two methods. The hypothesis on the impact of technical development on labour efficiency was positively verified

Progress and effectiveness in relation to the size of farms and production orientation in agricultural farms of Małopolskie Region

Praca porusza problem naukowy dotyczący efektywności postępu w gospodarstwach chłopskich. Po analizie przeprowadzonej w skali międzynarodowej, regionalnej, gospodarstw zespołowych z Regionu Opolskiego, obecny i ostatni etap dotyczyć będzie gospodarstw indywidualnych Regionu Małopolskiego. Celem pracy jest pokazanie zależności pomiędzy wielkością i efektywnością postępu naukowo-technicznego a wielkością i kierunkiem produkcji w gospodarstwach chłopskich. Na tej podstawie będzie można opracować model rolnictwa o korzystnych warunkach spełniających wskaźniki rolno ekonomiczne. Oba warianty zostały podzielone na grupy. Badania zostały przeprowadzone na próbie 300 gospodarstw i obejmowały dziesięć gmin. Miały charakter wywiadu kierowanego w postaci anonimowej ankiety. Do statystycznej oceny istotności różnic poszczególnych wskaźników w grupach wybrano jednoczynnikową analizę wariancji.The paper raises a scientific issue concerning the effectiveness of the progress in farms. Upon the analysis carried out on the international, regional scale and the scale of grouped farms from Opolskie Region, the present and the final stage will concern individual farms of Małopolskie Region.The purpose of the paper is to present relations between the size and effectiveness of the scientific and technical progress and the production orientation in farms. On this basis, a model of agriculture of the most advantageous conditions which meet the farm and economical indexes can be developed. Both variants were divided into groups. Research was carried out on the sample of 300 farms and included ten communes. They were of a guided interview character in the form of an anonymous survey. A one-factor analysis of variance was selected for statistical assessment of differences significance of particular indexes

Structure and level of investment expenditures and the work efficiency in agricultural activities in the Małopolskie province

The purpose of the study was to determine the scale and importance of the investments in technical production inputs in the form of replacement value of the machine park, made in agricultural activities with regard to improvement of their productivity. The study was carried with regard to the period between 2011-2016. The scope of the thesis referred to 30 individual farms located within the territory of the Małopolskie province. The studies carried out proved a positive impact of the investment expenditures with regard to the replacement value of the machine park on the increase in work efficiency in agriculture.</jats:p