Role of self-actualization in green production behavior: Evidence from rice smallholders in China

Abstract

Understanding who adopts green production and why are important issues that need to be addressed in the context of increasingly severe agricultural pollution. Previous studiesh have generally researched smallholder subsistence orientation, typically employing profit maximisation or risk minimisation models. However, Chinese farmers have differentiated, and have unique characteristics. This study collected 960 random rice farmers and their village committee administrators (n=19) and conducted quantitative analysis. The findings revealed that 94.9% of the farmers’ rice-planting area was less than 2 ha, whereas 80.21% of farmers self-reported their rice production purpose as family self-feeding. Furthermore, using the new standard to define smallholders based on whether their production purpose is self-feeding or selling, non-smallholders have an overall advantage and pass the t-test. Even more non-smallholder (76.32% ) intentionally choose green pesticide than smallholders (66.1%), but their decision-making logic is different. Binary logistic regression results show that three aspects of self-actualization (environmental, market, and personal) positively and significantly affects the green production behavior of smallholders, but not significant for non-smallholders. In China, where smallholders are the mainstay of agriculture production, green production by smallholders will greatly improve the ecological environment and provide higher-quality agricultural products.