IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/envsyd/v44y2024i2d10.1007_s10669-023-09923-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Integrating farmers’ and experts’ perspectives for soil health-informed decision-making in conservation agriculture systems

Author

Listed:
  • Akhtar Veisi

    (Shahid Beheshti University)

  • Korous Khoshbakht

    (Shahid Beheshti University)

  • Hadi Veisi

    (Pensylvania State University)

  • Reza Mirzaei Talarposhti

    (Shahid Beheshti University)

  • Reza Haghparast Tanha

    (Dryland Agricultural Research Institute (DARI))

Abstract

Soil health and conservation agriculture are two pivotal components of soil security that link agricultural and soil science to policy by integrating stakeholders, scales, functions, and assessment tools, going beyond crop production or other human profits (e.g., human health). The study employed the Analytical Hierarchy Process to integrate the perspectives of two key stakeholders, namely farmers and experts, in order to identify soil health indicators that could guide the selection of conservation tillage systems. The primary objective was to determine the priority assigned to different soil health indicators by these stakeholders. The results showed that farmers prioritized and assigned a higher weight to soil mineral nitrogen, soil organic carbon, and soil water content to enhance the soil health by means of the conservation tillage systems. Conversely, agricultural experts assigned the highest weight to soil organic carbon, soil water content, soil respiration, and soil microbial biomass when choosing the proper tillage systems to improve soil health. Further, the results indicated that farmers and agricultural experts prefer no-tillage and reduced tillage systems to enhance soil health. More so, farmers and experts together indicated that these criteria accounted for 59% of the selection of no-tillage, 34% for reduced tillage, and 19% for conventional tillage systems. The results showed the usefulness of our work as an analysis framework to inform policy makers for supporting No-Tillage crop management programs and other agroecological engineering practices. Our findings could be broadly used to offer insights into crafting soil health policy and soil security for transitions toward sustainable and healthy ecosystem.

