Chapter 4 Farmer Perceptions of Silvoarable Systems in Seven European Countries A.R. Graves 1 *, P.J. Burgess 1 , F. Liagre 2 , A. Pisanelli 3 , P. Paris 3 , G. Moreno 4 , M. Bellido 4 , M. Mayus 5 , M. Postma 5 , B. Schindler 6 , K. Mantzanas 7 , V.P. Papanastasis 7 , and C. Dupraz 8 Abstract Between 2003 and 2004, 264 face-to-face interviews were undertaken to determine farmers’ perceptions of silvoarable agroforestry across 14 sample areas in seven European countries. Across the 14 sample areas, 40% of respondents had heard the term “agroforestry” and 33% then defined it as an association of trees with crops or livestock. By contrast those farmers, who had not heard of the term, were almost as likely to define “agroforestry” as “silviculture” (24%) as an “association of trees and crops or trees and livestock” (25%). Farmers were then shown pictures of silvoarable agroforestry, where trees and arable crops were grown on the same land unit. Farmers in Mediterranean areas felt that the principal benefit of silvoarable systems would be increased farm profitability (37%), whereas farmers in Northern Europe placed greatest value on environmental benefits (28%). When asked to identify the greatest negative attribute, Mediterranean farmers tended to identify intercrop yield decline (31%), whereas farmers in Northern Europe tended to highlight the general complexity of work (21%) and difficulties with mechanisation (17%). When asked to design a silvoarable system for their farm, Mediterranean farmers tended to envisage systems with a higher tree density (100 trees per hectare) than those in Northern Europe (55 trees per hectare). Overall half of all farmers interviewed indicated that they would “attempt” silvoarable 1 Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedfordshire, MK43 0AL, UK 2 Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d'Agriculture, 9 Avenue Georges V, 75008 Paris, France 3 Istituto di Biologia Agro-ambientale e Forestale, CNR, Porano, Italy 4 Universidad de Extremadura, Plasencia, Spain 5 Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands 6 FINIS, Groß Zecher, Germany 7 Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece 8 Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, 2 Place Viala, 34060 Montpellier, France * Corresponding author: Building 42, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedfordshire, MK43 0AL, UK, e-mail: a.graves@cranfield.ac.uk, p.burgess@cranfield.ac.uk A. Rigueiro-Rodríguez et al. (eds.), Agroforestry in Europe: 67 Current Status and Future Prospects. © Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2009