Work

Understanding Farmers’ Attitudes Toward Agricultural Landscape Practices to Achieve More Sustainable Rural Planning

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Serbia’s most agriculturally developed region, lies within the fertile Pannonian plain. Decades of agricultural intensification have transformed its landscape into a near continuous expanse of arable land, largely devoid of natural elements such as trees, shrubs, or non-crop vegetation. These simplified agroecosystems support very low biodiversity, contradicting the key principles of sustainable agricultural development. To assess farmers’ willingness to support more ecologically sound landscape practices, a survey was conducted of 400 farmers across Vojvodina. The results revealed limited openness to change; i.e., most respondents expressed a low interest in all three offered interventions: (a) introducing landscape elements, (b) fallowing, (c) converting arable land to grassland. This resistance reflects a prevailing productivist mindset in which farmers perceive themselves as producers of food, raw materials, and energy. Within this view, a neat, highly cultivated landscape is perceived as a hallmark of professionalism and success. These findings underscore the importance of developing context-sensitive policies and educational efforts that align sustainability goals with farmers’ values and economic realities.

Source: Sustainability

DOI: 10.3390/su17115037

Authors: Jelena Despotović, Mirjana Ljubojević, Tijana Narandžić, Vesna Rodić

Institution: University of Novi Sad

Language: English

Topic: Urban and spatial planning

Subfield: Nature and Landscape Conservation

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Zero hunger, Life on land

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,896