How Agricultural Extension Services Improve Farmers’ Organic Fertilizer Use in China? The Perspective of Neighborhood Effect and Ecological Cognition

Dan Qiao, Ningjie Li, Li Cao, Desheng Zhang, Yanan Zheng and Tao Xu
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Dan Qiao: Management School, Hainan University, Haikou 570100, China
Ningjie Li: Management School, Hainan University, Haikou 570100, China
Li Cao: School of Finance, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Nanjing 210023, China
Desheng Zhang: Management School, Hainan University, Haikou 570100, China
Yanan Zheng: School of Economics, Hainan University, Haikou 570100, China
Tao Xu: Management School, Hainan University, Haikou 570100, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 12, 1-20

Abstract: Improving farmers’ usage of organic fertilizer is critical for the green and high-quality development of China’s agriculture. Based on 492 mango farmers’ survey data in Hainan Province, this paper uses an endogenous switching regression (ESR)model, empirically analyzes the impact of agricultural extension services on farmers’ willingness to use organic fertilizer, and further investigates the mediating role of ecological cognition and the moderating role of neighborhood effect in the influence mechanism. Results show agricultural extension services have a significant positive effect on farmers’ willingness to use organic fertilizer, ecological cognition has a partial mediating effect in the influence mechanism, which accounts for 17.84% of the total effect. The neighborhood effect has a positive moderating effect in the influence mechanism of ecological cognition on farmers’ willingness to use organic fertilizer. These results imply that agricultural extension services play a significant role in China’s sustainable agricultural development and by improving their awareness and taking advantage of the neighborhood effect, we can stimulate farmers’ willingness to green production. The study also puts forward policy recommendations on further promoting farmers’ use of organic fertilizer.

Keywords: willingness to use organic fertilizer; agricultural extension service; neighborhood effect; ecological cognition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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