FERTILIZER USE AND ENVIRONMENTAL-POLICY IN AGRICULTURE - A SOCIOECONOMIC STUDY IN GREECE

The growing interest in environmental impacts of agriculture calls for effective agricultural policies to confront the expanding use of chemical fertilizers. Environmental policies in agriculture should be based on evidence concerning the factors influencing fertilizer usage. A hierarchical loglinear analysis of some social and economic factors showed that age, education, farm size, and employment status, all exert an independent effect on fertilizer usage. In addition, age and education exert a joint effect on fertilizer usage. It is found that the categories most likely to use high rates of application of fertilizer, at least in Greece, are full-time farmers 56 to 65 years old, well-educated or with small-sized holdings. The EECs socio-structural policy for agriculture is examined in the light of the above findings. It is concluded that the policy could form the core for an effective environmental policy in agriculture. However, areas are pointed out for the formulation of improved policy with avoidance of mistakes.