Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Foreword
- Contents
- The Contributors
- Figures
- Tables
- Glossary
- Preface
- Land degradation and government
- I Physical and biological aspects of land degradation
- II Social costs
- III Legal, institutional and sociological factors
- 7 Land degradation: legal issues and institutional constraints
- 8 Land tenure: plaything of governments or an effective instrument?
- 9 Social bases of farmers' responses to land degradation
- IV Behavioural causes, economic issues and policy instruments
- V Pressure groups, public agencies and policy formulation
- VI Towards more effective policies for controlling land degradation: an overview
- A Rational approaches to environmental issues by Anthony Chisholm
- B Comments by Bruce Davidson
- C Comments by John Thomas
- D Participants at workshop on land degradation and public policy
- Bibliography
- Index
9 - Social bases of farmers' responses to land degradation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2012
- Frontmatter
- Foreword
- Contents
- The Contributors
- Figures
- Tables
- Glossary
- Preface
- Land degradation and government
- I Physical and biological aspects of land degradation
- II Social costs
- III Legal, institutional and sociological factors
- 7 Land degradation: legal issues and institutional constraints
- 8 Land tenure: plaything of governments or an effective instrument?
- 9 Social bases of farmers' responses to land degradation
- IV Behavioural causes, economic issues and policy instruments
- V Pressure groups, public agencies and policy formulation
- VI Towards more effective policies for controlling land degradation: an overview
- A Rational approaches to environmental issues by Anthony Chisholm
- B Comments by Bruce Davidson
- C Comments by John Thomas
- D Participants at workshop on land degradation and public policy
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Introduction
Numerous studies of Australian agriculture have found land degradation (water and wind erosion, salinisation, waterlogging) to be a serious threat to the sustainability of its soils (Chartres Chapter 1, Gasteen et al 1985). There are several different dimensions to the study of land degradation: an understanding of how erosion physically occurs is clearly necessary, but there are technology and management practices which, if used by farmers, would greatly reduce the amount of agricultural land now inadequately protected against erosion.
We argue that studies of the physical and biological nature of land degradation must be complemented by socioeconomic analyses. These studies would include how farmers generally relate to their land, how farmers perceive and define erosion, and what prompts them to invest time, energy and money into learning about erosion and on-farm management practices which may help towards its abatement.
Farmers' responses to soil erosion and other forms of land degradation have several components. Agricultural technologies and practices based on European cultural traditions and experiences have often proved incompatible with Australia's climate and soil; Burch, Graetz and Noble (Chapter 2) state that it has taken Australian farmers over a century to modify the agricultural traditions of Europe to suit Australian conditions.
Modern production processes in agriculture have increased food production and farm earnings, but have caused onsite land degradation and offsite pollution.
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- Information
- Land DegradationProblems and Policies, pp. 187 - 200Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1988
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