The Impact of Environmental Regulation and Technical Cognition on Farmers’ Adoption of Safety Agro-Utilization of Heavy Metal-Contaminated Farmland Soil

Xinyuan Guo, Jizhi Li (), Zejian Lin and Li Ma
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Xinyuan Guo: School of Business, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
Jizhi Li: School of Business, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China
Zejian Lin: Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha 410125, China
Li Ma: Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau of Cili County, Zhangjiajie 427200, China

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 8, 1-17

Abstract: Regarding the large-scale heavy metal pollution in farmland, China has innovatively explored a farming measure governance approach of “production while repairing”. However, due to farmers’ difficulty breaking through conventional planting habits, the governance effects need to be more sustainable. Based on 447 survey data of farmers in 14 cadmium-polluted counties (cities) in Hunan Province, this paper uses the Bootstrap method to explore the impact of environmental regulation, technical cognition, and self-efficacy on farmers’ adoption of “variety–irrigation–pH” (VIP) technology. The results show the following: (1) Environmental regulation can effectively improve farmers’ adoption of VIP technology, and different types of regulation are classified as guidance regulation, constraint regulation, and incentive regulation according to the size of their impact. (2) Technical cognition mediates the environmental regulation process influencing farmers’ adoption. (3) In the process of environmental regulation influencing farmers’ adoption of irrigation and pH through technical cognition, the moderating effect of self-efficacy was positive. Enhance the strategic planning of environmental regulation, bolster technological research and development efforts, and nurture innovative agricultural entities that can promote the adoption of VIP technology. The results have practical significance for further guiding farmers to participate in treating heavy metal pollution.

Keywords: environmental regulation; individual cognition; self-efficacy; heavy metal-contaminated farmland soil; stimulus–organism–response theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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