Does the Improvement of Farmers’ Digital Literacy Restrain Their Opportunistic Behavior When They Choose Pest Control Methods in Certified Agro-Products?

Xiujuan Cui, Jieyu Yang, Ziqian Fan and Yongqiang Wang ()
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Xiujuan Cui: College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Jieyu Yang: College of Finance and Economics, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou 730070, China
Ziqian Fan: College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Yongqiang Wang: College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China

Agriculture, 2025, vol. 15, issue 14, 1-28

Abstract: Information asymmetry leads to farmers’ opportunistic behavior of disobeying pest control regulations in certified vegetable areas, but the improvement of farmers’ digital literacy has become an important means to break through the constrained dilemma of pest control information and change farmers’ pest control behaviors. Based on survey data from certified vegetable areas of Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia provinces in China, this study used Heckman two-stage model to analyze the impact of the improvement of farmers’ digital literacy on opportunistic behavior in pest control. The results are as follows. Firstly, the improvement of farmers’ digital literacy can restrain their opportunistic behavior in pest control. Secondly, the improvement of farmers’ digital literacy restrain their opportunistic behavior through three paths, namely, enhancing the awareness of obeying pest control regulations for certified vegetables, reducing the cost and risk of pest control in obeying the certification standards. Thirdly, the traceable certification label plays a positive moderating role in the process of improving digital literacy to restrain farmers’ opportunistic behavior. Accordingly, this study suggests strengthening the training of farmers’ digital literacy, promoting the digitalized traceability system for certified vegetables, establishing examination mechanisms for online pesticide purchases and logistics distribution, and imposing severe penalties for opportunistic behaviors.

Keywords: digital literacy; farmers in certified vegetable production areas; pest control; opportunistic behavior (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: 2025
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