Does off-farm employment contribute to chemical fertilizer reduction? New evidence from the main rice-producing area in Jilin Province, China.

ABSTRACT: Frequent transfer of rural labor to cities in developing countries significantly impacts agricultural production. However, whether off-farm employment can promote chemical fertilizer (CF) reduction is still controversial. This study incorporates business scale (BS) and fragmentation degree of arable land (FDAL) into the theoretical analysis framework, shedding light on regulating effects of arable land resource endowment in the process of off-farm employment which influences CF application under different BS and FDAL scenarios. It also empirically tests the theoretical framework by employing the survey data of 318 rice farmers in Jilin Province. The results indicate that: (1) off-farm employment, in general, promotes the adoption behavior of machinery by farmers, and mechanical tillage can

SUBMITTER: Lang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9757570 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature