Perception of Brazilian agrarian sciences students on sustainability indicators for dairy farming

Source Agritrop Cirad (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/609116/)

International audience

English. The perception of future professionals dealing with farrns about the importance sustainability indicators is fundamental for the adoption and implementation of better agricultural practices. The objective of the research was to assess the perception of Agrarian Sciences* students from Brazilian higher education institutions about the importance of sustainability indicators for dairy farming. We used online surveys to find out students' perception. The total number of survey respondents was 351 students. Among these, 70% were students from public institutions and 30% from private institutions. Students from public educational institutions rated the technical and social indicators as among the most important. And for students from private institutions, the technical and social indicators were pointed out as those of lesser importance. Students who had previous contact with rural production evaluated technical indicators with lower scores (less important), and economic and social indicators with higher scores (more important). Students who performed intemships or work with dairy cattle considered economic and social indicators as the most important, compared to environmental and technical indicators. The students of the Agronomie Engineering, Biosystems Engineering and Yeterinary Medicine courses evaluated the technical indicators as more important than the other courses. Finally, we conclude that the plurality of students' perceptions on sustainability indicators for dairy farming and the difficulty to building up a shared vision in their ponderation is mainly related to concrete experiences on farms, to the differences on the syllabus of agrarian science courses and to the public or private nature of the educational systems. * Agribusiness, Agronomy, Agronomie Engineering, Agricultural Engineering, Biosystems Engineering, Yeterinary Medicine, and Animal Sciences.