Suggested Citation

  • Akhtar Veisi & Korous Khoshbakht & Hadi Veisi & Reza Mirzaei Talarposhti & Reza Haghparast Tanha, 2024. "Integrating farmers’ and experts’ perspectives for soil health-informed decision-making in conservation agriculture systems," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 199-214, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:envsyd:v:44:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s10669-023-09923-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s10669-023-09923-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10669-023-09923-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10669-023-09923-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Scott, James & Ho, William & Dey, Prasanta K. & Talluri, Srinivas, 2015. "A decision support system for supplier selection and order allocation in stochastic, multi-stakeholder and multi-criteria environments," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 226-237.
    2. J. M. Moreno-Jiménez & J. Aguarón & M. T. Escobar, 2008. "The Core of Consistency in AHP-Group Decision Making," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 249-265, May.
    3. Veisi, Hadi & Deihimfard, Reza & Shahmohammadi, Alireza & Hydarzadeh, Yasoub, 2022. "Application of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in a multi-criteria selection of agricultural irrigation systems," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    4. Iraj Emadodin & Daiju Narita & Hans Bork, 2012. "Soil degradation and agricultural sustainability: an overview from Iran," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 14(5), pages 611-625, October.
    5. Pradhan, Aliza & Chan, Catherine & Roul, Pravat Kumar & Halbrendt, Jacqueline & Sipes, Brent, 2018. "Potential of conservation agriculture (CA) for climate change adaptation and food security under rainfed uplands of India: A transdisciplinary approach," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 27-35.
    6. De Marinis, Pietro & Sali, Guido, 2020. "Participatory analytic hierarchy process for resource allocation in agricultural development projects," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    7. Salah R. Agha & Latifa G. Nofal & Hana A. Nassar, 2012. "Multi-criteria governmental crop planning problem based on an integrated AHP-PROMETHEE approach," International Journal of Applied Management Science, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 4(4), pages 385-406.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xiaoxia Li, 2022. "Research on the Development Level of Rural E-Commerce in China Based on Analytic Hierarchy and Systematic Clustering Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-18, July.
    2. Wang, Han & Xiang, Youzhen & Liao, Zhenqi & Wang, Xin & Zhang, Xueyan & Huang, Xiangyang & Zhang, Fucang & Feng, Li, 2024. "Integrated assessment of water-nitrogen management for winter oilseed rape production in Northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    3. Theodoros Skevas & Ray Massey & Jasper Grashuis, 2022. "Farmer adoption and intensity of use of extreme weather adaptation and mitigation strategies: evidence from a sample of Missouri farmers," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 174(1), pages 1-23, September.
    4. Vijay Pereira & Umesh Bamel, 2023. "Charting the managerial and theoretical evolutionary path of AHP using thematic and systematic review: a decadal (2012–2021) study," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 326(2), pages 635-651, July.
    5. Toly Chen, 2021. "A diversified AHP-tree approach for multiple-criteria supplier selection," Computational Management Science, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 431-453, October.
    6. Hezam, Ibrahim M. & Ali, Ahmed M. & Sallam, Karam & Hameed, Ibrahim A. & Abdel-Basset, Mohamed, 2024. "An efficient decision-making model for evaluating irrigation systems under uncertainty: Toward integrated approaches to sustainability," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 303(C).
    7. Zhang, Hengjie & Dong, Yucheng & Chiclana, Francisco & Yu, Shui, 2019. "Consensus efficiency in group decision making: A comprehensive comparative study and its optimal design," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 275(2), pages 580-598.
    8. Timuçin Everest & Gönül Selin Savaşkan & Aykut Or & Hasan Özcan, 2024. "Suitable site selection by using full consistency method (FUCOM): a case study for maize cultivation in northwest Turkey," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 1831-1850, January.
    9. Viola Hakkarainen & Katri Mäkinen‐Rostedt & Andra Horcea‐Milcu & Dalia D'Amato & Johanna Jämsä & Katriina Soini, 2022. "Transdisciplinary research in natural resources management: Towards an integrative and transformative use of co‐concepts," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(2), pages 309-325, April.
    10. Alikhani, Reza & Torabi, S. Ali & Altay, Nezih, 2019. "Strategic supplier selection under sustainability and risk criteria," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 69-82.
    11. Schillo, R. Sandra & Isabelle, Diane A. & Shakiba, Abtin, 2017. "Linking advanced biofuels policies with stakeholder interests: A method building on Quality Function Deployment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 126-137.
    12. Juan Luis Aguirre & Sergio González-Egido & María González-Lucas & Francisco Miguel González-Pernas, 2023. "Medium-Term Effects and Economic Analysis of Biochar Application in Three Mediterranean Crops," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-18, May.
    13. Xia, Haiyong & Qiao, Yuetong & Li, Xiaojing & Xue, Yanhui & Wang, Na & Yan, Wei & Xue, Yanfang & Cui, Zhenling & van der Werf, Wopke, 2023. "Moderation of nitrogen input and integration of legumes via intercropping enable sustainable intensification of wheat-maize double cropping in the North China Plain: A four-year rotation study," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    14. Juan Aguarón & María Teresa Escobar & José María Moreno-Jiménez, 2016. "The precise consistency consensus matrix in a local AHP-group decision making context," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 245(1), pages 245-259, October.
    15. Liu, Cong & Li, Kaiwei & Zhang, Jiquan & Guga, Suri & Wang, Rui & Liu, Xingpeng & Tong, Zhijun, 2023. "Dynamic risk assessment of waterlogging disaster to spring peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) in Henan Province, China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    16. Hu, Shaolong & Dong, Zhijie Sasha & Lev, Benjamin, 2022. "Supplier selection in disaster operations management: Review and research gap identification," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PB).
    17. Mir Danial Mousavi & Mir Damoun Mousavi, 2023. "The Effect of Stakeholder’s Pressure on firm Market Performance and the Mediating Role of Corporate Responsibility, Sustainable Supplier Selection, and Marketing Capability," Corporate Reputation Review, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 26(3), pages 179-191, August.
    18. J David Tàbara & Takeshi Takama & Manisha Mishra & Lauren Hermanus & Sean Khaya Andrew & Pacia Diaz & Gina Ziervogel & Louis Lemkow, 2020. "Micro-solutions to global problems: understanding social processes to eradicate energy poverty and build climate-resilient livelihoods," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 160(4), pages 711-725, June.
    19. Guangying Jin, 2022. "Designer Selection for Complex Engineering System Design Projects Considering the Disciplines Demanded," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-25, December.
    20. Manuel Salvador & Alfredo Altuzarra & Pilar Gargallo & José María Moreno-Jiménez, 2015. "A Bayesian Approach to Maximising Inner Compatibility in AHP-Systemic Decision Making," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 655-673, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:envsyd:v:44:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s10669-023-09923-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.