Does a sense of intergenerational commitments modify farmers’ preferences for conservation tillage? Evidence from the choice experiment in Moldova

The expansion of conservation tillage helps to improve soil health in countries affected by the soil erosion, such as the Republic of Moldova. The main objective of this paper was to investigate Moldovan farmers’ preferences for the hypothetical policy scheme designed to promote conservation tillage in the framework of a discrete choice experiment. The heterogeneity of farmers' preferences was explained using the latent concept of a sense of intergenerational commitments (IC) via a hybrid choice model. We found that farmers are reluctant to adopt more advanced forms of conservation tillage (such as zero tillage) and prefer to choose minimum tillage. They positively value financial support (both direct payments and investment subsidies), while the availability of advisory support is not the key factor. We also found that farmers with greater sense of IC have less negative attitudes toward zero tillage and put less positive value on monetary aspects. It seems that these farmers are more driven by moral obligations to society and are less dependent on external support. Policy makers should continue to develop financial incentives to promote conservation agriculture practices but they should also be aware of the important role of farmers and agricultural policy from a social justice perspective.