IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i15p9639-d881027.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Influence of Smartphone-Based Digital Extension Service on Farmers’ Sustainable Agricultural Technology Adoption in China

Author

Listed:
  • Baozhi Li

    (Institute of Rural Development, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China)

  • Ni Zhuo

    (Institute of Rural Development, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China)

  • Chen Ji

    (China Academy for Rural Development (CARD), Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
    Department of Agricultural Economics and Management, School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China)

  • Qibiao Zhu

    (Institute of Rural Development, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310021, China)

Abstract

The literature about how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) influence farmers’ adoption of sustainable agricultural technology is emerging, studies regarding the effects of particular smartphone-based digital extension services on farmers’ sustainable agricultural technology practices are limited. This study investigates the relationship between a digital extension service (“Zhe’ yang’ shi” WeChat application) and the adoption of soil testing and formula fertilization, a precision fertilization technology. A household choice model is constructed to explain the impact of the application. Based on a household-level data set from a survey of 400 farmers in Zhejiang in 2022, empirical results show that the use of the “Zhe’ yang’ shi” WeChat application significantly increases the adoption of soil testing and formula fertilization. We also discuss the heterogeneous effect by different production scales. The findings enrich the literature regarding ICTs’ influence on farmers’ behavior in adopting sustainable agricultural technology. It provides a valuable example for developing countries to promote sustainable agriculture through digital technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Baozhi Li & Ni Zhuo & Chen Ji & Qibiao Zhu, 2022. "Influence of Smartphone-Based Digital Extension Service on Farmers’ Sustainable Agricultural Technology Adoption in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-14, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:15:p:9639-:d:881027
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/15/9639/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/15/9639/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Aminou Arouna & Jeffrey D. Michler & Wilfried G. Yergo & Kazuki Saito, 2021. "One Size Fits All? Experimental Evidence on the Digital Delivery of Personalized Extension Advice in Nigeria," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 103(2), pages 596-619, March.
    2. Yakubu Abdul-Salam & Euan Phimister, 2017. "Efficiency Effects of Access to Information on Small-scale Agriculture: Empirical Evidence from Uganda using Stochastic Frontier and IRT Models," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(2), pages 494-517, June.
    3. Steve Esselaar & Christoph Stork & Ali Ndiwalana & Mariama Deen-Swarray, 2007. "ICT Usage and Its Impact on Profitability of SMEs in 13 African Countries," Information Technologies and International Development, MIT Press, vol. 4(1), pages 87-100, October.
    4. Jenny C. Aker, 2011. "Dial “A” for agriculture: a review of information and communication technologies for agricultural extension in developing countries," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 42(6), pages 631-647, November.
    5. Ayalew, Hailemariam & Chamberlin, Jordan & Newman, Carol, 2022. "Site-specific agronomic information and technology adoption: A field experiment from Ethiopia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    6. Catherine Larochelle & Jeffrey Alwang & Elli Travis & Victor Hugo Barrera & Juan Manuel Dominguez Andrade, 2019. "Did You Really Get the Message? Using Text Reminders to Stimulate Adoption of Agricultural Technologies," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(4), pages 548-564, April.
    7. Bjorn Van Campenhout & David J. Spielman & Els Lecoutere, 2021. "Information and Communication Technologies to Provide Agricultural Advice to Smallholder Farmers: Experimental Evidence from Uganda," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 103(1), pages 317-337, January.
    8. Allen G Good & Perrin H Beatty, 2011. "Fertilizing Nature: A Tragedy of Excess in the Commons," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(8), pages 1-9, August.
    9. Bayes, Abdul, 2001. "Infrastructure and rural development: insights from a Grameen Bank village phone initiative in Bangladesh," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 25(2-3), pages 261-272, September.
