IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jagris/v15y2025i7p744-d1624467.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Can Farmers’ Green Production Behavior Be Promoted? A Literature Review of Drivers and Incentives for Behavioral Change

Author

Listed:
  • Dalin Zhang

    (School of Economics and Management, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China
    College of Business Administration, Xuzhou College of Industrial Technology, Xuzhou 221140, China)

  • Feng Dong

    (School of Economics and Management, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao 066000, China)

  • Zhicheng Li

    (School of Economics and Management, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China)

  • Sulan Xu

    (College of Business Administration, Xuzhou College of Industrial Technology, Xuzhou 221140, China)

Abstract

The promotion of farmers’ green production behavior (GPB) to accelerate agricultural green development and food system transformation is a popular issue worldwide. Based on the representative literature from 2015 to October 2024, this study reviews the connotation and stage characteristics of farmers’ GPB. The current research focuses primarily on the primary industry, particularly agriculture, which is not in line with the global trend of agricultural and rural development; thus, it seems necessary to reiterate the connotation. The driving factors of farmers’ GPB are discussed at the individual, household, and external levels, and the relationships and effects of each group of factors in the literature are reviewed; future research should re-examine the formation mechanism from the perspective of industry integration and upgrading. This paper refers to the agricultural transformation practices of major economies worldwide and summarizes the policy implications in the literature concerning the promotion of farmers’ GPB. A multiagent incentive mechanism system is constructed from the perspectives of government-led, market-oriented, and social participation. Finally, based on the evolving trends in global agriculture and rural development, three potential research directions are proposed as follows: (i) broadening the research scope of farmers’ GPB from the perspective of industry integration; (ii) empowering farmers’ GPB through digital intelligence; and (iii) increasing farmers’ GPB and food security. This review is beneficial for better understanding farmers’ GPB and promoting it globally.

