Assessing the Relationship among Land Transfer, Fertilizer Usage, and PM2.5 Pollution: Evidence from Rural China

Abstract

Concern for environmental issues is a crucial component in achieving the goal of sustainable development of humankind. Different countries face various challenges and difficulties in this process, which require unique solutions. This study investigated the relationship between land transfer, fertilizer usage, and PM2.5 pollution in rural China from 2000 to 2019, considering their essential roles in agricultural development and overall national welfare. A cross section dependence test, unit root test, and cointegration test, among other methods, were used to test the panel data. A Granger causality test was used to determine the causal relationship between variables, and an empirical analysis of the impulse response and variance decomposition was carried out. The results show that the use of chemical fertilizers had a significant positive impact on PM2.5 pollution, but the impact of land transfer on PM2.5 pollution was negative. In addition, land transfer can reduce the use of chemical fertilizers through economies of scale, thus reducing air pollution. More specifically, for every 1% increase in fertilizer usage, PM2.5 increased by 0.17%, and for every 1% increase in land transfer rate, PM2.5 decreased by about 0.07%. The study on the causal relationship between land transfer, fertilizer usage, and PM2.5 pollution in this paper is helpful for exploring environmental change—they are supplements and innovations which are based on previous studies and provide policy-makers with a basis and inspiration for decision-making.

Can Farmland Transfer Reduce Fertilizer Nonpoint Source Pollution? Evidence from China

“…This paper found that farmland transfer can significantly inhibit pollution caused by fertilizer application [86], which is similar to the findings of Guo et al [87] and Lu et al [88]. Farmland transfer is an essential means of expanding the scale of operation [89].…”

Cultivated Land Transfer, Management Scale, and Cultivated Land Green Utilization Efficiency in China: Based on Intermediary and Threshold Models

“…The results showed that farmer's chemical fertilizer input decreased significantly after CLT introduction, while increased significantly after CLT removal, and CLT mainly affected farmers' fertilizer application by controlling the supply of agricultural labor [32]. The empirical research of Guo et al (2022) also showed that CLT could reduce the quantity of fertilizer used, and the influence of CLT on PM 2.5 pollution was negative [30].…”

“…In recent years, scholars have shown mounting interest in the performance of CLT, and most of the current research mainly involves the following aspects: (1) The current literature focuses more on the influence of CLT on the agricultural environment [26], income of rural households [27], households' behaviors for cultivated land utilization [28], pollution from non-point agricultural source [29], fertilizer utilization and PM 2.5 pollutants [30]. (2) The investigation methods, including the mediating effect model [26], agent-based model (ABM), substance flow analysis (SFA) [31], endogenous switching model [32] and Granger causality test [30] were used. In addition, there is also some of the literature that explored the impact of CLT on cultivated land utilization.…”

Association of PM2.5 from agriculture sources and acute myocardial infarction onset: results from 2015 to 2018 in China

“…PM 2.5 is a complex mixture of numerous compounds derived from various emission sources, it has been associated with adverse health effects and increases the risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes [9][10][11][12] . Ammonia derived from agricultural activities is an air pollutant, and as a key precursor for PM 2.5 , it contributes greatly to PM 2.5 formation through diverse chemical pathways [13][14][15] . Agricultural activities have become the primary source of PM 2.5 in many European and Asian countries [16,17] .…”