A Comparative View of Agri-Environmental Indicators and Stakeholders’ Assessment of Their Quality
The degree to which economic goals have been prioritized over environmental and social objectives has caused dissatisfaction with conventional agricultural practices and stimulated the adoption of sustainable farming methods. One way to consider the multidimensionality of sustainable agriculture is...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-03-01
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| Series: | Agriculture |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/4/490 |
| _version_ | 1797437381034377216 |
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| author | Ionuț-Alexandru Spânu Alexandru Ozunu Dacinia Crina Petrescu Ruxandra Malina Petrescu-Mag |
| author_facet | Ionuț-Alexandru Spânu Alexandru Ozunu Dacinia Crina Petrescu Ruxandra Malina Petrescu-Mag |
| author_sort | Ionuț-Alexandru Spânu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The degree to which economic goals have been prioritized over environmental and social objectives has caused dissatisfaction with conventional agricultural practices and stimulated the adoption of sustainable farming methods. One way to consider the multidimensionality of sustainable agriculture is to refer to indicators, more precisely, to agri-environmental indicators (AEIs). This study provides a comparative overview of the 28 AEIs of the European Union (EU) and those of the OECD and FAO, additionally revealing how these 28 indicators are reflected in the literature regarding agri-environmental indicators. Furthermore, since much of human behavior is influenced by perceptions, it was critical to reveal the stakeholders’ assessment of the 28 AEIs based on four criteria (“Availability”, “Relevance”, “Target-oriented”, and “Operational simplicity”). The stakeholders’ opinions of the 28 AEIs were assessed using the evaluation matrix. The highest overall evaluation considering the four criteria was received by “Irrigation” and “Soil quality indicators”. The study concludes that tripartite cooperation between stakeholders—farmers, agri-environmental researchers, and policymakers—is needed to successfully implement the AEIs of the EU. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:19:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a2ccb676795a4399813884dd11567a64 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-0472 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:19:23Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agriculture |
| spelling | doaj.art-a2ccb676795a4399813884dd11567a642023-12-01T00:24:00ZengMDPI AGAgriculture2077-04722022-03-0112449010.3390/agriculture12040490A Comparative View of Agri-Environmental Indicators and Stakeholders’ Assessment of Their QualityIonuț-Alexandru Spânu0Alexandru Ozunu1Dacinia Crina Petrescu2Ruxandra Malina Petrescu-Mag3Research Institute for Sustainability and Disaster Management Based on High Performance Computing, Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University, 30 Fantanele Street, 400294 Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaResearch Institute for Sustainability and Disaster Management Based on High Performance Computing, Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University, 30 Fantanele Street, 400294 Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaResearch Institute for Sustainability and Disaster Management Based on High Performance Computing, Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University, 30 Fantanele Street, 400294 Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaResearch Institute for Sustainability and Disaster Management Based on High Performance Computing, Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University, 30 Fantanele Street, 400294 Cluj-Napoca, RomaniaThe degree to which economic goals have been prioritized over environmental and social objectives has caused dissatisfaction with conventional agricultural practices and stimulated the adoption of sustainable farming methods. One way to consider the multidimensionality of sustainable agriculture is to refer to indicators, more precisely, to agri-environmental indicators (AEIs). This study provides a comparative overview of the 28 AEIs of the European Union (EU) and those of the OECD and FAO, additionally revealing how these 28 indicators are reflected in the literature regarding agri-environmental indicators. Furthermore, since much of human behavior is influenced by perceptions, it was critical to reveal the stakeholders’ assessment of the 28 AEIs based on four criteria (“Availability”, “Relevance”, “Target-oriented”, and “Operational simplicity”). The stakeholders’ opinions of the 28 AEIs were assessed using the evaluation matrix. The highest overall evaluation considering the four criteria was received by “Irrigation” and “Soil quality indicators”. The study concludes that tripartite cooperation between stakeholders—farmers, agri-environmental researchers, and policymakers—is needed to successfully implement the AEIs of the EU.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/4/490indicatorsEUROSTATFAOOECDfarmersperceptions |
| spellingShingle | Ionuț-Alexandru Spânu Alexandru Ozunu Dacinia Crina Petrescu Ruxandra Malina Petrescu-Mag A Comparative View of Agri-Environmental Indicators and Stakeholders’ Assessment of Their Quality Agriculture indicators EUROSTAT FAO OECD farmers perceptions |
| title | A Comparative View of Agri-Environmental Indicators and Stakeholders’ Assessment of Their Quality |
| title_full | A Comparative View of Agri-Environmental Indicators and Stakeholders’ Assessment of Their Quality |
| title_fullStr | A Comparative View of Agri-Environmental Indicators and Stakeholders’ Assessment of Their Quality |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Comparative View of Agri-Environmental Indicators and Stakeholders’ Assessment of Their Quality |
| title_short | A Comparative View of Agri-Environmental Indicators and Stakeholders’ Assessment of Their Quality |
| title_sort | comparative view of agri environmental indicators and stakeholders assessment of their quality |
| topic | indicators EUROSTAT FAO OECD farmers perceptions |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/12/4/490 |
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