Adoption of conservative agricultural practices among rural Chinese farmers

Excessive use of agrochemicals and the misuse of natural resources severely degrade farmlands. In addition to organic farming, conservative agricultural practices are one of the most viable methods for preventing environmental deterioration. Its adoption has remained relatively modest in developing...

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Main Authors: Yang, Qing, Al Mamun, Abdullah, Naznen, Farzana, Masud, Muhammad Mehedi
Format: Article
Published: Springer Nature 2024
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Online Access:http://eprints.um.edu.my/45407/
https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-02956-z
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spelling my.um.eprints.454072024-10-21T04:29:02Z http://eprints.um.edu.my/45407/ Adoption of conservative agricultural practices among rural Chinese farmers Yang, Qing Al Mamun, Abdullah Naznen, Farzana Masud, Muhammad Mehedi HB Economic Theory Excessive use of agrochemicals and the misuse of natural resources severely degrade farmlands. In addition to organic farming, conservative agricultural practices are one of the most viable methods for preventing environmental deterioration. Its adoption has remained relatively modest in developing countries as farmers rely exclusively on synthetic inputs to attain high yields and economic returns. Therefore, this study focuses on the factors that influence farmers' intention and adoption of conservative agricultural practices. This study extended the Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) framework with a new construct (green trust), and empirically evaluated all fundamental VBN components with their chained relationships among constructs. This cross-sectional study collected quantitative data from 349 farmers using structured interviews. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method was used to statistically evaluate the relationship between the constructs. The analysis demonstrates that both biospheric and altruistic values have a positive impact on the new environmental paradigm, which, in turn, has a significant impact on people's awareness of consequences and personal norms. Although awareness of consequences had a substantial positive influence on the ascription of responsibilities, it was demonstrated to have a statistically insignificant impact on personal norms. In parallel, the ascription of responsibility had a strong impact on personal norms, which, in turn, positively influenced the intention towards conservative agricultural practices. Remarkably, green trust was found to have the greatest effect on farmers' intentions. Finally, farmers' actual adoption was significantly influenced by their intention. The findings of this study will contribute to the strengthening of relevant factors among farmers that may enhance eco-friendly farming practices, develop solutions for regulating the protected utilization of natural resources, and effectively prevent environmental deterioration caused by hazardous agrochemicals. The study will also provide guidance to government regulators and other social organizations in the formulation of effective laws, policies, and strategies for the mass adoption of conservation practices and restoration of agricultural ecosystem balance. Springer Nature 2024-03 Article PeerReviewed Yang, Qing and Al Mamun, Abdullah and Naznen, Farzana and Masud, Muhammad Mehedi (2024) Adoption of conservative agricultural practices among rural Chinese farmers. Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, 11 (1). p. 450. ISSN 2662-9992, DOI https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-02956-z <https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-02956-z>. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-02956-z 10.1057/s41599-024-02956-z
institution Universiti Malaya
building UM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Malaya
content_source UM Research Repository
url_provider http://eprints.um.edu.my/
topic HB Economic Theory
spellingShingle HB Economic Theory
Yang, Qing
Al Mamun, Abdullah
Naznen, Farzana
Masud, Muhammad Mehedi
Adoption of conservative agricultural practices among rural Chinese farmers
description Excessive use of agrochemicals and the misuse of natural resources severely degrade farmlands. In addition to organic farming, conservative agricultural practices are one of the most viable methods for preventing environmental deterioration. Its adoption has remained relatively modest in developing countries as farmers rely exclusively on synthetic inputs to attain high yields and economic returns. Therefore, this study focuses on the factors that influence farmers' intention and adoption of conservative agricultural practices. This study extended the Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) framework with a new construct (green trust), and empirically evaluated all fundamental VBN components with their chained relationships among constructs. This cross-sectional study collected quantitative data from 349 farmers using structured interviews. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method was used to statistically evaluate the relationship between the constructs. The analysis demonstrates that both biospheric and altruistic values have a positive impact on the new environmental paradigm, which, in turn, has a significant impact on people's awareness of consequences and personal norms. Although awareness of consequences had a substantial positive influence on the ascription of responsibilities, it was demonstrated to have a statistically insignificant impact on personal norms. In parallel, the ascription of responsibility had a strong impact on personal norms, which, in turn, positively influenced the intention towards conservative agricultural practices. Remarkably, green trust was found to have the greatest effect on farmers' intentions. Finally, farmers' actual adoption was significantly influenced by their intention. The findings of this study will contribute to the strengthening of relevant factors among farmers that may enhance eco-friendly farming practices, develop solutions for regulating the protected utilization of natural resources, and effectively prevent environmental deterioration caused by hazardous agrochemicals. The study will also provide guidance to government regulators and other social organizations in the formulation of effective laws, policies, and strategies for the mass adoption of conservation practices and restoration of agricultural ecosystem balance.
format Article
author Yang, Qing
Al Mamun, Abdullah
Naznen, Farzana
Masud, Muhammad Mehedi
author_facet Yang, Qing
Al Mamun, Abdullah
Naznen, Farzana
Masud, Muhammad Mehedi
author_sort Yang, Qing
title Adoption of conservative agricultural practices among rural Chinese farmers
title_short Adoption of conservative agricultural practices among rural Chinese farmers
title_full Adoption of conservative agricultural practices among rural Chinese farmers
title_fullStr Adoption of conservative agricultural practices among rural Chinese farmers
title_full_unstemmed Adoption of conservative agricultural practices among rural Chinese farmers
title_sort adoption of conservative agricultural practices among rural chinese farmers
publisher Springer Nature
publishDate 2024
url http://eprints.um.edu.my/45407/
https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-02956-z
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score 13.209306