Acta Agriculturae Zhejiangensis ›› 2022, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (12): 2789-2799.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1004-1524.2022.12.22

• Agricultural Economy and Development • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Aging, planting purpose and rice farmers' chemical pesticide reduction

LIU Enling1,2,3(), LUO Xiaofeng1,2,3,*(), DU Sanxia1,2,3, YAN Aqian1,2,3, WANG Xiangli1,2,3   

  1. 1. College of Economics & Management, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
    2. Hubei Rural Development Research Center, Wuhan 430070, China
    3. Institute of Hubei Ecological Civilization Construction, Wuhan 430070, China
  • Received:2022-02-26 Online:2022-12-25 Published:2022-12-26
  • Contact: LUO Xiaofeng

Abstract:

The reduction of chemical pesticides is an important way to promote the green development of agriculture and to guarantee the quality and safety of agricultural products. In this study, the effects of aging and planting purpose on farmers' chemical pesticide reduction behaviors were examined, and the moderating effect of planting purpose was tested, by using field survey data from 613 rice farmers in Hubei Province and Jiangxi Province, China. It was shown that aging significantly hindered farmers' chemical pesticide reduction, and farmers pursing food self-sufficiency were more inclined to reduce chemical pesticide application. Further analysis revealed that planting purpose effectively alleviated the negative impact of aging on farmers' chemical pesticide reduction behavior. Therefore, it was recommended to educate and train elderly farmers to reduce the negative impact of aging, and pay attention to guiding and nurturing young farmers to engage in agriculture. Meanwhile, it was necessary to improve the supervision system of agricultural product market and strengthen farmers' food safety concept.

Key words: aging, planting purpose, pesticide reduction, green production

CLC Number: