IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i4p1165-d208241.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Excessive Application of Fertilizer, Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution, and Farmers’ Policy Choice

Author

Listed:
  • Haixia Wu

    (International Business School, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an 710119, China)

  • Yan Ge

    (School of Public Finance and Tax, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing 100081, China)

Abstract

This paper takes 516 households who planted wheat in Heyang County, Shaanxi Province in 2018, as samples to construct three policy environments: Technological guidance for planting, subsidies for organic fertilizer application, and agricultural tailwater discharge standards. The experimental choice method was used to empirically analyze policy preferences during the process of fertilizer reduction. The results indicate that households show different preferences for the three policy settings: The fertilizer application rate is reduced by 6.98% if providing full technological guidance for farmers throughout the wheat planting process and is reduced by 5.18% under the background of providing appropriate organic fertilizer subsidies. The agricultural tailwater discharge standards have the least impact on the reducing level of chemical fertilizer application, with decreasing amounts of only 1.85% and 0.77% under the second-level and the first-level agricultural tailwater discharge standards, respectively. These results indicate that households in Heyang County, Shaanxi Province, demonstrate a low willingness to accept the agricultural tailwater discharge standards in order to cut down on the amount of chemical fertilizer application and the agricultural non-point source pollution. Therefore, compared with a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1% of fertilizer usage nationwide according to the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture, given the current planting environment and policies design, providing comprehensive technological guidance as well as price subsidies for the organic fertilizer can significantly and robustly reduce the excessive application of fertilizer in Heyang County, Shaanxi Province, under the best scenario, thereby further alleviating agricultural non-point source pollution.

