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Do awareness-focussed approaches to mitigating diffuse pollution work? A case study using behavioural and water
Murat Okumah1, Pippa J Chapman2, Julia Martin-Ortega1
1Sustainability Research Institute, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, England, UK.
Journal of Environmental Management
|March 12, 2021
Summary
Raising farmer awareness of pesticide management practices significantly reduced MCPA concentrations in targeted catchments. This study confirms the link between farmer awareness, behavior change, and improved agricultural water quality.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Agricultural Science
- Water Resource Management
Background:
- Diffuse water pollution from agriculture is a growing concern.
- Current strategies often focus on increasing farmer awareness of best management practices (BMPs).
- The full pathway from awareness to behavior change and water quality improvement remains under-explored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effectiveness of an awareness-focused intervention on agricultural water quality.
- To assess the complete pathway: farmer awareness, BMP adoption, and water quality changes.
- To analyze the impact of a pesticide management program on MCPA concentrations in Welsh water catchments.
Main Methods:
- An interdisciplinary approach combining quantitative water quality analysis and qualitative stakeholder interviews.
- Factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) to analyze MCPA concentrations (2006-2019) in targeted and control catchments.
- Semi-structured interviews with farmers and institutional stakeholders involved in the 'weed wiper trial'.
Main Results:
- MCPA concentrations decreased in both targeted and control catchments post-intervention.
- The reduction in MCPA concentration was significantly greater in targeted catchments (45.2%) compared to control catchments (10.9%).
- Stakeholder interviews indicated that increased awareness led to behavioral changes, contributing to water quality improvements.
Conclusions:
- Awareness-raising initiatives can effectively improve agricultural water quality by influencing farmer behavior.
- While awareness is key, other factors like psychosocial, economic, and environmental conditions also impact BMP adoption and water quality.
- The study validates the awareness-behavior-water quality pathway in mitigating diffuse agricultural pollution.
Keywords:
Best management practicesDiffuse pollutionGlyphosateMCPA (2-Methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid)PesticidesWalesMore Related Videos
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