Factors and Minimal Subsidy Associated with Tea Farmers’ Willingness to Adopt Ecological Pest Management

Abstract

Scientific assessment related to the externalities of the tea ecological pest management (TEPM) system that can affect socio-economic development and ecological benefits is important to the sustainable development of the tea industry. This paper used the contingent valuation method to evaluate the externalities associated with TEPM and the factors affecting its adoption by farmers through survey data collected from Anxi county, Fujian province, China. The results showed that the positive externalities, which were not internalized (embodied in price), affected the willingness of tea farmers to adopt TEPM. The willingness to accept a subsidy for adopting the TEPM system was significantly affected by the individual tea farmer’s age, education level, income, plantation, knowledge of human health and risk preference. The compensation threshold of externalities for TEPM was 5668.80 yuan per hectare per year. It is suggested that the government should adopt this threshold as a minimum subsidy to mitigate information asymmetry in two markets, namely ecological management technology and trading between suppliers and buyers of tea products. Finally, production stability and improved price for high quality tea resulting from healthy ecology in TEPM could enhance positive externalities. This coupled with other benefits, such as a reduction in the amount of resources spent on pesticides, could result in governmental subsidies for TEPM being gradually reduced over time.

A spatiotemporal analysis of comparative advantage in tea production in China

“…RCA will increase by 0.005 when FIS increases by 1%. This finding is in line with the findings of Zheng et al (2019) and Liu et al (2020), which implies that the government's fiscal investment and financial subsidies to tea producers and processors effectively promote improved technological adoption and enhance the competitiveness of the tea industry. In connection with this finding, the estimated coefficient of the variable "advantageous industry" indicates that if a local government recognises tea as an advantageous industry, the tea industry in the respective county would achieve a higher RCA.…”

“…Institutional policies. As illustrated by Zheng et al (2019), fiscal investment from the local government can influence the pace of development in the tea industry,…”

Biological Control of Plant Diseases: An Evolutionary and Eco-Economic Consideration

“…One attempt in biological control is to improve environmental quality by increasing the amount and diversity of beneficial microorganisms in farmlands to suppress the occurrence and development of pathogens, which can be achieved through crop diversification such as crop rotation, intercropping, and cultivar mixture. There is increasing evidence showing that crop diversification can suppress plant diseases [83,84]. Disease suppression by crop diversification involves multiple mechanisms, including inoculum dilution, the creation of physical barriers constraining pathogen transmission, and amelioration of pathogen pathogenicity, fungicide resistance, and evolution [85,86].…”

“…Apart from the direct impact on the expenses and income of farmers, biological control also indirectly influences their economic benefits, called externality, through its effect on ecological function and sustainability in the farmlands [80,83,84,114]. This externality, although not directly affecting the cash flow of farmers in the immediate term, should be reflected in the calculation of net profit in using BCAs.…”

Study on the sensory and safety quality characteristics of "High mountain tea" and its formation causes: A comprehensive basic research

“…In China, there has always been a saying that "High mountain clouds make good tea".High mountain tea(HT)generally refers to the tea products produced in high altitude mountainous areas, where the ecological environment is generally superior, with low temperature, less sunshine and more clouds. Tea in these mountainous areas generally grows slowly, and the contents of tea (taste and aroma substances) are rich [1][2][3][4] .At the same time, due to the low yield of Camellia, and the shortage of labor force in mountainous areas, most of the HT areas adopt "natural agricultural method" cultivation, with less chemical fertilizer and pesticide application, and high quality and safety of tea [5][6][7] .For a long time in the past, HT has always been synonymous with "highend tea" and "luxury tea", and ordinary people seldom have access to it. With the improvement of people's living standards, the pursuit of quality and health is becoming higher and higher.…”