Long-term reduction of nitrogen fertilizer use through knowledge training in rice production in China

Abstract

A B S T R A C TNitrogen (N) fertilizer has been excessively used in China's crop production, resulting in nonpoint pollution and significant greenhouse gas emissions. Previous studies show that farmers can reduce N-fertilizer upon receiving knowledge training. However, there is little evidence of the effectiveness of this effort in the long term. Based on an experimental study of site-specific nutrient management for rice production in China and a unique household dataset captured over seven years, this study shows that the traditional training approach has not been effective in reducing Chinese farmers' N-fertilizer use. Persistently reducing farmers' excessive use of N-fertilizer in the long term will require intensive in-field guidancesomething that requires substantial investment and institutional innovation.

Strategies for sustainable nutrient management: insights from a mixed natural and social science analysis of Chinese crop production systems

“…Evidence gathered from the case studies that current training provision as a means to improve nutrient accounting and management has been largely ineffective are consistent with the findings of other researchers (e.g. Huang et al, 2012;Guo et al, 2015;Huang et al, 2015). For the cases here training by the public extension service was found to be focused on maximising productivity and extremely risk averse in the advice it provided with regard to reduced inorganic fertiliser application, especially for high-value crops.…”

“…Guo et al, 2015;Huang et al, 2015). Yet, a combination of policies including regulation and incentives is likely to out-perform a single approach such as a fertiliser tax or farmer training alone (Weersink and Livernois, 1996;OECD, 2012).…”

Drivers for the Adoption of Different Eco-Innovation Types in the Fertilizer Sector: A Review

“…The structural analysis of multi-level interactions, which can play an important role for innovation adoption, is rarely part of the analytical framework of the considered publications. Only a few studies even mentioned level of higher dimension (e.g., national policies; [93,140]). The observed literature clearly displays that the relationship in innovation creation and adoption between farmers and researchers remains the same, with the researcher as innovation developer and farmers as innovation adopters.…”

“…The same holds true for the quality of the support. By providing a specific service, a continuous support is necessary [91,92,140]. Here a fluent information flow, which is also important for innovation adoption, is also ensured [91,96,133,141].…”

“…Age and education level can also stimulate the adoption by having a longer planning horizon and a better formal training [89,134,[136][137][138] (Table 8). The involvement in co-operations or consultant groups can stimulate the adoption of service innovations because these groups can offer this kind of service or can establish contacts [95,139,140]. When farmers exploit services, they want to see the results in higher yields or input effort.…”