The dark side of internet usage in farmers’ adoption of green prevention and control technology

The rapid development of internet information technology creates opportunities for farmers to cross the information gap and adopt green prevention and control (GPC) technology. However, the causal relationship between internet use and GPC adoption is under-analyzed. This study aims to theoretically analyze the dark side of farmers’ internet use time in GPC adoption caused by information avoidance. Using survey data of rice farmers in Southern China, we empirically tested the inverted U-shaped relationship between farmers’ internet use time and adoption of GPC technology, which means the relationship is non-linear. Heterogeneity analysis showed that farmers with low social interaction or high specialization were more susceptible to information avoidance and less likely to adopt GPC technology. This paper opens the black box of ICT-based agricultural behavioral decisions and attaches importance to the “double-edged sword” effects of ICT usage in agriculture technology adoption. This study urges the government and relevant organizations to strengthen the construction of digital infrastructure and the governance of digital agricultural technology information and improve farmers’ digital literacy to alleviate the negative effects of information avoidance while promoting new technologies.