Local knowledge held by farmers in Eastern Tyrol (Austria) about the use of plants to maintain and improve animal health and welfare

Background The sustainable management of animal health and welfare is of increasing importance to consumers and a key topic in the organic farming movement. Few systematic studies have been undertaken investigating farmers’ local knowledge related to this issue. Ethnoveterinary medicine (EVM) is a discipline focusing on local knowledge and folk methods in veterinary medicine, however most ethnoveterinarian studies primarily address the treatment of animal diseases. Very few studies have explored prophylactic methods. Methods An ethnoveterinary research project in Eastern Tyrol (Austria) was conducted in 2004 and 2005 to gather information about local knowledge of animal husbandry from 144 informants, with the emphasis on plants that maintain livestock health and welfare. Results Informants mentioned a total of 87 plants and 22 plant-based generic terms in the context of maintaining and improving livestock health and welfare. The most important preventive measures for maintaining and improving animal health and welfare were practices related to “fodder” and “feeding”. In this category the plants mentioned could be grouped according to three different perceptions about their effect on animals: “Good or bad fodder”, “Functional fodder” and “Fodder medicine”. In addition to fodder, environmental management, the human-animal relationship, household remedies and cultural/religious activities were also mentioned. When asked about practices in the past that maintained animal health and well-being, interviewees mentioned, for example, the importance of the diversity of sources that used to be available to obtain feed and fodder. Conclusions The informants’ approach that feeding is central to livestock welfare is in line with the standard scientific literature on animal health, including in organic farming. Various scientific studies into common fodder evaluate the nutritive and dietary value, efficiency and safety of fodder. Future studies also have to consider the evaluation of traditional, local fodder resources. In fact, the value of ‘food as medicine’ for humans in the context of local knowledge has been widely assessed, but the potential health benefits of fodder and nutraceuticals in local and traditional ethnoveterinary methods require further attention

Are standards and regulations of organic farming moving away from small farmers' knowledge?

Organic farming is a promising agricultural method with positive effects on the human ecological and social environment. Governments have taken over a major role in defining organic farming by creating legal standards. Many countries all over the world have established a certification and accreditation system in order to protect the justified expectations of consumers with regard to processing and controlling the product quality of organic goods and to protecting producers from fraudulent trade practices. As they are relevant to international trade, these standards do not only influence the organic farming movement on the national level but also have a converse impact across national borders. Organic farming was established in a bottom-up process as farmers aimed to design sustainable ways of using natural resources. Farmers’ traditional knowledge and their awareness of ecological, as well as, of social affairs was the main base for the development of organic farming. Since public interest in organic farming has grown rapidly, the ownership on the process of defining organic farming is no longer in the hands of farmers and the original principles and aims of themovement seem to be threatened by a bureaucratic view of “recipe”-organic farming. However, unsolved problems also exist between the necessities of global harmonization and the local adaptability of the standards on organic farming. This paper structures the current discussion and gives future prospects for further development

How do farmers research and learn? The example of organic farmers’ experiments and innovations: A research concept

Experimenting, adapting and innovating are central features of farmers’ activities all over the world. Farmers hold valuable knowledge about their environment, they actively do experiments, and have their own research traditions. The development of organic farming systems is continually evolving through the experiments and innovations of organic farmers. So far, there has been little attempt to study the nature, characteristics, and factors associated with the experimental processes of farmers in a systematic, comprehensive way. A current research project investigates learning processes of organic farmers in Austria, Cuba and Israel through researching the multifaceted experiments they conduct and the innovations they obtain as possible results. This paper presents the research concept of the project

Einfluss von Einstellungen von Bäuerinnen und Bauern auf die Anwendung von Hausmitteln bei Nutztieren im Joglland, Österreich

Im Hinblick auf die Richtlinien der ökologischen Landwirtschaft auf chemisch- synthetische Arzneimittel zu verzichten und beispielsweise pflanzliche Heilmittel einzusetzen, scheint eine Einbindung von pflanzlichen Hausmitteln in die Tierheilkunde sinnvoll. Die Faktoren, die mit dem Hausmitteleinsatz in Verbindung stehen bzw. diesen begünstigen könnten, wurden bisher wenig untersucht. Ziel dieser Arbeit war es einerseits, das Wissen von ausgewählten Bäuerinnen und Bauern zu Hausmitteln zu dokumentieren und andererseits Faktoren zu ermitteln, die positiv auf den Hausmitteleinsatz einwirken könnten. Aufbauend auf die Theory of Reasoned Action von Fishbein und Ajzen wurde ein Modell entwickelt, anhand dessen Hypothesen abgeleitet und Einflussfaktoren geprüft wurden. Im Joglland, Steiermark wurden 45 Bäuerinnen und Bauern, von denen 19 nach den Richtlinien der ökologischen Landwirtschaft wirtschafteten, im Jahr 2011 mit Hilfe eines standardisierten Fragebogens zu den ihnen in der Tierheilkunde bekannten Hausmitteln befragt, sowie die Einstellung zum Hausmitteleinsatz erhoben. Die Auswertung der Daten erfolgte mit deskriptiven und interferenzstatistischen Methoden. Insgesamt wurden von den Bäuerinnen und Bauern 144 verschiedene Hausmittel genannt, von denen der Großteil pflanzlichen Ursprungs war. 55 Pflanzenarten konnten als Rohstoffe für Hausmittel bestimmt werden. Männer konnten signifikant mehr Hausmittel nennen und setzten auch mehr ein als Frauen. Zudem setzten GesprächspartnerInnen, die viele Hausmittel kannten, auch mehr ein. GesprächspartnerInnen mit einer positiven Einstellung zum Hausmitteleinsatz wandten diese auch vermehrt an und eine positive Intention, Hausmittel einzusetzen, spiegelte sich auch in der Anwendung wider. Keinen signifikanten Einfluss auf den Hausmitteleinsatz hatten beispielsweise die Faktoren Alter, ökologische Wirtschaftsweise, Einstellung des behandelnden Tierarztes/ der Tierärztin zum Hausmitteleinsatz und Anwendung von Hausmitteln in der Humanmedizin

