Farmers’ Adoption Preferences for Sustainable Agriculture Practices in Northwest China

Yixin Nong, Changbin Yin, Xiaoyan Yi, Jing Ren and Hsiaoping Chien
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Yixin Nong: Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-Ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan
Changbin Yin: Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Xiaoyan Yi: Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Jing Ren: Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Hsiaoping Chien: Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences, 1-1 Ohwashi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8686, Japan

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 15, 1-13

Abstract: In the highest soil erosion regions of arid and semiarid northwest China, water resource deficits and farmland misuse have further exacerbated soil degradation. Therefore, understanding how farmers in diverse agroclimatic zones perceive and respond to different conservation practices is important to the implementation of sustainable agriculture practices (SAPs). To this end, this study uses a best–worst scaling approach to examine the adoption preferences for nine SAPs among grain and cash crop farmers and investigates the influence of farm and climatic characteristics on adoption preferences based on a face to face survey of 554 households in Gansu province, which is classified as an arid and semiarid area in northwest China. Both grain and cash crop farmers had stronger preferences for the practices of using organic instead of chemical fertilizers and of improving irrigation practices. In addition, while cash crop farmers also had strong preferences for cover crop-related practices, they preferred long-term fallows least. Household income, livestock, and precipitation influence the potential perceived importance of SAPs. The different perceived importance of these practices suggests new possible combinations or packages for a sustainable agriculture program during the cropping structure adjustment in Gansu.

Keywords: adoption preference; sustainable agriculture practices; best–worst scaling; northwest China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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