Awareness and perception of contemporary climate change in the opinion of berry producers in Poland

Abstract

Agriculture, including horticulture, is one of the most vulnerable industries due to its high dependence on weather conditions. The topic of the impact of climate change on agriculture is being addressed more and more frequently, but research on berry producers’ awareness and perception of climate change is rarely conducted. Meanwhile, adaptation and mitigation measures at the farm level depend largely on the farmer’s awareness. Hence, the aim of this work was to identify the opinions of berry fruit producers in Poland and to assess their level of awareness, in terms of climate change and perception of the two-sided impact, i.e. climate change on production and production on climate. The data used in the work came from survey research conducted in 2021–2023 among 140 berry producers from 13 voivodeships of Poland. Only 8.57% of the surveyed berry producers are climate denialists, but as many as 75% of producers believe that berry production does not contribute to climate change. Producers point to rising in air temperature, dry spells, spring frosts, increased frequency of thunderstorms, strong winds and hailstorms as the most dangerous phenomena accompanying climate change. Producers include adaptation changes in their organizational and investment plans, but most see obstacles to implementation.