Suggested Citation

  • Dalin Zhang & Feng Dong & Zhicheng Li & Sulan Xu, 2025. "How Can Farmers’ Green Production Behavior Be Promoted? A Literature Review of Drivers and Incentives for Behavioral Change," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-20, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:15:y:2025:i:7:p:744-:d:1624467
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/7/744/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/7/744/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xuezhen Xu & Fang Wang & Tao Xu & Sufyan Ullah Khan, 2023. "How Does Capital Endowment Impact Farmers’ Green Production Behavior? Perspectives on Ecological Cognition and Environmental Regulation," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-27, August.
    2. Vu, Ha Thu & Tran, Duc & Goto, Daisaku & Kawata, Keisuke, 2020. "Does experience sharing affect farmers’ pro-environmental behavior? A randomized controlled trial in Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    3. Ma, Jun & Gao, Huixian & Cheng, Changgao & Fang, Zhou & Zhou, Qin & Zhou, Haiwei, 2023. "What influences the behavior of farmers' participation in agricultural nonpoint source pollution control?—Evidence from a farmer survey in Huai'an, China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 281(C).
    4. Weiqin Li & Dan Qiao & Qinchuan Hao & Yifan Ji & Donghui Chen & Tao Xu, 2024. "Gap between knowledge and action: understanding the consistency of farmers’ ecological cognition and green production behavior in Hainan Province, China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(12), pages 31251-31275, December.
    5. Xianpei Hong & Ying-Ju Chen & Yeming Gong & Hua Wang, 2024. "Farmers' green technology adoption : Implications from government subsidies and information sharing," Post-Print hal-04339466, HAL.
    6. Gao, Li & Zhang, Wendong & Mei, Yingdan & Sam, Abdoul G. & Song, Yu & Jin, Shuqin, 2018. "Do farmers adopt fewer conservation practices on rented land? Evidence from straw retention in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 609-621.
    7. Feilong Weng & Xuan Liu & Xuexi Huo, 2023. "Impact of Internet Use on Farmers’ Organic Fertilizer Investment: A New Perspective of Access to Credit," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, January.
    8. Yu, Lili & Zhao, Duanyang & Xue, Zihao & Gao, Yang, 2020. "Research on the use of digital finance and the adoption of green control techniques by family farms in China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    9. Guo, Zhangdong & Chen, Xiaoqi & Zhang, Yongwang, 2022. "Impact of environmental regulation perception on farmers' agricultural green production technology adoption: A new perspective of social capital," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    10. Yingchao Li & Zhiyuan Fan & Guanghui Jiang & Zhuo Quan, 2021. "Addressing the Differences in Farmers’ Willingness and Behavior Regarding Developing Green Agriculture—A Case Study in Xichuan County, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-12, March.
    11. Astrid Mastenbroek & Irma Sirutyte & Robert Sparrow, 2021. "Information Barriers to Adoption of Agricultural Technologies: Willingness to Pay for Certified Seed of an Open Pollinated Maize Variety in Northern Uganda," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(1), pages 180-201, February.
    12. 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.
    13. Adnan, Nadia & Nordin, Shahrina Md & bin Abu Bakar, Zulqarnain, 2017. "Understanding and facilitating sustainable agricultural practice: A comprehensive analysis of adoption behaviour among Malaysian paddy farmers," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 372-382.
    14. Wen Xiang & Jianzhong Gao, 2023. "Do Not Be Anticlimactic: Farmers’ Behavior in the Sustainable Application of Green Agricultural Technology—A Perceived Value and Government Support Perspective," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-24, January.
    15. Limin Chuan & Jiang Zhao & Jingjuan Zhao & Nan Shan & Hui Zhang & Ailing Wang, 2023. "Agrochemical Input Behavior and Cleaner Production Adoption Willingness of Farmers in Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-19, May.
    16. Adnan, Nadia & Nordin, Shahrina Md & Ali, Murad, 2018. "A solution for the sunset industry: Adoption of Green Fertiliser Technology amongst Malaysian paddy farmers," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 575-584.
    17. Zheng Li & Disheng Zhang & Xiaohuan Yan, 2024. "How Does Information Acquisition Ability Affect Farmers’ Green Production Behaviors: Evidence from Chinese Apple Growers," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-17, April.
    18. Jinhua Xie & Gangqiao Yang & Zhaoxia Guo & Ge Wang, 2021. "Exploring the Influence Mechanism of Farmers’ Organic Fertilizer Application Behaviors Based on the Normative Activation Theory," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-18, October.
    19. Lei Luo & Dakuan Qiao & Jin Tang & Ailin Wan & Ling Qiu & Xiaoyu Liu & Yuying Liu & Xinhong Fu, 2022. "Training of Farmers’ Cooperatives, Value Perception and Members’ Willingness of Green Production," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-18, August.
    20. Mingyue Li & Yu Liu & Yuhe Huang & Lianbei Wu & Kai Chen, 2022. "Impacts of Risk Perception and Environmental Regulation on Farmers’ Sustainable Behaviors of Agricultural Green Production in China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-20, June.
    21. Qiang Huang & Huizhu Wang & Chao Chen, 2022. "The Influence of Government Regulation on Farmers’ Green Production Behavior—From the Perspective of the Market Structure," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-23, December.
    22. Cai, Rong & Ma, Jie & Wang, shujuan & Cai, Shukai, 2024. "Can crop insurance help optimize farmers’ decisions on pesticides use? Evidence from family farms in East China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    23. Castillo, Gracia Maria Lanza & Engler, Alejandra & Wollni, Meike, 2021. "Planned behavior and social capital: Understanding farmers’ behavior toward pressurized irrigation technologies," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    24. Mao, Hui & Zhou, Li & Ying, RuiYao & Pan, Dan, 2021. "Time Preferences and green agricultural technology adoption: Field evidence from rice farmers in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    25. Xinyue Qu & Wenfeng Zhou & Jia He & Dingde Xu, 2023. "Land Certification, Adjustment Experience, and Green Production Technology Acceptance of Farmers: Evidence from Sichuan Province, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-20, April.
    26. Chengmin Li & Haoyu Deng & Guoxin Yu & Rong Kong & Jian Liu, 2024. "Impact Effects of Cooperative Participation on the Adoption Behavior of Green Production Technologies by Cotton Farmers and the Driving Mechanisms," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-25, January.
    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. Cundeng Wang & Xiyuan Chen & Zhiyuan Jiao & Shuang Song & Zhen Ma, 2025. "An Improved YOLOP Lane-Line Detection Utilizing Feature Shift Aggregation for Intelligent Agricultural Machinery," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-21, June.
    2. Yanhu Bai & Yuchao Wang & Jianli Luo & Luyao Chang, 2025. "Can the Development of Green Fertilizers by Science and Technology Backyards Promote Green Production by Farmers? An Evolutionary Game Analysis of a Tripartite Interaction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-30, June.

    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. Guo, Zhangdong & Chen, Xiaoqi & Zhang, Yongwang, 2022. "Impact of environmental regulation perception on farmers' agricultural green production technology adoption: A new perspective of social capital," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    2. Mingyue Li & Pujie Zhao & Yu Sun, 2025. "Impacts of Green Perception Benefits and Environmental Regulation Intensity on Farmers’ Agricultural Green Production Willingness: A New Perspective of Technology Acquisition," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-33, June.
    3. Xuezhen Xu & Fang Wang & Tao Xu & Sufyan Ullah Khan, 2023. "How Does Capital Endowment Impact Farmers’ Green Production Behavior? Perspectives on Ecological Cognition and Environmental Regulation," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-27, August.
    4. Yong Liu & Jixin Yang & Guanghong Zhang & Xufeng Cui, 2024. "Driving factors of green production behaviour among farmers of different scales: Evidence from North China," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 70(10), pages 474-494.
    5. Love Offeibea Asiedu-Ayeh & Xungang Zheng & Kobina Agbodah & Bright Senyo Dogbe & Adjei Peter Darko, 2022. "Promoting the Adoption of Agricultural Green Production Technologies for Sustainable Farming: A Multi-Attribute Decision Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-21, August.
    6. Mengling Tian & Ruifeng Liu & Jian Wang & Jiahao Liang & Yefan Nian & Hengyun Ma, 2023. "Impact of Environmental Values and Information Awareness on the Adoption of Soil Testing and Formula Fertilization Technology by Farmers—A Case Study Considering Social Networks," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-22, October.
    7. Xiaoyu Liu & Junlan Xiang & Ling Qiu & Xinhong Fu & Yuying Liu, 2025. "Research on cooperative's information services, farmers' cognition, and fertilizer reduction behavior: evidence from China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 4513-4539, February.
    8. Zejun He & Yunfei Jia & Yifan Ji, 2023. "Analysis of Influencing Factors and Mechanism of Farmers’ Green Production Behaviors in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-25, January.
    9. Mao, Hui & Zhou, Li & Ying, RuiYao & Pan, Dan, 2021. "Time Preferences and green agricultural technology adoption: Field evidence from rice farmers in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    10. Yu Du & Hui Feng & Qingsong Zhang & Shaofeng Zheng, 2025. "Influence of Information Literacy on Farmers’ Green Production Technology Adoption Behavior: The Moderating Role of Risk Attitude," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-23, March.
    11. Yunlong Sui & Qiang Gao, 2023. "Farmers’ Endowments, Technology Perception and Green Production Technology Adoption Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-18, April.
    12. Lipeng Li & Apurbo Sarkar & Xi Zhou & Xiuling Ding & Hua Li, 2022. "Influence and Action Mechanisms of Governmental Relations Embeddedness for Fostering Green Production Demonstration Household: Evidence from Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Anhui Province, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-25, September.
    13. Jutao Zeng & Jie Lyu, 2023. "Simultaneous Decisions to Undertake Off-Farm Work and Straw Return: The Role of Cognitive Ability," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-21, August.
    14. Haoyuan Liu & Zhe Chen & Suyue Wen & Jizhou Zhang & Xianli Xia, 2025. "Impact of Digital Literacy on Farmers’ Adoption Behaviors of Green Production Technologies," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-23, January.
    15. Yihan Chen & Wen Xiang & Minjuan Zhao, 2024. "Impacts of Capital Endowment on Farmers’ Choices in Fertilizer-Reduction and Efficiency-Increasing Technologies (Preferences, Influences, and Mechanisms): A Case Study of Apple Farmers in the Province," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-25, January.
    16. Linwei Wang & Yixin Hu & Rong Kong, 2023. "The Impact of Bancassurance Interaction on the Adoption Behavior of Green Production Technology in Family Farms: Evidence from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-26, April.
    17. Adnan, Nadia & Nordin, Shahrina Md & Anwar, Abdullah, 2020. "Transition pathways for Malaysian paddy farmers to sustainable agricultural practices: An integrated exhibiting tactics to adopt Green fertilizer," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    18. Feilong Weng & Xuan Liu & Xuexi Huo, 2023. "Impact of Internet Use on Farmers’ Organic Fertilizer Investment: A New Perspective of Access to Credit," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-13, January.
    19. Qian, Chen & Shao, Liqun & Chen, Haibin, 2022. "Understanding herdsmen's rangeland rent-in behaviour under current rural land tenure system of China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    20. Yuxing Shi & Chaoqiong Li & Minjuan Zhao & Guoqing Qin, 2024. "Public willingness to pay for farmland non‐point source pollution governance toward sustainable development: A choice experiment in Gansu, China," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(3), pages 2600-2622, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:jagris:v:15:y:2025:i:7:p:744-:d:1624467. 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.