TY - JOUR

T1 - Study of farmer's behavior in recultivation of abandoned farmland

T2 - Example of the republic of buryatia

AU - Prishchepov, Alexander Vladimirovich

AU - Ponkina, Elena Vladimirovna

AU - Sun, Zhanli

AU - Bavorova, Miroslava

AU - Yekimovskaja, Olga Afanasyevna

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgements. We acknowledge funding of DFF-Danish ERC Support Program (grant number: 116491, 9127-00001B) and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR) (grant number: 18-45-030039), which was used for data collection. We also thank funding Goszadanie of Altai State 10551313 University ‘Turk World of the Greater Altai: unity and diversity in the past and modern times’ 748715F.99.1. BB97АА00002, Goszadanie of Institute of Steppe ‘Problems of steppe management under the conditions of modern challenges: optimization of the interaction between environmental and socioeconomic systems’No. AAAA-A21-121011190016-1 We thank anonymous reviewers and the editor for constructive comments, which helped us to improve the manuscript. We thank Oyuna Balbarova for help with logistics and constructive feedback. We thank Goszadanie of Baikal institute of Natural Management No. АААА-А21-121011990023-1 and Russian Science Foundation Grant No. 20-17-00207.The publication contributes to the activity of Global Land Programme’s ‘Agricultural Land Abandonment as a Global Land-Use Change Phenomenon’ Working Group.The referenced funding institutions are based in Russia. Publisher Copyright: © 2015 Interregional public organization Association of infectious disease specialists of Saint-Petersburg and Leningrad region (IPO AIDSSPbR). All rights reserved.

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Abandoned agricultural land

KW - Bayesian networks

KW - Behavioral drivers

KW - Land-use change

KW - Land-use modeling

KW - Theory of land use

U2 - 10.14530/SE.2021.3.059-102

DO - 10.14530/SE.2021.3.059-102

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85117523825

VL - 17

SP - 59

EP - 102

JO - Spatial Economics

JF - Spatial Economics

SN - 1815-9834

IS - 3

ER -