Does land leasing encourage ecological conservation practices among Chinese maize farmers?

As global agricultural demands rise, the imperative to balance enhanced land productivity with ecological system protection becomes increasingly critical. To elucidate how differences in land ownership affect farmers' ecological protection behaviors on owned versus leased land, this paper develops a conceptual model linking land leasing with the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices, which is grounded in the duration of land contracts. An empirical analysis was conducted using data from 71373 samples collected through the China National Agricultural Product Cost and Benefits Survey (CNACBS) from 2004 to 2022. The results indicate that farmers with a greater proportion of leased land are less likely to adopt ecological farming practices. Specifically, leasing land significantly increases the use of fertilizers and pesticides by maize growers, whereas the use of manure decreases. However, land title certification can effectively mitigate the inhibitory effect of leased land on farmers' farmland ecological protection behaviors. Additionally, farmers with experiences of tenancy insecurity, due to past instability in land tenure and policy changes, exhibit a more conservative approach to long-term investments and continuous management of land. Compared with those in plains regions, farmers in mountainous areas are more inclined to adopt strategies that excessively use fertilizers and pesticides to maximize short-term economic benefits.