Title: Stakeholders' opinions and perceptions on the cultivation of legumes for livestock in Greece
Authors: Efstratios Michalis; Marisol Dar Ali; Athanasios Ragkos
Addresses: Agricultural Economics Research Institute, Hellenic Agricultural Organisation 'DIMITRA', Kourtidou 56-58, 111 45 Athens, Greece ' Agricultural Economics Research Institute, Hellenic Agricultural Organisation 'DIMITRA', Kourtidou 56-58, 111 45 Athens, Greece ' Agricultural Economics Research Institute, Hellenic Agricultural Organisation 'DIMITRA', Kourtidou 56-58, 111 45 Athens, Greece
Abstract: Grain legumes constitute an important alternative to soy meal in animal nutrition but also a crop sector that can be adopted by farmers in order to be included in rotations. This study presents orientations for strategic and policy design towards the inclusion of grain legumes in livestock production and their adoption by crop farmers in Greece, based on experts' opinions. To meet this objective, a structured questionnaire was addressed to two groups of stakeholders: 1) researchers and academics; 2) agronomists, advisors and representatives of cooperatives. By means of descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis methods, the study pinpointed technical, economic and policy lock-ins hindering the adoption of the sector across the country. This study constitutes one of the first research endeavours for the examination of this issue in Greece, suggesting integrated strategies which need to focus on the development of regional supply chains but also on efficient training and advisory support.
Keywords: crop rotations; livestock production; animal nutrition; questionnaire survey; stakeholders; principal component analysis; PCA; adoption barriers; strategic and policy design.
DOI: 10.1504/IJSAMI.2024.137680
International Journal of Sustainable Agricultural Management and Informatics, 2024 Vol.10 No.2, pp.211 - 229
Received: 20 Jun 2023
Accepted: 29 Aug 2023
Published online: 02 Apr 2024 *