Does External Shock Influence Farmer’s Adoption of Modern Irrigation Technology?—A Case of Gansu Province, China

Yongfeng Tan, Apurbo Sarkar, Airin Rahman, Lu Qian, Waqar Hussain Memon and Zharkyn Magzhan
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Yongfeng Tan: College of Economics and Management, Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University, Xianyang 712100, China
Apurbo Sarkar: College of Economics and Management, Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University, Xianyang 712100, China
Airin Rahman: School of Finance and Economics, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Lu Qian: College of Economics and Management, Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University, Xianyang 712100, China
Waqar Hussain Memon: School of Mechanical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Xiaoling Wei, Nanjing 210014, China
Zharkyn Magzhan: College of Economics and Management, Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University, Xianyang 712100, China

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 8, 1-16

Abstract: Due to the severe irrigational water scarcity and ever-growing contamination of existing water resources, the potential of improved and innovative irrigation technology has emerged. The risk-taking network may play an essential role in the adoption of modern irrigation technology (MIT). The main goals of the current study were to find the impacts of external shocks on MIT adoption by farmers. For doing so, the study analyzed the mediating effect of economic vulnerability (EV) and the moderating effect of the risk-taking network on farmer’s adaptation of MIT. Economic vulnerability of farmers refers to risks caused by external shocks to the farming system which may affect the farmer’s adoption of MIT. The empirical set-up of the study consists of micro survey data of 509 farmers from the Gansu Province of China. The results show that the external shock has a significant negative impact on adapting MIT by rural farmers. At the same time, EV plays an intermediary effect in increasing the impact of external irrigation on the adaptation of MIT. The intermediary to total effect is 36.57%. The risk-taking network has a moderate effect on the relationship between external shocks, affecting farmers to adopt MIT, while external shocks also increase EV which affects farmers’ adopting MIT. Thus, it can be said that the risk-taking network regulates the direct path of external shocks affecting farmers’ choice to adapt to MIT, and external shocks also affect farmer’s MIT adaptation. The public and private partnerships should be strengthened to facilitate risk minimization. Government should provide subsidies, and financial organizations should also formulate more accessible loans and risk-sharing facilities. The government should expand the support for formal and informal risk-taking network. They should also extend their support for formal and informal risk-taking networks to improve the risk response-ability of vulnerable farmers. The concerned authorities should attach smallholder farmers’ socio-economic structure and reform the existing policies according to their demands. The governmental authorities should also endorse the risk-sharing function of informal institutions.

Keywords: economic vulnerability; risk-taking network; sustainable water conservation; water scarcity; modern irrigation technology; capacity building (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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