    10. Allen G Good & Perrin H Beatty, 2011. "Fertilizing Nature: A Tragedy of Excess in the Commons," Working Papers id:4387, eSocialSciences.
    11. Shawn A Cole & A Nilesh Fernando, 2021. "‘Mobile’izing Agricultural Advice Technology Adoption Diffusion and Sustainability [Dial “a” for agriculture: using ICTs for agricultural extension in development countries]," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(633), pages 192-219.
    12. Hübler, Michael & Hartje, Rebecca, 2016. "Are smartphones smart for economic development?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 130-133.
    13. Saeid Karimi & Genovaitė Liobikienė & Heshmatollah Saadi & Fatemeh Sepahvand, 2021. "The Influence of Media Usage on Iranian Students’ Pro-Environmental Behaviors: An Application of the Extended Theory of Planned Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-19, July.
    14. Norhuda Salim & Mohd Nizam Ab Rahman & Dzuraidah Abd Wahab & Ariff Azly Muhamed, 2020. "Influence of Social Media Usage on the Green Product Innovation of Manufacturing Firms through Environmental Collaboration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-17, October.
    15. Milo Vandemoortele, 2014. "Measuring Household Wealth with Latent Trait Modelling: An Application to Malawian DHS Data," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 118(2), pages 877-891, September.
    16. Mywish K. Maredia & Byron Reyes & Malick N. Ba & Clementine L. Dabire & Barry Pittendrigh & Julia Bello-Bravo, 2018. "Can mobile phone-based animated videos induce learning and technology adoption among low-literate farmers? A field experiment in Burkina Faso," Information Technology for Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 429-460, July.
    17. David M.A. Murphy & Dries Roobroeck & David R. Lee & Janice Thies, 2020. "Underground Knowledge: Estimating the Impacts of Soil Information Transfers Through Experimental Auctions†," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(5), pages 1468-1493, October.
    18. Wanglin Ma & Peng Nie & Pei Zhang & Alan Renwick, 2020. "Impact of Internet use on economic well‐being of rural households: Evidence from China," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(2), pages 503-523, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yuxuan Xu & Hongbin Liu & Jie Lyu & Ying Xue, 2022. "What Influences Farmers’ Adoption of Soil Testing and Formulated Fertilization Technology in Black Soil Areas? An Empirical Analysis Based on Logistic-ISM Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-24, November.
    2. Baozhi Li & Bin Guo & Qibiao Zhu & Ni Zhuo, 2023. "Impact of Technical Training and Personalized Information Support on Farmers’ Fertilization Behavior: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-11, June.
    3. Yang Liu & Jiajun Qiao & Jie Xiao & Dong Han & Tao Pan, 2022. "Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Rural Revitalization and an Improvement Path: A Typical Old Revolutionary Cultural Area as an Example," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-24, October.
    4. Mamiya Binte Ahsan & Guo Leifeng & Fardous Mohammad Safiul Azam & Beibei Xu & Shah Johir Rayhan & Abdul Kaium & Wang Wensheng, 2022. "Barriers, Challenges, and Requirements for ICT Usage among Sub-Assistant Agricultural Officers in Bangladesh: Toward Sustainability in Agriculture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-27, December.
    5. Runqi Lun & Wei Liu & Guojing Li & Qiyou Luo, 2024. "Does Digital Agricultural Technology Extension Service Enhance Sustainable Food Production? Evidence from Maize Farmers in China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-23, February.
    6. Jiabin Xu & Zhaoda Cui & Tianyi Wang & Jingjing Wang & Zhigang Yu & Cuixia Li, 2023. "Influence of Agricultural Technology Extension and Social Networks on Chinese Farmers’ Adoption of Conservation Tillage Technology," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-23, June.
    7. Rong Xu & Yating Zhan & Jialan Zhang & Qiang He & Kuan Zhang & Dingde Xu & Yanbin Qi & Xin Deng, 2022. "Does Construction of High-Standard Farmland Improve Recycle Behavior of Agricultural Film? Evidence from Sichuan, China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-14, October.
    8. Ni Zhuo & Baozhi Li & Qibiao Zhu & Chen Ji, 2023. "Smartphone‐based agricultural extension services and farm incomes: Evidence from Zhejiang Province in China," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 1383-1402, August.
    9. Junxia Zeng & Dengwang Li & Cuiping Ma & Bin Wang & Liangliang Gao, 2022. "The Impact of Different Uses of the Internet on Farmers′ Adoption of Soil Testing and Formulated Fertilization Technology in Rural China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-14, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yi Cai & Wene Qi & Famin Yi, 2023. "Smartphone use and willingness to adopt digital pest and disease management: Evidence from litchi growers in rural China," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(1), pages 131-147, January.