Suggested Citation

  • Haixia Wu & Yan Ge, 2019. "Excessive Application of Fertilizer, Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution, and Farmers’ Policy Choice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-17, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:4:p:1165-:d:208241
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/4/1165/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/4/1165/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jürgen Meyerhoff & Ulf Liebe, 2009. "Status Quo Effect in Choice Experiments: Empirical Evidence on Attitudes and Choice Task Complexity," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 85(3), pages 515-528.
    2. Mohammed Alemu & Morten Mørkbak & Søren Olsen & Carsten Jensen, 2013. "Attending to the Reasons for Attribute Non-attendance in Choice Experiments," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 54(3), pages 333-359, March.
    3. Daniel Ayalew Ali & Klaus Deininger & Markus Goldstein, 2011. "Environmental and Gender Impacts of Land Tenure Regularization in Africa," World Bank Publications - Reports 25527, The World Bank Group.
    4. Erik Brynjolfsson & Avinash Collis & Felix Eggers, 2019. "Using massive online choice experiments to measure changes in well-being," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116(15), pages 7250-7255, April.
    5. Ali, Daniel Ayalew & Deininger, Klaus & Goldstein, Markus, 2014. "Environmental and gender impacts of land tenure regularization in Africa: Pilot evidence from Rwanda," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 262-275.
    6. Ruttan, Vernon W., 1987. "Induced innovation and agricultural development," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 196-216, August.
    7. Daniel Ayalew Ali & Klaus Deininger & Markus Goldstein, 2011. "Environmental and Gender Impacts of Land Tenure Regularization in Africa," World Bank Other Operational Studies 25527, The World Bank.
    8. Zhai, Guofang & Suzuki, Takeshi, 2008. "Public willingness to pay for environmental management, risk reduction and economic development: Evidence from Tianjin, China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 551-566, December.
    9. Duke, Joshua M. & Borchers, Allison M. & Johnston, Robert J. & Absetz, Sarah, 2012. "Sustainable agricultural management contracts: Using choice experiments to estimate the benefits of land preservation and conservation practices," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 95-103.
    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. Haixia Wu & Hantao Hao & Hongzhen Lei & Yan Ge & Hengtong Shi & Yan Song, 2021. "Farm Size, Risk Aversion and Overuse of Fertilizer: The Heterogeneity of Large-Scale and Small-Scale Wheat Farmers in Northern China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-15, January.
    2. Pingping Fang & David Abler & Guanghua Lin & Ali Sher & Quan Quan, 2021. "Substituting Organic Fertilizer for Chemical Fertilizer: Evidence from Apple Growers in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-24, August.
    3. Zhao, Zhiyuan & Zheng, Wei & Ma, Yanting & Wang, Xianling & Li, Ziyan & Zhai, Bingnian & Wang, Zhaohui, 2020. "Responses of soil water, nitrate and yield of apple orchard to integrated soil management in Loess Plateau, China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    4. Jianhua Ren & Hongzhen Lei & Haiyun Ren, 2022. "Livelihood Capital, Ecological Cognition, and Farmers’ Green Production Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-16, December.
    5. Jiahong Yuan & Xiaoyu Li & Zilai Sun & Junhu Ruan, 2021. "Will the Adoption of Early Fertigation Techniques Hinder Famers’ Technology Renewal? Evidence from Fresh Growers in Shaanxi, China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-17, September.
    6. Yushi Chen & Xinhong Fu & Yuying Liu, 2022. "Effect of Farmland Scale on Farmers’ Application Behavior with Organic Fertilizer," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-16, April.
    7. Yinhao Wu & Enru Wang & Changhong Miao, 2019. "Fertilizer Use in China: The Role of Agricultural Support Policies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-23, August.
    8. Qiuwei Bai & Hongpin Luo & Xinglan Fu & Xin Zhang & Guanglin Li, 2023. "Design and Experiment of Lightweight Dual-Mode Automatic Variable-Rate Fertilization Device and Control System," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-20, May.
    9. Logesh Mohankumar & Muthuprasad Thiyaharajan & Kavi Sidharthan Venkidusamy, 2024. "Understanding the communication network of farmers to ensure the sustainable use of pesticides," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 14(1), pages 12-23, March.
    10. Lian-Jie Wan & Yang Tian & Man He & Yong-Qiang Zheng & Qiang Lyu & Rang-Jin Xie & Yan-Yan Ma & Lie Deng & Shi-Lai Yi, 2021. "Effects of Chemical Fertilizer Combined with Organic Fertilizer Application on Soil Properties, Citrus Growth Physiology, and Yield," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-15, November.
    11. Ningbo Cui & Xuezhen Ba & Jin Dong & Xiaofan Fan, 2022. "Does Farmland Transfer Contribute to Reduction of Chemical Fertilizer Use? Evidence from Heilongjiang Province, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-15, September.
    12. Mohammad Mahbubur Rahman & Jeffry D. Connor, 2022. "Impact of Agricultural Extension Services on Fertilizer Use and Farmers’ Welfare: Evidence from Bangladesh," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-16, July.
    13. Shilei Pan & Chenhui Di & Abbas Ali Chandio & Ghulam Raza Sargani & Huaquan Zhang, 2022. "Investigating the Impact of Grain Subsidy Policy on Farmers’ Green Production Behavior: Recent Evidence from China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-19, August.
    14. Lili Guo & Yuting Song & Shuang Zhao & Mengqian Tang & Yangli Guo & Mengying Su & Houjian Li, 2022. "Dynamic Linkage between Aging, Mechanizations and Carbon Emissions from Agricultural Production," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-22, May.
    15. Lilin Zou & Xumin Zheng & Yongsheng Wang, 2022. "Spatial‐temporal evolution and influence factors of China’s agricultural non‐point source pollution discharge intensity in recent 40 years," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 1170-1189, September.

