Abstract
The quality of cultivated land has been seriously degraded due to the overuse of chemical fertilizer in China. Land conservation technologies (LCTs) have been proven to effectively address land degradation and improve land productivity. In this study, a multivariate probit model is applied to empirically analyze the correlation effects and determinants of the application of LCTs application using cross-sectional data collected on 690 large-scale grain producers from the Jiangsu and Jiangxi provinces in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The sample farmers were individually investigated by face-to-face questionnaires in the field that included around 400 questions. The results revealed that there are significant complementary relationships among farm manure application, commercial organic fertilizer use, and green manure plantation, and between formula fertilization and straw returning. Regarding the determinants, highly educated farmers and farmers with a large farm size and high incomes are more likely to adopt LCTs. The land size variable shows an inverted U-shaped relationship with formula fertilization, with an inflection point at 153 mu (10.20 ha), while showing an U-shaped relationship with commodity organic fertilizer use and green manure plantation technologies, with the turning points at 207 mu (13.80 ha) and 124 mu (8.27 ha), respectively. The results also indicate that extension services from agricultural technicians, agricultural technical information, and policy knowledge variables have positive effects on the application of LCTs, while the subsidy policy variable does not appear to have the expected effect. To promote the application of LCTs, suggestions include improving the extension system, selecting targeted farmers for extension training, expanding environmental policy advocacy to increase farmers’ knowledge about land degradation, and adjusting subsidies.
Highlights
Land degradation caused by the excessive use of chemical fertilizer has been serious in China due to aggressive urbanization and intensive agriculture development over the last few decades
The results show that the chi-square value of the model is 49.14 with p = 0.000, indicating that correlation exists among the random perturbation terms of various equations, and it is appropriate to use the multivariate probit model in this study
The multicollinearity of the regression variables is examined by the variance inflation factor (VIF)
Summary
Land degradation caused by the excessive use of chemical fertilizer has been serious in China due to aggressive urbanization and intensive agriculture development over the last few decades. In order to reduce chemical fertilizer use intensity and protect cultivated land, a series of protection policies and measures are promulgated in China [10,11,12]. “The action plan for protecting and promoting the quality of cultivated land” and “The action plan of zero growth in fertilizer application until 2020”, which were issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, point out that land conservation measures and technologies in terms of applying farm manure, straw returning, formula fertilization, and green manure plantation can effectively increase the organic matter content in soil and land productivity
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