The uptake of European soy production: Insights from a participatory agent-based model

IF 6.1 1区农林科学 Q1 AGRICULTURE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Agricultural Systems Pub Date : 2025-01-18 DOI:10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104264

Siavash Farahbakhsh , Kaat Peeters , Joke Pannecoucque , Greet Tavernier , Birgit Vanden Berghen , Jef Van Meensel

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

CONTEXT

While there is potential for soy production in Europe, many European regions still struggle to adopt soy cultivation. Consequently, the European market is heavily dependent on imports from overseas. At the same time, in line with current literature, the EU is paying specific attention to the necessity of yield improvement through research funding, training, and learning instruments, as well as allocating direct subsidies for protein crops. However, it is yet unclear how such efforts could result in the adoption of soy, given farmers' perceptions of yield instability due to climate change and environmental stress factors.

OBJECTIVE

This research aims to examine the effect of different factors on soybeans adoption in a systemic way, considering socioeconomic and environmental dimensions as well as farmers' decision-making dynamics.

METHODS

Relying on the case Flanders, one of the struggling European regions, and considering potential value chains for arable and dairy farming, this research develops a participatory agent-based model.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

The results show the interaction between yield and price, highlight the limitations of subsidies' effects and support the focus on learning, training, and the importance of yield improvements in the adoption process of soybean in Flanders.

SIGNIFICANCE

This study provides a dynamic perspective into the problem of soybean adoption in Europe by examining farmers' decision-making processes and the social environment that influences their choices and perceptions of success.

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来源期刊

Agricultural Systems 农林科学-农业综合

CiteScore

13.30

自引率

7.60%

发文量

174

审稿时长

30 days

期刊介绍： Agricultural Systems is an international journal that deals with interactions - among the components of agricultural systems, among hierarchical levels of agricultural systems, between agricultural and other land use systems, and between agricultural systems and their natural, social and economic environments. The scope includes the development and application of systems analysis methodologies in the following areas: Systems approaches in the sustainable intensification of agriculture; pathways for sustainable intensification; crop-livestock integration; farm-level resource allocation; quantification of benefits and trade-offs at farm to landscape levels; integrative, participatory and dynamic modelling approaches for qualitative and quantitative assessments of agricultural systems and decision making; The interactions between agricultural and non-agricultural landscapes; the multiple services of agricultural systems; food security and the environment; Global change and adaptation science; transformational adaptations as driven by changes in climate, policy, values and attitudes influencing the design of farming systems; Development and application of farming systems design tools and methods for impact, scenario and case study analysis; managing the complexities of dynamic agricultural systems; innovation systems and multi stakeholder arrangements that support or promote change and (or) inform policy decisions.