Replacing synthetic fertilizer by manure requires adjusted technology and incentives: A farm survey across China

Zhang, Tao; Hou, Yong; Meng, Ting; Ma, Yifei; Tan, Meixiu; Zhang, Fusuo; Oenema, O.

doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105301

Cited by 65 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Although no reliable data are available on the use of human excreta and organic fertilizer in these three provinces, we do not expect the usage to be any different from that reported recently for Shaanxi province ( Wang et al, 2018 ). It has been predicted that, through manure recycling, by 2050 China's demand for synthetic N fertilizer could be reduced by about one-third (about 10 Mt), which is equivalent to 10% of current global fertilizer N consumption ( Zhang et al, 2020 ). However, achieving this will be difficult because of farmers' negative attitudes to manure use ( Zhang et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Poor awareness and attitudes to sanitation servicing can impede China's Rural Toilet Revolution: Evidence from Western China

Guo

Zhou

Simha

et al. 2021

Science of The Total Environment

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The ongoing Toilet Revolution in China offers an opportunity to improve sanitation in rural areas by introducing new approaches, such as urine source separation, that can contribute to achieving SDG6. However, few studies have systematically assessed the social acceptability of managing human excreta collected in new sanitation systems. Therefore, in this study we performed face-to-face interviews with 414 local residents from 13 villages across three provinces in western China, to analyze the current situation and attitudes to possible changes in the rural sanitation service chain. We found that the sanitation chain was predominantly pit latrine-based, with 86.2% of households surveyed collecting their excreta in a simple pit, 82% manually emptying their pits, and 80.2% reusing excreta in agriculture without adequate pre-treatment. A majority (72%) of the households had a generally positive attitude to production of human excreta-derived fertilizer, but only 24% agreed that urine and feces should be collected separately. Multivariate logistic regression indicated that three factors (level of education, number of permanent household residents, perceived social acceptability) significantly influenced respondents' attitudes to reuse of excreta, although only perceived social acceptability had a high strength of association. Overall, our survey revealed that rural households often misuse toilet systems, fail to comply with government-specified sanitation guidelines, have low awareness of alternative solutions, and are over-reliant on the government to fix problems in the service chain. Thus while new sanitation technologies should be developed and implemented, information campaigns that encourage rural households to manage their excreta safely are also important.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Poor awareness and attitudes to sanitation servicing can impede China's Rural Toilet Revolution: Evidence from Western China

Guo

Zhou

Simha

et al. 2021

Science of The Total Environment

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“…In this study, the density difference caused by farmer decision-making was clarified. In addition, given that the theory of planned behavior can provide a theoretical basis for explaining the decision-making process of individual behaviors [34], it was included in this study to further analyze the main factors that affect the decision-making of the density of smallholders (Figure 5). The SEM was used to quantify the direct and potential relationships between different density loss paths (Figure 6).…”

Section: Systematic Methodology Of Analyzing the Primary Causes For Density Difference And Lossmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In practice, affected by many factors such as conservative concepts of farmers, the risks associated with technology, the social and economic factors and the acquisition and utilization of resources [34,37], there is a big gap between farmer willingness towards sowing density and the optimal sowing density recommended by agronomists. In the present study, the decision-making of farmers directly led to a 15.5% sowing density difference.…”

Section: Density Difference Between Agronomists and Smallholdersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Overall, the key to reduce the density loss lies in changing farmer attitudes and understanding, especially their risk awareness. This requires the participation of different stakeholders [10,34]. For the government, it should strengthen the construction of a technology extension service system, improve the service functions of different subjects and enhance the impact of social referents on farmer behaviors, which is relatively small at present (Figure 5).…”

Section: Potential Optimization Approach Of Reducing Density Lossmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Methodology of Analyzing Maize Density Loss in Smallholder’s Fields and Potential Optimize Approach

Wang

Jiao

et al. 2021

Agriculture

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Increasing plant density is a key measure to close the maize (Zea mays L.) yield gap and ensure food security. However, there is a large plant density difference in the fields sown by agronomists and smallholders. The primary cause of this phenomenon is the lack of an effective methodology to systematically analyze the density loss. To identify the plant density loss processes from experimental plots to smallholder fields, a research methodology was developed in this study involving a farmer survey and measurements in a smallholder field. The results showed that the sowing density difference caused by farmer decision-making and plant density losses caused by mechanical and agronomic factors explained 15.5%, 5.5% and 6.8% of the plant density difference, respectively. Changing smallholder attitudes toward the value of increasing the plant density could help reduce this density loss and increase farm yields by 12.3%. Therefore, this methodology was effective for analyzing the plant density loss, and to clarify the primary causes of sowing density differences and plant density loss. Additionally, it was beneficial to identify the priorities and stakeholders who share responsibility for reducing the density loss. The methodology has wide applicability to address the sowing density differences and plant density loss in other areas to narrow crop yield gaps and ensure food security.

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“…Applying organic fertilizer may introduce weeds and pests (Zhang et al, 2020), resulting in volatile yield (Khaliq et al, 2006;Moe et al, 2019). The benefits of combining synthetic and organic fertilizers, such as the increased organic carbon content in the soil which increases crop yields in the long run (Dick & Gregorich, 2004), may be unclear and considered as uncertain by a farmer.…”

Section: The Role Of Risk and Time Preferences For Fertilizer Use Decisionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual differences matter : personality traits and preferences in smallholders’ farm management

Qian

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multiple activities that might be spatially dispersed, and being able to sensibly adapt their resources (e.g., land, labour, and capital) to micro-variations in market circumstances and climate conditions (Nuthall, 2001;Rosenzweig, 1980). Operating a farm is thus in a way similar to owning a small business and farming requires entrepreneurial drive to some extent to meet challenges and deal with uncertainties (Allen & Lueck, 1998).The current thesis aims to provide more insights into the contribution of individual differences in personality traits and economic preferences to smallholders' economic decisions in agricultural production and farm management, using available data sets from China. It starts with an investigation Abstract: Land tenure security perceived by farmers is generally considered an important precondition for rural development. In this paper, we investigate the influence of psychological factors on farmers' perceived land tenure insecurity. In doing so, we disentangle the concept of perceived tenure insecurity into its cognitive and affective components and examine the relationship between them. We develop a recursive structural cognitive-affective model and present the results of applying structural equation modelling to a dataset collected in 2019 among 1359 rice farmers in three provinces in eastern China.We found that the cognitive component of perceived tenure insecurity shows an inverse "U-shape" relationship with the affective component, which can be interpreted as support for the ''risk-as-feeling'' proposition that feelings do not always correspond with perceived risk estimates in the case of land tenure security. Moreover, some personality traits (i.e., neuroticism and extraversion) were found to significantly affect farmers' perception of land tenure insecurity. We conclude that the perceived tenure security of rural residents may be increased if relevant laws and regulations would be communicated to farmers in such ways that personality heterogeneities are taken into account, paying special attention to farmers with more "vulnerable" traits. Although the research was done for rural China, the findings are also likely to be relevant for other developing countries where formal institution and informal regulations play intertwined roles in rural land tenure.

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Replacing synthetic fertilizer by manure requires adjusted technology and incentives: A farm survey across China

Cited by 65 publications

References 62 publications

Poor awareness and attitudes to sanitation servicing can impede China's Rural Toilet Revolution: Evidence from Western China

Poor awareness and attitudes to sanitation servicing can impede China's Rural Toilet Revolution: Evidence from Western China

Methodology of Analyzing Maize Density Loss in Smallholder’s Fields and Potential Optimize Approach

Individual differences matter : personality traits and preferences in smallholders’ farm management

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