Browsing by Subject "turvepellot"

Agricultural peatlands are a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, and to reduce emissions, a change in farmers' land use practices is needed. However, the current agricultural peat land policy has not offered effective enough measures to achieve emission reductions. Various emission-reducing measures for peat fields have not necessarily appeared feasible and acceptable in the opinion of Finnish farmers. The socio-cultural norms and ideals of farming, called good farming, can have an impact on how farmers perceive the goals of agricultural environmental policy and react to changes in farming practices that reduce emissions from peat fields. The ideals of good farming are usually context-specific, so they should be examined at the regional and farm level. In Finland, the perceptions of farmers on the use of peatlands have previously been studied, mainly in areas where there are a lot of peat fields, and farmers are then more dependent on them. Targeting measures aimed at reducing GHG emissions may be easier in areas where there are less peat fields. For this reason, the Nurmes area in North Karelia has been chosen as the target of the study. For the research, 10 farmers in the Nurmes area were interviewed. The aim was to understand how farmers use their peat fields and what solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions they see as possible and for what reasons for their own peat fields and generally peat fields of the Nurmes area. According to the results, the farmers' ideals of good farming related to peatlands are partially consistent with measures to reduce GHG emissions. Farmers are ready to change the use of their peat fields to reduce emissions, but the ideals of good farming influence what they are ready to do to different agricultural peatlands. With peat fields that are good for cultivation, the ideal is to keep them in agricultural production, and farmers see grass or perennial grass production as the best solution. When peatlands are not important for the farm's agricultural production, farmers are ready to restore or afforest them for financial compensation. Economic profitability is the basis for the continuity of farming, but economic factors do not only determine the use of peat fields by farmers. Regional specific features have an impact on farmers' ideals related to peat fields, and possible solutions that reduce GHG emissions for agricultural peatlands may depend on the region. Research has shown that by utilizing the knowledge of farmers and the ideals of good farming, it is possible to plan a more effective agricultural peatland policy.