    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. Marijke Verpoorten, 2014. "Growth, poverty and inequality in Rwanda: a broad perspective," Working Papers of LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance 490896, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance.
    2. Mireille Mizero & Aristide Maniriho & Bosco Bashangwa Mpozi & Antoine Karangwa & Philippe Burny & Philippe Lebailly, 2021. "Rwanda’s Land Policy Reform: Self-Employment Perspectives from a Case Study of Kimonyi Sector," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-17, January.
    3. van den Bold, Mara & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Gillespie, Stuart, 2013. "Women’s empowerment and nutrition: An evidence review:," IFPRI discussion papers 1294, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    4. Andre Croppenstedt & Markus Goldstein & Nina Rosas, 2013. "Gender and Agriculture: Inefficiencies, Segregation, and Low Productivity Traps," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 28(1), pages 79-109, February.
    5. Jérémie GIGNOUX & Karen MACOURS & Liam WREN-LEWIS, 2015. "Impact of land administration programs on agricultural productivity and rural development: existing evidence, challenges and new approaches," Review of Agricultural and Environmental Studies - Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement, INRA Department of Economics, vol. 96(3), pages 467-498.
    6. Diao, Xinshen & Kennedy, Adam & Badiane, Ousmane & Cossar, Frances & Dorosh, Paul & Ecker, Olivier & Hagos, Hosaena Ghebru & Headey, Derek & Mabiso, Athur & Makombe, Tsitsi & Malek, Mehrab & Schmidt, , 2013. "Evidence on key policies for African agricultural growth:," IFPRI discussion papers 1242, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. Marisa Balas & João Carrilho & Christiaan Lemmen, 2021. "The Fit for Purpose Land Administration Approach-Connecting People, Processes and Technology in Mozambique," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-22, August.
    8. Dufwenberg, Martin & Köhlin, Gunnar & Martinsson, Peter & Medhin, Haileselassie, 2016. "Thanks but no thanks: A new policy to reduce land conflict," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 31-50.
    9. Mara van den Bold & Andrew Dillon & Deanna Olney & Marcellin Ouedraogo & Abdoulaye Pedehombga & Agnes Quisumbing, 2015. "Can Integrated Agriculture-Nutrition Programmes Change Gender Norms on Land and Asset Ownership? Evidence from Burkina Faso," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(9), pages 1155-1174, September.
    10. Jain, Charu & Saxena, Disha & Sen, Somnath & Sanan, Deepak, 2023. "Women’s land ownership in India: Evidence from digital land records," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    11. Lovo, Stefania, 2016. "Tenure Insecurity and Investment in Soil Conservation. Evidence from Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 219-229.
    12. Ronaghi, Marzieh & Ronaghi, Mohammad Hossein, 2021. "Investigating the impact of economic, political, and social factors on augmented reality technology acceptance in agriculture (livestock farming) sector in a developing country," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    13. Mintewab Bezabih & Andrea Mannberg & Eyerusalem Siba, 2014. "The land certification program and off-farm employment in Ethiopia," GRI Working Papers 168, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
    14. Marijke Verpoorten, 2014. "Growth, poverty and inequality in Rwanda: a broad perspective," Working Papers of LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance 490896, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance.
    15. Adelman, Sarah & Peterman, Amber, 2014. "Resettlement and Gender Dimensions of Land Rights in Post-Conflict Northern Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 583-596.
    16. De la O Campos, Ana Paula & Edouard, Fabrice & Salvago, Marta Ruiz, 2023. "Effects of land titling on household tenure security and investments: Evidence from Nicaragua," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    17. Ali, Daniel Ayalew & Collin, Matthew & Deininger, Klaus & Dercon, Stefan & Sandefur, Justin & Zeitlin, Andrew, 2016. "Small price incentives increase women's access to land titles in Tanzania," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 107-122.
    18. Michael Greenstone & B. Kelsey Jack, 2013. "Envirodevonomics: A Research Agenda for a Young Field," NBER Working Papers 19426, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. David Booth & Frederick Golooba-Mutebi, 2014. "Policy for Agriculture and Horticulture in Rwanda: A Different Political Economy?," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 32(s2), pages 173-198, September.

    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:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:4:p:1165-:d:208241. 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.