Exploring Impacts of Perceived Value and Government Regulation on Farmers’ Willingness to Adopt Wheat Straw Incorporation in China

Zhaoxu Liu,Weiya Zhu,Jinghua Sun,Yanbo Qu

doi:10.3390/land10101051

Abstract

In China, wheat straw incorporation (WSI) is the most popular way of utilizing wheat straw. WSI can manage agricultural residues to improve soil quality and avoid open burning in fields. However, farmers have been reluctant to implement WSI, which hinders sustainability. This study collected first-hand data about 1027 wheat growers, and used a Logit model to explore the influence of perceived value, government regulation, and their interaction on farmer willingness to adopt WSI. The results also reveal the differences between farmers with different farm sizes, as well as differences in other characteristics impacting WSI willingness. The study found that implementing government regulations and increasing the positive perceived value by farmers can effectively improve farmer willingness to adopt WSI. For example, government subsidies and farmers’ perceptions about cost-related risks impact farmer willingness. There is an interaction effect between government regulation and perceived value with respect to farmer willingness. Policy outreach could effectively strengthen the positive impacts of farmers’ perception of social benefits on farmer willingness. Government subsidies could effectively weaken the negative impacts of farmers’ perception of cost-related and time-related risks on farmer willingness. Farmers with different sized farms are influenced differently by government regulation and perceived value. The willingness of large-scale farmers to adopt WSI is generally influenced by government regulation and perceived value; in contrast, the willingness of traditional farmers is mainly influenced by policy outreach and perceived economic benefits.

Highlights

Agricultural production depends highly on resource conditions and, in turn, directly affects the ecological environment
Given the large volume of wheat straw burned in open fields, this study focused on farmers’
This study mainly evaluates the impact of perceived value and government regulation

Summary

Introduction

Agricultural production depends highly on resource conditions and, in turn, directly affects the ecological environment. The utilization of crop straw relates closely to the green development of agriculture and improvements in rural ecological environments. Many developing countries have low straw utilization rates, and open field burning is the most common straw disposal mode. Crop straw is very plentiful in China [2], with an estimated annual production close to 900 million tons. It is estimated that 200 million tons or more go unused [3]. Turning to wheat as an example, China is the largest wheat producer in the world. China produced 140 million tons of wheat straw in 2016; approximately 20% was discarded or burned in open fields

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion