Livelihood Capital, Ecological Cognition, and Farmers’ Green Production Behavior

Abstract

Green development of agriculture is inevitable to meet the objective demand of rural ecological environment protection and high-quality agricultural development. Livelihood capital is the basic condition for farmers to carry out the activities of production and management, while ecological cognition is the direct motivation for their behaviors. Based on field research data from 436 farm households in 4 counties of Langao, Fuping, Mian, and Yaozhou in Shaanxi Province, China, the study conducted the double-hurdle model (DHM) to empirically analyze the effects of livelihood capital and ecological cognition on farmer’s decision on green production and the degree of green production. The results show that (1) farmers’ livelihood capital is the basic condition that significantly affects farmers’ green production. Specifically, human capital and social capital have a positive contribution to farmers’ green production decision and degree of green production; natural capital and financial capital do not have a significant effect on green production decision, but have a significant positive effect on the degree of green production behavior; physical capital, as farmers’ stock capital, does not have a significant effect on green production behavior. (2) Ecological cognition plays a positive moderating role in farmers’ decisions on green production, but as a subjective cognition, its contribution to the degree of green production is not significant. This paper explores the relationship between livelihood capital, ecological cognition, and farmers’ green production behavior, and provides suggestions for improving farmers’ participation in green production.

Impact Effects of Cooperative Participation on the Adoption Behavior of Green Production Technologies by Cotton Farmers and the Driving Mechanisms

“…Unlike them, we found that cotton farmers' intrinsic perceptions of green production and external regulations are mediating variables that affect their adoption of AGPTs. O'Connor and Assakerd et al empirically verified the mechanisms through which farmers' green perceptions influence their adoption of AGPTs [83][84][85]. Similarly, this paper confirms the effect of green perceptions on green production technology adoption behavior and its internal mechanisms.…”

Does Farmers’ Cognition Enhance Their Enthusiasm for Adopting Sustainable Digital Agricultural Extension Services? Evidence from Rural China

“…However, factors such as the age of respondents, family farmland area, health status, and the proportion of family labor did not have a significant impact on farmers' enthusiasm for adopting digital agricultural extension services, possibly because they are not decisive factors in farmers' actual production processes [49]. For example, while older farmers may traditionally have a lower acceptance of new technologies, the high level of information technology and popularization in modern society has enabled farmers of all ages to access digital agricultural extension services [14].…”

“…However, there is still limited empirical evidence on the impact of farmers' cognition on the adoption of digital agricultural extension services. Most studies on farmers' cognition focus on the effect of single-dimensional cognition, such as risk perception, income perception, ecological perception, and technology perception, on agricultural technology adoption [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. For digital agricultural extension services, most studies focus on qualitative research on the current status, problems, and advantages [1,6,7].…”

Decision-Making Mechanism of Farmers in Land Transfer Processes Based on Sustainable Livelihood Analysis Framework: A Study in Rural China

“…Among them, livelihood capital is the central aspect of the sustainability analysis framework and includes the following five components: natural capital, physical capital, financial capital, human capital, and social capital, which influence the formation of livelihood strategies to different degrees. The research conducted by applying the sustainability analysis framework has extensively covered many cross-cutting disciplines such as tourism industry, macroeconomic analysis, social infrastructure, and migration issues [59][60][61][62].…”