Lakhasly

Farmers levels of knowledge and awareness of environmental issues have an unquestionable impact on the natural world.How-ever, in our study, farmers' comments often betrayed generalised and somewhat vague notions of nutrient cycling and their responses demonstrated that their knowledge was not so developed and sophisticated when it came to furnishing the details.They pri-marily gained from knowledge attained at agricultural schools or universities, and complemented this with information from the Internet or various training ac-tivities.However, farmers interviewed during this project were usually unable to volunteer accurate formulas or gi behav-iour in soils.Older farmers (un-der 50-years old, 32%) predominantly drew on their long experience of farming and tacit knowledge gath-ered through informal channels.In addition to the measurable benefits (in-come, revenue, yields), more experienced farmers perceived the environment and natural resources as important and inseparable elements of their everyday activities.Therefore, it should be stressed that it is not economic pressure that is the most important factor behind farmers changing perceptions and practices towards more environmental-orientated activities.On the other hand, younger farmers were mainly oriented towards short term profits, but were willing to introduce changes and implement innova-tions if they expected positive outcomes.They tended to have less experience of farm-ing techniques but had received a more formal agri-cultural education than the older farmers examined in the survey group.These regu-lations tightened measures and rules to ensure that agri-cultural production were compliant with the needs of nature.On the basis of this research, it should be borne in mind that farmers generally understood the importance of sustainable agriculture in terms of keeping down the use of chemical fertilisers.The main drivers for this approach tended to be high prices and a need to fulfil EU regulations in order to benefit economically.All farmers in the EU are obliged to fulfil the cross-compliance requirements if they wish to receive full direct payments.In many cases (57%), the farmers inter-viewed took an intuitive approach to the problem of sustainable nutrient management.However, their own observa-tions and experiences were usually 'in simpatico' with the concept of sustainable agriculture.

Farmers levels of knowledge and awareness of environmental issues have an unquestionable impact on the natural world. However, farmers interviewed during this project were usually unable to volunteer accurate formulas or gi behav-iour in soils. In many cases (57%), the farmers inter-viewed took an intuitive approach to the problem of sustainable nutrient management. Older farmers (un-der 50-years old, 32%) predominantly drew on their long experience of farming and tacit knowledge gath-ered through informal channels. They had exchanged views and ideas with other farmers and agricultural advisors. In addition to the measurable benefits (in-come, revenue, yields), more experienced farmers perceived the environment and natural resources as important and inseparable elements of their everyday activities. On the other hand, younger farmers were mainly oriented towards short term profits, but were willing to introduce changes and implement innova-tions if they expected positive outcomes. They pri-marily gained from knowledge attained at agricultural schools or universities, and complemented this with information from the Internet or various training ac-tivities. They tended to have less experience of farm-ing techniques but had received a more formal agri-cultural education than the older farmers examined in the survey group. On the basis of this research, it should be borne in mind that farmers generally understood the importance of sustainable agriculture in terms of keeping down the use of chemical fertilisers. The main drivers for this approach tended to be high prices and a need to fulfil EU regulations in order to benefit economically. How-ever, in our study, farmers’ comments often betrayed generalised and somewhat vague notions of nutrient cycling and their responses demonstrated that their knowledge was not so developed and sophisticated when it came to furnishing the details. Their practices were very often based upon their own experiences, as not all of them had received the benefit of an academic, agricultural education. However, their own observa-tions and experiences were usually ‘in simpatico’ with the concept of sustainable agriculture. All the farmers were aware of the requirements re-sulting from EU regulations and directives. These regu-lations tightened measures and rules to ensure that agri-cultural production were compliant with the needs of nature. These rules contain many provisions concerning water, air and soil protection. All farmers in the EU are obliged to fulfil the cross-compliance requirements if they wish to receive full direct payments. Therefore, it should be stressed that it is not economic pressure that is the most important factor behind farmers changing perceptions and practices towards more environmental-orientated activities. There is also external pressure resulting from the law (at national and EU levels). However, legal pressure is closely linked to financial pressure, for example receiving full direct payment or subsidies from the “Agro-environmental programme” is dependent on satisfying the regulations. This study demonstrates that farmers have changed their percep-tions as a result of external pressures in many cases: they have built manure pads or slurry tanks, invested in modern machinery, or have taken care of ditches. They have demonstrated an eagerness to seize the opportunity of obtaining financial support from EU programmes to make such environmentally-friendly investments. All these factors have led them to adopt more efficient farm management practices which are, in many cases, more sustainable (reducing leakage into the ground and surface water, less reliance on chemical fertilizers and greater precision in the application of such substances). One of the benefits of this project is that the farmers have acknowledged that there are tools or measures that can be adopted to contribute to more sustainable farm management, especially in the case of the fertilization process and the improvement of nutrient management on farms. They have recognised that the implementation of these tools does not require a large financial outlay. The benefits of the FGB sheets, soil surveys and fertilization plans have been demonstrated, through the project. Farmers have iden-tified the point that less mineral fertilizers are needed and may be applied with improved precision. There-by, farmers may achieve similar production results but with a reduced environmental impact on soils and rivers. Applying the tools requires knowledge and awareness, as well as time to calculate dosages and conducting soil tests. Some farmers noted that their knowledge base was not sufficient to introduce new pro-environmental measures