Revealing the intentions of farmers to recultivate abandoned farmland: A case study of the Buryat Republic in Russia

• Prishchepov, Alexander V. ^[1] ; Ponkina, Elena V. ^[3] ; Sun, Zhanli ^[2] ; Bavorova, Miroslava ^[4] ; Yekimovskaja, Olga A. ^[5]
  1. [1] University of Copenhagen

     University of Copenhagen

     Dinamarca

     
  2. [2] Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies

     Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies

     Kreisfreie Stadt Halle, Alemania

     
  3. [3] Department of Theoretical Cybernetics and Applied Mathematics, Institute of Mathematics and Information Technologies, Altai State University, Lenina 61, 656049 Barnaul, Russia
  4. [4] Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamycka 129, 16500 Praha-Suchdol, Czech Republic
  5. [5] Baikal Institute of Natural Management, Sakhjanovoy Street 6, 670047 Ulan-Ude, Russia

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• Localización: Land use policy: The International Journal Covering All Aspects of Land Use, ISSN 0264-8377, ISSN-e 1873-5754, Nº. 107, 2021
• Idioma: inglés
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• Dialnet Métricas: 2 Citas
• Resumen

  • Despite the looming land scarcity suited for agricultural expansion, farmland abandonment is widespread globally. The recultivation of some abandoned farmlands could unlock the untapped agricultural potential. Yet, little is known about the determinants of recultivation. To better understand the behavioral intentions of farmers regarding the recultivation of abandoned lands, we concentrated on the Buryat Republic in Russia, where agricultural land abandonment is widespread and farmers with different ethnicities carry out diverse agricultural practices. We conducted 149 face-to-face interviews with the farmers in the Buryat Republic in 2018 and filled a structured questionnaire on farm’s and farmers’ socioeconomic characteristics, perceived corruption, and farmers’ behavioral intentions regarding expected land use. We modeled the intention of recultivation with the Bayesian networks. The Bayesian networks analysis showed that perceived corruption was considered to be a barrier to recultivation. Our study also showed that non-Buryat ethnic and young farmers are more likely to recultivate abandoned land. Abandoned farmlands without or with a low degree of afforestation were preferred for recultivation. In sum, our study showed how behavioral aspects of political trust, the farm’s and farmer's characteristics, in combination with regional and locational characteristics, may shape farmers’ decisions on land use. The results provide an important ground to assess regional land-use policies, which should foster the recultivation of abandoned lands while preserving ecosystem services in the global hotspots of farmland abandonment, such as Russia.