Farmers’ attitude towards the policy of remediation during fallow in soil fertility declining and heavy metal polluted area of China

Abstract

Numerous countries and regions face soil fertility decline and heavy metal pollution, and China implements a policy of remediation during fallow (PRF) to deal with such challenges. In this study, we examine the evolution of PRF and surveys of farmers’ attitudes in China. We present suggestions which can be used as reference for other countries and regions. The Chinese government implemented the policy of remediation during production (PRP) to control the heavy metal pollution of land in 2014. The effect was unsatisfactory due to the lack of cooperation amongst farmers. Therefore, the Chinese government implemented PRF in 2016. Our investigation of 247 farmers shows that farmers’ comprehensive assessment of PRF is positively influenced by the cognition of government implementation, the cognition of policy function and the evaluation of value perception, and the PRF still faces several problems, such as low cognitive level of policy function, incomplete regulations of supervision and poor supporting system. Hence, we suggest that government should educate and train farmers, improve the supervision and set up the supporting system of PRF.