    2. Cai, Yi & Sun, Yucheng & Qi, Wene & Yi, Famin, 2022. "Impact of smartphone use on production outsourcing: evidence from litchi farming in southern China," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 25(4), September.
    3. Abate, Gashaw T. & Bernard, Tanguy & Makhija, Simrin & Spielman, David J., 2023. "Accelerating technical change through ICT: Evidence from a video-mediated extension experiment in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    4. Hongyun Zheng & Wanglin Ma, 2023. "Smartphone-based information acquisition and wheat farm performance: insights from a doubly robust IPWRA estimator," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 633-658, June.
    5. Ni Zhuo & Baozhi Li & Qibiao Zhu & Chen Ji, 2023. "Smartphone‐based agricultural extension services and farm incomes: Evidence from Zhejiang Province in China," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 1383-1402, August.
    6. Bjorn Van Campenhout & David J. Spielman & Els Lecoutere, 2021. "Information and Communication Technologies to Provide Agricultural Advice to Smallholder Farmers: Experimental Evidence from Uganda," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 103(1), pages 317-337, January.
    7. Lin Tang & Xiaofeng Luo & Yanzhong Huang & Sanxia Du & Aqian Yan, 2023. "Can smartphone use increase farmers’ willingness to participate in the centralized treatment of rural domestic sewage? Evidence from rural China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(4), pages 3379-3403, April.
    8. Min, Shi & Liu, Min & Huang, Jikun, 2020. "Does the application of ICTs facilitate rural economic transformation in China? Empirical evidence from the use of smartphones among farmers," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    9. Nicoletta Giulivi & Aurélie P. Harou & Shriniwas Gautam & Davíd Guereña, 2023. "Getting the message out: Information and communication technologies and agricultural extension," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(3), pages 1011-1045, May.
    10. Danyang Li & Daizo Kojima & Laping Wu & Mitsuyoshi Ando, 2024. "Impact of rural households' digital ability on their production efficiency in China," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(1), pages 139-160, January.
    11. Fred Mawunyo Dzanku & Robert Darko Osei, 2023. "Does combining traditional and information and communications technology–based extension methods improve agricultural outcomes? Evidence from field experiments in Mali," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 450-475, February.
    12. Berazneva, Julia & Maertens, Annemie & Mhango, Wezi & Michelson, Hope, 2023. "Paying for agricultural information in Malawi: The role of soil heterogeneity," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    13. Zhu, Xiaoke & Hu, Ruifa & Zhang, Chao & Shi, Guanming, 2021. "Does Internet use improve technical efficiency? Evidence from apple production in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    14. Marco Medici & S?ren Marcus Pedersen & Giacomo Carli & Maria Rita Tagliaventi, 2019. "Environmental Benefits of Precision Agriculture Adoption," Economia agro-alimentare, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 21(3), pages 637-656.
    15. World Bank, 2020. "Sudan Agriculture Value Chain Analysis," World Bank Publications - Reports 34103, The World Bank Group.
    16. George W. Norton & Jeffrey Alwang, 2020. "Changes in Agricultural Extension and Implications for Farmer Adoption of New Practices," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(1), pages 8-20, March.
    17. Simona Menardo & Giacomo Lanza & Werner Berg, 2021. "The Effect of Diet and Farm Management on N 2 O Emissions from Dairy Farms Estimated from Farm Data," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-19, July.
    18. Anderson Jock R. & Birner Regina & Nagarajan Latha & Naseem Anwar & Pray Carl E., 2021. "Private Agricultural R&D: Do the Poor Benefit?," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 19(1), pages 3-14, May.
    19. Sekabira, Haruna & Qaim, Matin, 2017. "Can mobile phones improve gender equality and nutrition? Panel data evidence from farm households in Uganda," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 95-103.
    20. G.T. Abate & Tanguy Bernard & Simrin Makhija & David J. Spielman, 2019. "Accelerating technical change through video-mediated agricultural extension: Evidence from Ethiopia," Working Papers hal-02879823, HAL.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:15:p:9639-:d:881027. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.