More Income, Less Pollution? How Income Expectation Affects Pesticide Application

Xiaoshan Su, Jingyi Shi, Tianxi Wang, Qinghui Shen, Wentao Niu and Zhenzhen Xu
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Xiaoshan Su: School of Management, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Jingyi Shi: School of Management, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Qinghui Shen: School of Management, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Wentao Niu: School of Management, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Zhenzhen Xu: School of Architecture and Built Environment, Deakin University, Geelong 3219, Australia

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 9, 1-23

Abstract: Farmers are still the foundation of China’s current “small, scattered, and weak” agricultural production pattern. As such, increasing guidance for reduction response behavior is central to reducing agricultural pesticide use. Following this pesticide reduction logic, four of the most widely promoted pesticide reduction technologies, including light trapping, biopesticide application, healthy crop growth, and insect-proof net technologies, were selected, and a theoretical analysis framework of farmers’ willingness to adopt these technologies was constructed based on the theories of value perception and planned behavior. An ordered logistic regression model is used to explore key factors behind current pesticide reduction technology perceptions, technology response willingness, and behavioral decisions of farmers in China, with survey data from 516 farmers in Henan Province. The results show that among the four pesticide reduction technologies, healthy crop growth technology is the most-appealing one for farmers, followed by insect-proof net technology and biopesticide application technology. The least-appealing one for farmers is the light trapping technology. Farmers’ perceived degree of income improvement from technology adoption is the main determinant of their willingness, which is positively significant at a 1% confidence level in all four models. In addition, farmers’ willingness to respond to technologies is also significantly influenced by farmers’ perception of technical operational ability, perception of risk from adopting technology, government-related subsidies, government technical training guidance, trust in government promotion of technology, and perception of the government’s role in improving the external environment for adopting technology.

Keywords: pesticide reduction; farmer response behavior; value perception; theory of planned behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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