Farmers’ technology preference and influencing factors for pesticide reduction: evidence from Hubei Province, China

Abstract

Based on the successful experience of pesticide reduction in China, this study uses survey data from Hubei Province to measure rice farmers’ technology preferences for pesticide reduction considering their needs, and compare the heterogeneous factors influencing farmers’ adoption behavior. The results show that large-scale farmers prefer drone services and efficient machinery, while small-scale farmers prefer scientific standards and biopesticides for pesticide reduction. Second, farmers’ adoption behavior of pesticide reduction technologies is mostly influenced by education, risk attitude, income, agricultural labor, scale, rice price, residue testing, brand, training, subsidy, and demonstration. Among them, education, risk attitude, scale, rice price, cost, and training, significantly affect farmers’ adoption level of multiple pesticide reduction technologies. Further, higher rice prices and participation in training could promote the use of pesticide reduction technologies in a larger area by farmers. Therefore, the real needs of farmers should be focused on the promotion of pesticide reduction technologies, and pesticide reduction programs in different regions should carry out precise intervention policies. These findings can provide practical policy guidance for effective pesticide reduction in the central region of China.

Evaluating the intention to use Industry 5.0 (I5.0) drones for cleaner production in Sustainable Food Supply Chains: an emerging economy context

“…As such, the agricultural sector is extensively using drones within its operations for aerial observations, sensing purposes, as well as spraying pesticides (Ayamga et al, 2021). Moreover, Liu et al (2023aLiu et al ( , 2023b recently found that largescale agricultural producers in China preferred drone services for pesticide reduction. From an agricultural supply chain perspective, most emerging technology applications are still at the nascent stage and require further exploration.…”

“…Thus, when guiding farmers to use new agricultural technologies, disseminating information to those who have adopted such technologies is imperative (Gao et al, 2020). The application of pesticides not only assists in eradicating harmful microorganisms but it can also be counterproductive, killing beneficial microorganisms and vertebrates, thus disrupting the seeding process (Liu et al, 2023a(Liu et al, , 2023b.…”

“…Hence, the utilisation of precision treatment to overcome the disease of plants, thus impacting revenues raised through the cultivation of plants and crops, may influence stakeholders' intention to use precision technologies. Moreover, the spraying capabilities of drones can offer precision agricultural solutions, from precision use of pesticides through to accurate aerial seeding (Liu et al, 2023a(Liu et al, , 2023b. Therefore, the following hypothesis is put forward:…”

Factors Affecting the Adoption of Digital Technology by Farmers in China: A Systematic Literature Review

“…As such, the farmers' capacities and knowledge clearly influence their adoption decision to use DATs. Various socioeconomic factors have been incorporated into analytical models as explanatory variables [30,32,[34][35][36]. Significant socioeconomic factors identified in the reviewed papers include age, gender, education level, health status, income (including total income and percentage of agricultural income), farming experience, and cooperative membership.…”

“…Female farmers, often serving as agricultural assistants and lacking resources, may be less likely to accept new technologies [37]. Formal education attainment is found to correlate positively with the adoption of DATs, as digital technologies require knowledge-based skills and interpretation [30,32,35]. A couple of studies have found a significant impact of health status on the adoption of on-farm digital technologies [30,32].…”