Organic farmers use of wild food plants and fungi in a hilly area in Styria (Austria)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Changing lifestyles have recently caused a severe reduction of the gathering of wild food plants. Knowledge about wild food plants and the local environment becomes lost when plants are no longer gathered. In Central Europe popular scientific publications have tried to counter this trend. However, detailed and systematic scientific investigations in distinct regions are needed to understand and preserve wild food uses. This study aims to contribute to these investigations.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Research was conducted in the hill country east of Graz, Styria, in Austria. Fifteen farmers, most using organic methods, were interviewed in two distinct field research periods between July and November 2008. Data gathering was realized through freelisting and subsequent semi-structured interviews. The <it>culinary use value </it>(CUV) was developed to quantify the culinary importance of plant species. <it>Hierarchical cluster analysis </it>was performed on gathering and use variables to identify culture-specific logical entities of plants. The study presented was conducted within the framework of the master's thesis about wild plant gathering of the first author. Solely data on gathered wild food species is presented here.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Thirty-nine wild food plant and mushroom species were identified as being gathered, whereas 11 species were mentioned by at least 40 percent of the respondents. Fruits and mushrooms are listed frequently, while wild leafy vegetables are gathered rarely. Wild foods are mainly eaten boiled, fried or raw. Three main clusters of wild gathered food species were identified: leaves (used in salads and soups), mushrooms (used in diverse ways) and fruits (eaten raw, with milk (products) or as a jam).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Knowledge about gathering and use of some wild food species is common among farmers in the hill country east of Graz. However, most uses are known by few farmers only. The CUV facilitates the evaluation of the culinary importance of species and makes comparisons between regions and over time possible. The classification following gathering and use variables can be used to better understand how people classify the elements of their environment. The findings of this study add to discussions about food heritage, popularized by organizations like Slow Food, and bear significant potential for organic farmers.</p

Emergence, Power Relations, and Proponents: A New Display of War and Nazi Crimes at the House of History at the Museum Niederösterreich

The House of History (Haus der Geschichte im Museum Niederösterreich) opened in September 2017 as a new part of the Museum Niederösterreich in St. Pölten. 2021 saw a major redesign of exhibition parts addressing European history between 1914 and 1945 and its close connection to historical events on a local and regional level at the same period of time. The aim was to refocus the exhibition’s content and achieve further evolution of its display and mediation concept. The new presentation takes a longer perspective on social and political developments and highlights continuities and processes. Nazi atrocities are shown in their historical context and conveyed through individual victim biographies. Violent images are employed consciously and in a manner that encourages viewer empathy without precluding their ability to reflect rationally on the subject. The guiding considerations of our revision will be sketched in this article.The House of History (Haus der Geschichte im Museum Niederösterreich) opened in September 2017 as a new part of the Museum Niederösterreich in St. Pölten. 2021 saw a major redesign of exhibition parts addressing European history between 1914 and 1945 and its close connection to historical events on a local and regional level at the same period of time. The aim was to refocus the exhibition’s content and achieve further evolution of its display and mediation concept. The new presentation takes a longer perspective on social and political developments and highlights continuities and processes. Nazi atrocities are shown in their historical context and conveyed through individual victim biographies. Violent images are employed consciously and in a manner that encourages viewer empathy without precluding their ability to reflect rationally on the subject. The guiding considerations of our revision will be sketched in this article

Bäuerliche Experimente in Kuba und ihre Bedeutung für eine nachhaltige Landwirtschaft

This paper aims to examine farmers’ perception on the contribution of farmers’ experiments to sustainable agriculture. Field research was conducted in Cuba and comprised semi-structured interviews with 72 farmers. Most Cuban farmers experimented with locally available resources. According to the farmers’ perception, resources, topics and methods were ecologically compatible and involved little risks. Through experimenting the respondents felt, that they increased the production and the degree of self-sufficiency. Farmers ensured that experiments contributed to improve the local farming system and thereby supported the sustainable development of agriculture

Bäuerliche Experimente in Österreich – Beurteilung von Video als möglicher Auslöser der Experimentiertätigkeit von Biobäuerinnen und Biobauern

Farmers’ experiments are an integral element of agricultural practice, contribute to the development of local knowledge and form the precondition for local innovations. This study addresses organic farmers’ experiments in Austria, and specifically video as tool for capturing and sharing lessons learned from farmers’ experimentation, as well as the potential of video to trigger farmers’ experiments. For 85 % of the surveyed organic farmers (n=34) farmers’ experiments were considered to have high relevance in the course of their farming activities. The elaborated videos stimulated 71 % of the farmers to conduct experiments. The videos were successfully applicable in adult and student agricultural education. After watching them, 12 of 16 students (75 %) came up with ideas for experiments they would like to try at their parents’ farms