{"title":"How does internet use promote joint adoption of sustainable agricultural practices? Evidence from rice farmers in China","authors":"Wenjing Zhong, Yitao Chen, Lin Xie","doi":"10.1080/14735903.2023.2270244","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Climate change and public health emergencies have severely threatened world food security. In response, the Chinese government has actively promoted sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) and emphasized the importance of integrated packages to enhance the development of high-quality agriculture. However, due to information failure, farmers’ adoption rate of SAPs is still very low. Meanwhile, internet use can effectively reduce the cost of information barriers and catalyze farmers to promote the joint adoption of SAPs. This paper aims to theoretically elucidate the logic of how internet use impacts farmers’ joint adoption of SAPs. Empirical analysis based on data from 844 rice farmers in southern China reveals that internet use can significantly promote the joint adoption of SAPs, and adoption behaviours are complementary across multiple technologies. Furthermore, internet use in the group of rice farmers with more farmlands or those receiving subsidies is more inclined to adopt SAPs jointly. These findings suggest that developing countries should prioritize public investment in rural internet infrastructure to facilitate joint adoption of SAPs through farmers’ internet use. The moderate scale of farmland usage and targeted agricultural subsidy policies can further enhance the effectiveness of ICT-based joint adoption of SAPs.","PeriodicalId":50342,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.3000,"publicationDate":"2023-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2023.2270244","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"AGRICULTURE, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Climate change and public health emergencies have severely threatened world food security. In response, the Chinese government has actively promoted sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) and emphasized the importance of integrated packages to enhance the development of high-quality agriculture. However, due to information failure, farmers’ adoption rate of SAPs is still very low. Meanwhile, internet use can effectively reduce the cost of information barriers and catalyze farmers to promote the joint adoption of SAPs. This paper aims to theoretically elucidate the logic of how internet use impacts farmers’ joint adoption of SAPs. Empirical analysis based on data from 844 rice farmers in southern China reveals that internet use can significantly promote the joint adoption of SAPs, and adoption behaviours are complementary across multiple technologies. Furthermore, internet use in the group of rice farmers with more farmlands or those receiving subsidies is more inclined to adopt SAPs jointly. These findings suggest that developing countries should prioritize public investment in rural internet infrastructure to facilitate joint adoption of SAPs through farmers’ internet use. The moderate scale of farmland usage and targeted agricultural subsidy policies can further enhance the effectiveness of ICT-based joint adoption of SAPs.
期刊介绍:
The International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability ( IJAS) is a cross-disciplinary, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to advancing the understanding of sustainability in agricultural and food systems.
IJAS publishes both theoretical developments and critical appraisals of new evidence on what is not sustainable about current or past agricultural and food systems, as well as on transitions towards agricultural and rural sustainability at farm, community, regional, national and international levels, and through food supply chains. It is committed to clear and consistent use of language and logic, and the use of appropriate evidence to substantiate empirical statements.
IJAS increases knowledge on what technologies and processes are contributing to agricultural sustainability, what policies, institutions and economic structures are preventing or promoting sustainability, and what relevant lessons should be learned.