Does urban-rural income inequality increase agricultural fertilizer or pesticide use? A provincial panel data analysis in China

Abstract

The large urban-rural income inequality and indiscriminate use of fertilizer and pesticide, as well as the related environment degradation in China during the past decades concern the society. However, little is known about the relationship between the urban-rural income inequality and agricultural fertilizer and pesticide use in China. Based on the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis, this study aims to reveal how the urban-rural income inequality affects fertilizer and pesticide use from 1995 to 2015 in China. The results show that the relationship between per capita income of the rural households and per hectare fertilizer and pesticide use supports the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis. Meanwhile, there exists a significant and positive relationship between the urban-rural income inequality and per hectare fertilizer and pesticide use. The share of agricultural value added in provincial gross domestic product not only directly influences fertilizer and pesticide use, but affects the relationship between the urban-rural income inequality and fertilizer and pesticide use. This study demonstrates that more efforts should be devoted to narrowing the urban-rural income inequality and deepening the reform of agricultural research and extension system to reduce agricultural fertilizer and pesticide use in China. Acknowledgement : This study was supported by the Beijing Institute of Technology [grant number 20172242001] and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China [grant number 2016YFD0201301].