The hidden mechanism of chemical fertiliser overuse in rural China

Zhang, Yingnan; Long, Hualou; Wang, Mark; Li, Yurui; Ma, Li; Chen, Kunqiu; Zheng, Yuhan; Jiang, Tianhe

doi:10.1016/j.habitatint.2020.102210

Cited by 43 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…Farmers with less farmland may find it more difficult to spread risks across all plots and thus pin their hopes on chemical fertiliser to stabilize crop yields. [47]. In southwest mountain (hill)-based agriculture, it is hard for smallholder farmers to implement mechanization and intensify cultivation [48].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling Fertilizer Use in Relation to Farmers’ Household Characteristics in Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China

Fleskens

et al. 2021

Agriculture

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Non-point source pollution from excessive use of fertilizers in agriculture is a major cause of the eutrophication problem in China. Understanding farmers’ decision-making concerning fertilization and identifying the influencing factors in this process are key to tackling overfertilization and related pollution issues. This paper reports a study on modelling decisions about fertilizer use based on data collected from 200 farmer households in the Three Gorges Reservoir area of China, using a well-fitted artificial neural network (ANN) with incorporated variance-based sensitivity analysis. The rate of fertilizer use estimated from the model is in good agreement with observed data. The model is further validated and tested by comparing the simulated and observed values. Results show that the model is able to identify the influencing factors and their interactions causing the variation in fertilizer use and to help pinpoint the underlying reasons. It is found that the farmers’ fertilization behavior is greatly affected by the area of cultivated land, followed by the interaction among farmers’ education level, annual income, and awareness of the importance of environmental protection. Future land consolidation is one of several ways to achieve more sustainable fertilization strategies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling Fertilizer Use in Relation to Farmers’ Household Characteristics in Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China

Fleskens

et al. 2021

Agriculture

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“…Based on economic rationalism, farmers are usually profit-oriented in their decision making and seek benefit maximization [40]. On one hand, they tend to sacrifice some environmental quality to pursue economic benefits, and problems such as overuse of fertilizer and pesticides [41,42], water pollution [43,44], and cultivated land pollution [45] are appearing. Risk aversion has also turned out to be an important determinant [46].…”

Section: Literature and Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Drives Farmers to Participate in Rural Environmental Governance? Evidence from Villages in Sandu Town, Eastern China

Meng

Chen

et al. 2022

Sustainability

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Understanding farmers’ participation is crucial for achieving an effective impact on rural living environmental governance and promoting sustainable development. Taking Sandu Town in eastern China as a case study, in-depth semi-structured interviews with farmers, village cadres, and town managers were conducted in this study. Then, a conceptual framework incorporating comprehensive factors is presented to analyze the driving factors and mechanisms of farmer participation in rural domestic waste management. The results show that farmers’ participation in pro-environmental actions is a response to an integrated network of both internal and external factors. Life inertia, loss of personal interests, and objective conditions are the barriers to farmers deciding to participate. Meanwhile, environmental awareness can increase farmers’ internal motivations, and factors such as household benefits, social-cultural influences, and appraisal systems, including household possession protection, very low economic costs, better life experiences, demonstrations from society, “following the crowd”, peer pressure, and reward and criticism measures, are the external forces that mobilize farmers to participate in rural environmental governance. Policy recommendations are proposed based on the findings.

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“…Fifth, with the rapid development of industrialization and urbanization, many rural working people flow to urban areas. This results in the aging and weakening of agricultural producers, and causes the substitution of modern production factors such as chemical fertilizer for labor force, which further increases CFAI [57]. Additionally, in the process of circulation, fertilizer dealers tend to increase the recommended application number of chemical fertilizers to obtain more benefits, resulting in excessive chemical fertilizer application [58].…”

Section: Understanding the Chemical Fertilizer Application In Chinamentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal Changes of Chemical Fertilizer Application and Its Environmental Risks in China from 2000 to 2019

Guo

Wang

2021

IJERPH

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Chemical fertilizers are important inputs in agricultural production. They not only increase crop yield but also bring many negative effects, such as agricultural non-point source pollution. Therefore, a scientific understanding of the regional differences in chemical fertilizer application and its environmental risks is of significance to promote China’s agricultural development. In this study, we analyzed the spatiotemporal pattern of chemical fertilizer application intensity (CFAI) in China since 2000, evaluated the environmental risks of provincial CFAI, and investigated the internal mechanism behind them. The results showed that the total amount and intensity of chemical fertilizer application in China from 2000 to 2019 presented a trend of increasing first and then decreasing. In 2000 and 2019, provincial CFAI in eastern China was generally higher than that in central and western China, and the environmental risks of provincial CFAI were spatially characterized by “high in the north and low in the south”. Factors such as poor soil conditions, unreasonable farming structure and backward fertilization methods are the main reasons for the continuous increase in the total amount and intensity of chemical fertilizer application, while the construction of ecological civilization and the transformation of society and economy are the main reasons for their decline. Finally, measures such as targeted fertilization, adjusting the use structure of chemical fertilizers, improving fertilization methods and replacing chemical fertilizers with organic fertilizers are proposed to promote the quantity reduction and efficiency increase of chemical fertilizer application in China.

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The hidden mechanism of chemical fertiliser overuse in rural China

Cited by 43 publications

References 59 publications

Modelling Fertilizer Use in Relation to Farmers’ Household Characteristics in Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China

Modelling Fertilizer Use in Relation to Farmers’ Household Characteristics in Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China

What Drives Farmers to Participate in Rural Environmental Governance? Evidence from Villages in Sandu Town, Eastern China

Spatiotemporal Changes of Chemical Fertilizer Application and Its Environmental Risks in China from 2000 to 2019

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