Abstract Agriculture is a key player in the conservation of natural resources and cultural landscapes and one of the most prominent interfaces between human activity and soil. The present paper reveals a social perspective on soil functions. In this context, it was assumed that perceptions of soil functions could transform themselves into components of agro-ecosystems and influence the whole decision-making process. Therefore, it is indispensable to look at farmers when approaching soil functions. The objective of this study was twofold. Firstly, Romanian farmers’ perception of the importance of soil functions was investigated. Secondly, it was revealed how well farmers’ perception of soil functions importance and socio-economic variables could predict the “Use of compost”. Soil functions were selected based on an extensive literature review. Farmers’ perceptions of soil functions and the use of compost as a measure taken to improve soil productivity were studied through a questionnaire applied to a sample of 278 Romanian farmers randomly selected from sixteen villages. Binary logistic regression revealed that the perceived importance of two soil functions could predict the use of compost – “Water quantity regulation” and “Water quality maintenance and enhancement”. The study concluded that strengthening the importance of the “Water quantity regulation” function in farmers’ minds can stimulate the use of compost. It was also inferred that because younger farmers are more prone to composting, they will be more receptive to marketing actions related to compost use, such as the acquisitions of materials and instruments useful for compost production and use. In a context where a real dialogue to elaborate well-grounded environmental policies is still elusive because of differences between farmers and policy-makers’ views, investigation of farmers’ perceptions can bring a significant contribution towards a bottom-up approach for sustainable soil management.

中文翻译：

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土壤功能和质量改善的社会视角：罗马尼亚农民的看法

摘要 农业是保护自然资源和文化景观的关键参与者，也是人类活动与土壤之间最突出的界面之一。本文揭示了土壤功能的社会视角。在这种情况下，人们假设对土壤功能的看法可以将其自身转化为农业生态系统的组成部分并影响整个决策过程。因此，在处理土壤功能时，必须要考虑农民。这项研究的目的是双重的。首先，调查了罗马尼亚农民对土壤功能重要性的看法。其次，揭示了农民对土壤功能重要性和社会经济变量的看法如何预测“堆肥的使用”。土壤功能的选择基于广泛的文献综述。通过对从 16 个村庄随机抽取的 278 名罗马尼亚农民样本进行问卷调查，研究了农民对土壤功能的看法以及使用堆肥作为提高土壤生产力的措施。二元逻辑回归表明，两种土壤功能的感知重要性可以预测堆肥的使用——“水量调节”和“水质保持和提高”。该研究得出的结论是，在农民心目中加强“水量调节”功能的重要性可以刺激堆肥的使用。还推断，由于年轻农民更倾向于堆肥，他们将更容易接受与堆肥使用相关的营销活动，例如购买对堆肥生产和使用有用的材料和工具。