Adoption of practices of environmental sustainability in viticulture: first suggestions from Canton of Ticino

Abstract

The paper investigates the practices of environmental sustainability implemented in viticulture to minimize the negative impact of agricultural operations on the environment. Through the use of an electronic questionnaire, developed on a theoretical approach based on the Stakeholders Theory and the Theory of Planned Behaviour, and sent to a sample of wineries of the Canton of Ticino, the research pursues a triple aim: (i) to understand which are the main practices and initiatives of environmental sustainability adopted at firm level; (ii) to identify the main stakeholders that affect the choices of managers and owners to orient the firms towards the adoption of practices aimed at greater environmental sustainability; and (iii) to identify the personal drivers that most influence the managers' orientation towards a lower impact on the environment. The results show that the most common practices are the reduction of chemical inputs and the minimization of soil working. In this sense, a significant weight is exerted by the pressures coming from regulatory, societal, and value chain stakeholders, that, together with the manager's perception on the environmental practices, influence the orientation of the firm towards strategies that have a lower impact on the environment. The small size of the sample does not allow generalizing the results, but it provides some suggestions from a managerial and political point of view and it gives new ideas for future research.