Organic Adoption Research Articles

The Effect of Land Right Stability on the Application of Fertilizer Reduction Technologies—Evidence from Large-Scale Farmers in China

This article examines the impact of the stability of the management rights of transferred land (TLMR) on the adoption of technologies aiming to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers (ARFTs) based on the survey data of large-scale grain growing households in Anhui, China. Using the IV-Probit model, the present paper defines the stability of TLMR and the results estimated by IV-Probit model shows that a one-year extension of land lease period can increase the probability of using organic fertilizer and soil-testing formula fertilizer by 3.16% and 4.92%, respectively, while contract breaching in the lease period can reduce the probability of using organic fertilizer and soil-testing formula fertilizer by 46.9% and 51.38%, respectively. However, the land-lease period and land transfer contract breaching in the lease period have no significant effect on the use of farmyard manure by large-scale grain growing households. The main conclusion is that improving the stability of TLMR is conducive to prompting large-scale grain growing households to adopt ARFTs, especially the adoption of organic fertilizer and soil-testing formula fertilizer. The government should improve the stability of TLMR by standardizing the form and content associated with land transfer contracts and setting the minimum land-lease term.

Place attachment, environmental cognition and organic fertilizer adoption of farmers: evidence from rural China.

For preventing the excessive consumption of agricultural resources, it is of vital importance to promote agricultural pro-environmental behavior of farmers. Despite the proven importance of psychological factors in encouraging farmers' adoption of organic fertilizer, the evidence is scarce. To fill this gap, this study aims to explore how place attachment and environmental cognition affect farmers' organic fertilizer adoption with a community sample of 944 rural farmers collected in Hubei province. Specifically, we firstly distinguish two dimensions of place attachment, namely, natural attachment and civic attachment, and then we explore the influence of those dimensions and environmental cognition on farmers' adoption of organic fertilizer. The results reveal that both place attachment and environmental cognition positively affect farmers' organic fertilizer adoption. Furthermore, the roles of place attachment vary across different groups divided by farmers' environmental cognition degree and age. Therefore, to promote green agricultural practices, policy-makers should enhance various farmers' place attachment and environmental cognition by strengthening infrastructure construction, organizing collective activities, and conducting animation propaganda.

Does experience sharing affect farmers’ pro-environmental behavior? A randomized controlled trial in Vietnam

Encouraging farmers to adopt pro-environmental production is vital to the promotion of sustainable agriculture. Previous observational studies emphasize the importance of economic incentives and information access to farmers’ decision-making processes; however, due to endogeneity issues, little strong causal evidence is available. This study makes an original contribution by experimentally examining the impacts of the 50% price subsidy and information treatments on farmers’ adoption of organic fertilizer. A short video sharing the experience of farmers who have applied organic fertilizer is selected as our information treatment. We analyze data from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted with 1287 small-scale tea farmers in Vietnam. We find significant impacts of both the information and 50% price subsidy treatments. Moreover, the effect of the former is approximately one-third that of the latter. Subgroup treatment analysis also reveals that the information treatment performs well for members of certification groups. Thus, to induce farmers to adopt pro-environmental production behaviors, information treatment can partially substitute for subsidies to reduce the burden on the public budget.

Does awareness about land tenure security (LTS) increase investments in agriculture? Evidence from rural households in Vietnam

Although previous studies have shown the importance to agricultural investments of awareness about land tenure security (LTS), to date, little quantitative evidence has been published regarding the effects of awareness about LTS. This study contributes to the current research by showing the causal effect on agricultural investments of awareness about LTS. In detail, we examine whether awareness about the increase in the duration of agricultural land-use rights improves farmers’ investments in agriculture. Under the new land law passed in November 2013 in Vietnam, the usage duration of annual cropland and aquaculture land increased significantly from 20 years to 50 years, which makes Vietnam a compelling case study for testing this hypothesis. We use panel data from the Vietnam Access to Resources Household Survey (VARHS) collected in 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016. The balanced panel data include 1834 households. Difference-in-difference with fixed effects (DID-FE) is employed to estimate the causal impacts. We find that awareness about the increase in the duration of agricultural land-use rights increases investments in irrigation/soil conservation/water conservation and the adoption of organic fertilizer, which supports the positive impacts of awareness about LTS on sustainable investments.

Heterogeneous Effects of Sustainable Agriculture Practices: Micro-evidence from Malawi

Abstract Are the effects of sustainable agricultural practices heterogeneous across agro-ecology and wealth in Malawi? Would a wealth-enhancing policy be associated with increased effectiveness of these practices? Focusing on a nationally representative set of Malawian agricultural households, the article answers the above questions by employing plot-level panel data matched with a set of geo-referenced rainfall and temperature records. The findings suggest a positive correlation between aggregate yield and the adoption of organic fertilizer. A similar result holds for legume intercropping and for hybrid seeds, which are associated to reductions in yield volatility between the two waves. Nevertheless, these effects appear heterogeneous across the agro-ecological zone of adoption, since a reduced number of farmers in selected locations can improve yields through the adoption of these practices. Further exploration suggests that less wealthy households show higher returns when adopting hybrid seeds or legume intercropping. Wealthier households, in contrast, report high yield only when treated with technology-enhancing practices, such as organic fertilizers and soil erosion control measures.

Chinese land policies and farmers’ adoption of organic fertilizer for saline soils

Soil salinization has become a global concern and poses a great threat to food production and sustainable land use. Land use policies are the main driver of saline soil farmland use in ecosystems. This paper proposes a theoretical framework for analyzing how saline soil farmland use is affected by land use practices of individual farm households. An empirical study, using an ordered probit model, was conducted based on questionnaire responses from farm households in 8 towns and 14 villages in eco-fragile areas in Shandong, Jilin and Xinjiang provinces. The results suggest that land tenure, state systems agricultural support, characteristics of a field parcel and characteristics of the farm households have different influences on farmer's land use in three regions. The adoption of organic fertilizer by individual households is constrained by the lack of stability and integrity in land tenure. Furthermore, the parcel of a field is generally small, sparsely distributed and often fragmented, which increases costs. Even subsidizing organic fertilizer does not necessarily help in its adoption. Given these challenges, this study makes recommendations for different regions that may promote the adoption of improved saline soil farmland cultivation methods by farmers.