ODRA CASE STUDYRESEARCH FOR MODELLING

Narrative storylines

Structured description of agents basedon interviews’ transcripts.

What does it look like???

I LAND USE

LAND USE CHANGE He has been farming here since 1977 Started with 1,3ha, than increased acreage to

35ha. Next they decreased acreage, because there were floods every two years and droughts in the meantime and no help from the State was provided

In 1987 they rented their meadows to someone, because they didn’t have enough cattle anymore and in 1997 they ploughed them.

LAND USE NOW Now he grows wheat and barley, because

their production is the cheapest. On the previous meadows he grows wheat

now since he has no cattle to graze. He's got 5 ha of fallow lands because it's

impossible to seed everything at once - not enough time, equipment, seeds.

He has 1,5ha of meadows and 25 ares of forests - "they are just as they were".

LAND USE PLANS

He intends to afforestate land because he has10ha of V and VI class soils.

He will plant more strawberries if he finds a buyer.

He plans to assign 8 ares to his daughter, so that his wife could get the structural pension from EU.

II LANDSCAPE CHANGE PERCEPTIONSThe acreage of meadows

decreases due to ploughing. It

happens because demand for

hay diminished as a result of

decrease in cattle stock. Some

meadows were ploughed (and

land reclamation destroyed),

since farmers felt they did not

have enough arable lands.

III LAND RECLAMATION

GENERAL OPINIONS

LR doesn't work. Dikes and culverts were not repaired after flood.

LR doesn't exist at all because ditches are overgrown.

Ditches are not cleaned. One of his neighbors has a pond, so he cleans these ditches which serve him to let water off.

FLOODS/DROUGHTS Their fields are flooded always when snow

starts melting in spring, because ditches are obstructed. Losses due to floodings come up to 70-80%.

Yields were higher before fishponds were created. Now water stagnates in basins and the reaction of plants is immediate.

In case of drought losses are from 20-30% to 60% depending on grain type and drought intensity.

PERSONAL CARE 008 has never maintained his LR, agent 028

did it on his fields. 009 has ditches along the fields. He does not

maintain them because he pays fees and expects this work to be done for him.

013 does not maintain his LR because he doesn't know its construction and operation.

To protect his crops against flooding 016 has been cleaning ditches on the fields of other farmers as well as State Forests since 1997.

WATER PARTNERSHIP Participation in a WP is obvious for her, since

non-obstructed ditches are a crucial issue for farmers.

Personally he wants the WP to be created. He would share in a WP if he was sure that

local officials and other farmers support him. She wouldn't be able to be too active in a WP

due to problems with health, but she would pay dues if a WP existed.

IV SOCIAL ISSUES

NETWORKS

He asks only family for help.

He exchanges products with two people.

He asks family and professional advisers for information and advice.

DECISION MAKING MECHANISMS

Farmers fit crop types to conditions on a given field.

People just do what they always did - "they do not make any decisions, just seed".

No one asks anybody about anything - "maybe son asks his father, that's all".

Some farmers watch programs about farming on TV.

Farmers are guided by their own experience and habits, they "do the same things as their parents did”.

They ask professional advisers.

PERSONAL SOCIAL ACTIVITY

016 participates in village gatherings, in order to know what’s going on and because he likes to share his knowledge with others too.

013 is not engaged in the life of the local community, because of the lack of people in the same age in the village.

021 is strongly engaged in the life of local community, because she likes it.

AGENTS AND RULES

Agent property Property values UPTF BFNP FPO WPI WPTF

Land ownership Big farmerSmall farmerPart-time farmerNo farmland

+ + - --

+

Fish farming YesNo

+ + + +

Activity relatedto LRSmaintenance

Take leadershipMember of or willing tojoin WPNot member of WP butcleaning ditchesDo nothing but willingDo nothing and unwilling

-+

++

-

-

++

-

-

+++

++-

+

Agriculturalknowledge

HighMiddleLow

+ + + +

Social networkintegration

HighLow

+

BFNP Farming-related

IF * THEN keepFarmlandAsIs

IF (haveGrassLand OR haveFallowLand) AND goodSoilQuality AND suffEconomicBalance

THEN plow (-> turnLandToArable)

IF (haveGrassLand OR haveFallowLand) AND badSoilQuality AND suffEconomicBalance

THEN afforestate (->turnToForest)

IF (haveGrassLand OR haveFallowLand) AND suffEconomicBalance

THEN buildPond

LRS related IF bigLosses THEN considerLRSActivity

IF considerLRSActivity AND existsWorkingWPTHEN joinWP

IF considerLRSActivity AND noWPExistsTHEN cleanDitches

Network-related

IF askedByLeaderToJoinWPTHEN considerLRSActivity

(observe network neighbors in a given social context)IF goodLRSCond AND lessLossesTHEN considerLRSActivity

SOIL CLASS RULESIF HAVE MEADOWS IF VI or V class meadow AND no afforestation subsidies AND cattle

breeding profitable THEN keep meadow IF VI or V class meadow AND no afforestation subsidies AND cattle

breeding not profitable THEN abandon meadow OR IF direct payments/hectare THEN keep meadow

IF VI or V class meadow AND afforestation subsidies AND cattle breeding not profitable THEN afforestate

IF VI or V class meadow AND afforestation subsidies AND cattle breeding profitable THEN afforestate OR IF have big farm and cattle husbandry THEN keep meadow

IF IV class meadow AND cattle breeding profitable THEN keep meadow

IF IV class meadow AND cattle breeding not profitable THEN abandon OR IF direct payments/hectare OR growing grains very profitable THEN turn into arable

Thank You