Obstacles to adoption of conservation tillage

Excerpt

PROFESSIONAL conservationists and researchers agree that conservation tillage has the potential to “save soil, oil, and toil.” Research data and testimonials from many satisfied users support the fact that conservation tillage, with proper management, can reduce excessive erosion and lower production costs.

Unfortunately, these claims remain empty promises to many landusers who are either unwilling or unable to implement a conservation tillage system. The fact that not everyone is using the technology is not surprising. But what we may not realize is that many nonadopters are probably making correct and rational decisions by rejecting our tillage recommendations.

Rather than criticize these individuals as poor managers or exploiters of the soil, we must explain why they make this decision. We must understand the obstacles they encounter when deciding to adopt a conservation tillage system, and our strategies for promoting conservation tillage must strive to overcome these obstacles.

The decision process

Several studies have examined why landusers adopt or reject conservation tillage systems (4, 8). Most of these studies have been done from the perspective of the researcher or the professional conservationist. Few have tried to look at the decision-making process from the operator's perspective. To promote the …