Study on the Effect of Digital Technology Adoption and Farmers’ Cognition on Fertilizer Reduction and Efficiency Improvement Behavior

Xinhui Peng, Xiaohuan Yan and Hongmei Wang ()
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Xinhui Peng: College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Xiaohuan Yan: College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Hongmei Wang: College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China

Agriculture, 2024, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-16

Abstract: Based on the field survey data for 1216 apple growers in three provinces from China’s Loess Plateau Region, this paper adopted Multivariate Probit (MVP) model and intermediary effect model to analyze the influence mechanisms of digital technology adoption (DTA) on farmers’ choices of Fertilizer-reduction and Efficiency-improving Technologies (FETs) from the perspective of farmers’ cognition (FC). The correlation effects of three typical FETs of soil testing and formula fertilization, integrated water-fertilizer fertilization and slow/controlled release fertilizer, were tested empirically. The results showed that DTA could significantly affect the adoption of FETs by apple growers, and FC played a partial mediating role, and there were complementary effects among the three typical FETs. The results were further confirmed by the propensity score matching (PSM) robustness test and the instrumental variable (IV) endogeneity test conducted in the conditional mixed-process (CMP). The results of our heterogeneity analysis showed that the promotion effect of DTA on FETs in the group with junior high school education or below was more significant than that in the group with higher education, and the promotion effect was more significant in the group with large operation scale. Therefore, the improvement in Internet penetration should not be taken as the ultimate goal, but more attention should be paid to farmers’ mastery and effective use of DTA, promote the improvement in farmers’ cognitive level, and implement the “bundled” publicity and guidance strategy of FETs adoption, so as to help in the green transformation of agriculture.

Keywords: digital technology adoption; farmers’ cognition; fertilizer reduction and efficiency improvement; multivariate probit model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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