Training and Self-Learning: How to Improve Farmers’ Willingness to Adopt Farmland Conservation Technology? Evidence from Jiangsu Province of China

Zhou Xue, Jieqiong Li and Guangqiao Cao ()
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Zhou Xue: College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
Jieqiong Li: Science and Technology Department, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
Guangqiao Cao: Nanjing Institute of Agricultural Mechanization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Nanjing 210014, China

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 12, 1-15

Abstract: The quality of cultivated land is an important basis for guaranteeing grain yield, and improving the quality of cultivated land is an important initiative of the Chinese government to implement its food security strategy. This paper explores the effects of formal technical training and informal online self-directed learning on farmers’ willingness to adopt cultivated land conservation technology using farmer-level survey data. The results show that farmers’ participation in technical training effectively increased their willingness to adopt straw return technologies, but participation in online self-directed learning did not affect farmers’ willingness to adopt, while farmers who participated in both technical training and online self-directed learning had stronger willingness to adopt. These results show that internet-based self-directed learning is a useful supplement to the formal training system. Further analysis revealed that participation in technical training increased farmers’ awareness of the usefulness of the straw-return technology, which in turn increased their willingness to adopt the conservation technology of cropland. This paper clarifies the impact and mechanisms of the two main existing technology learning modes on farmers’ adoption of new technologies in rural China and provides a reference for the promotion of agricultural technology diffusion and the improvement of the quality of cultivated land in China.

Keywords: cultivated land conservation technology; willingness to adopt technology; technically training; online self-directed learning; straw returning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:11:y:2022:i:12:p:2230-:d:996441

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