Roles of Motivation, Opportunity, Ability, and Trust in the Willingness of Farmers to Adopt Green Fertilization Techniques

Unveiling the Mechanisms of Digital Technology in Driving Farmers' Green Production Transformation: Evidence from China's Watermelon and Muskmelon Sector

Leveraging the transformative potential of digital technologies to support the farmers' green production transformation (FGPT) is a critical catalyst for facilitating the accelerated green transformation and upgrading of agricultural systems, thereby achieving high-quality agricultural development. Using survey data from major watermelon- and muskmelon-producing regions in Henan, Shandong, and Xinjiang, and employing Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Propensity Score Matching (PSM), and the Logit model, this study examines the mechanisms through which digital technology influences FGPT. The findings reveal that the adoption of digital technology significantly reduces farmers' use of pesticides and fertilizers, with a particularly pronounced effect on pesticide reduction. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the impact of digital technology on reducing pesticide and fertilizer usage varies across regions: while its adoption leads to significant reductions in Henan and Shandong, the positive effects in Xinjiang remain statistically insignificant. Mechanism analysis shows that digital technology enhances FGPT by reducing information asymmetry, improving market access, and enhancing precision management practices. Based on these findings, this study recommends expanding awareness campaigns to accelerate the adoption of digital technology, enhancing digital infrastructure to bridge the urban-rural digital divide, and optimizing digital technology promotion systems. These actions can be taken alongside the implementation of economic incentives and compensation mechanisms. The insights and policy recommendations from this research provide valuable guidance for China and other countries seeking to leverage digital technology for sustainable agricultural development.

Understanding evolutionary process of public participation leveraging agent-based simulation: The case of waste incineration power projects

Public participation, as a vital way for conflict management, has attracted increasing attention. Although previous studies have examined the determinants of public participation, the evolutionary process of the participatory behavior has seldom been investigated. Based on the motivation-opportunity-ability theory, a concept model was constructed to illustrate individual behavior of participation in waste incineration power (WIP) projects. Data collected from a questionnaire survey was used to examine the important factors involved in the concept model that significantly influence public's willingness to participate in WIP projects. Thereafter, an agent-based simulation within a social network based on the opinion propagation dynamics was developed to simulate the change of the agents and several simulation experiments were implemented. It was found that with the dissemination of information and the interaction of opinions, the whole network tends to converge to a few central nodes, and the difference of degree of each node also increases gradually. The increase of interaction threshold and moral incentive significantly enhance average participation intention and the proportion of participants. The findings advocate for promoting information disclosure, strengthening opinion interaction between individuals, and emphasizing the internalization of moral sense into the individual's own sense of obligation. This study could enhance the understanding of evolutionary process of public participation in WIP projects and provide valuable suggestions for the promotion of sustainable development of environmental projects.

The Effect of Land Right Stability on the Application of Fertilizer Reduction Technologies—Evidence from Large-Scale Farmers in China

This article examines the impact of the stability of the management rights of transferred land (TLMR) on the adoption of technologies aiming to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers (ARFTs) based on the survey data of large-scale grain growing households in Anhui, China. Using the IV-Probit model, the present paper defines the stability of TLMR and the results estimated by IV-Probit model shows that a one-year extension of land lease period can increase the probability of using organic fertilizer and soil-testing formula fertilizer by 3.16% and 4.92%, respectively, while contract breaching in the lease period can reduce the probability of using organic fertilizer and soil-testing formula fertilizer by 46.9% and 51.38%, respectively. However, the land-lease period and land transfer contract breaching in the lease period have no significant effect on the use of farmyard manure by large-scale grain growing households. The main conclusion is that improving the stability of TLMR is conducive to prompting large-scale grain growing households to adopt ARFTs, especially the adoption of organic fertilizer and soil-testing formula fertilizer. The government should improve the stability of TLMR by standardizing the form and content associated with land transfer contracts and setting the minimum land-lease term.

Influencing household-level waste-sorting and composting behaviour: What works? A systematic review (1995-2020) of waste management interventions

Decentralized waste sorting and composting can divert almost two-thirds of household waste from landfill. However, national rates of composting and recycling remain low in many parts of the globe. This review critically evaluates the design and efficacy of behaviour-change interventions to influence households to sort and compost organic waste. The systematic literature search yielded 3595 titles and abstracts which were reviewed and resulted in 14 unique interventions. The social marketing benchmark criteria are utilized to critically examine the design of these interventions. Synthesized results indicate a need for customized interventions that are co-designed with users and tailored to address their specific needs and challenges. Interventions with four or more social marketing elements produced positive behavioural outcomes, albeit with varying impact. This review highlights gaps in the design of waste management interventions and provides suggestions for future practices.

Addressing the Differences in Farmers’ Willingness and Behavior Regarding Developing Green Agriculture—A Case Study in Xichuan County, China

The development of green agriculture is an effective way to realize the sustainable development of agriculture, which is of great significance for guaranteeing national food security, improving the supply ability of agricultural products, promoting the healthy development of cultivated land, and realizing green development. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China has proposed the establishment of a green-development-oriented agricultural support system, which intends to reverse the worsening of the agricultural ecological environment; however, in 2019, the input of agricultural chemical fertilizer still exceeded the international limit of the safe application of chemical fertilizer. In recent years, agriculture has surpassed industry to become the largest non-point source pollution industry in China, seriously affecting the rural ecological civilization construction and the advancement of green sustainable development coordinated. To analyze the key factors affecting the development of green agriculture, in this study, logistic binary regression analysis was used to measure the main factors affecting farmers’ green agricultural production willingness and green agricultural production behavior. The results show that a farmer’s age, land type, compensation for land transfer, technical service organization, related training, and economic and technological subsidies had significant effects on their green agricultural production willingness. The age of farmers, number of staff, risk of green agricultural production technology, technical service organization, and economic and technological subsidies were shown to have significant effects on the green agricultural production behavior of farmers, where the different factors influenced the behavior to different degrees. Based on the above findings, it is suggested that the Chinese government should help farmers to carry out agricultural green transformation through technical training, policy popularization, economic subsidies, and educational support.