Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T08:17:56.936Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Can farmers' participation in contract farming promote the application of organic fertilizer? Empirical evidence from a sample of vegetable farmers in Shandong province of China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2022

Yang Gao Open the ORCID record for Yang Gao [Opens in a new window] ,
Xue Yao ,
Chen Chen  and
Ziheng Niu
Yang Gao*
Affiliation:
College of Economics and Management, Northwest University, Xian, Shanxi, China Research Center for Food Safety and Agricultural Green Development, Qufu Normal University, Rizhao, Shandong, China
Xue Yao
Affiliation:
Research Center for Food Safety and Agricultural Green Development, Qufu Normal University, Rizhao, Shandong, China College of Economics, Qufu Normal University, Rizhao, Shandong, China
Chen Chen
Affiliation:
School of Economics and Management, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
Ziheng Niu
Affiliation:
Academy of Strategies for Innovation and Development, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui, China
*
Author for correspondence: Yang Gao, E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Determining an effective approach to replacing chemical fertilizer with organic fertilizer is a difficult challenge for the Chinese government. This paper constructs a dynamic analysis framework with broader application than previous statistical and case studies by theoretically deriving the impact of farmers' participation in contract farming on their organic fertilizer application behavior. The framework analyzes farmers' intertemporal organic fertilizer application behavior under the two scenarios of participation and nonparticipation in contract farming. Participation in contract farming positively impacts organic fertilizer application behavior in both the short and long terms. Survey data from 473 vegetable farmers in Shandong province of China were used to conduct an empirical analysis, and the endogenous switching probit model was used to solve the endogeneity problem of farmers' participation in contract farming. The empirical analysis supports the above results: farmers' participation in contract farming increases their probability of applying organic fertilizer by 50.7%. Robustness tests conducted using the recursive bivariate probit model and replacing the dependent variable (the intensity with which farmers replace chemical fertilizer with organic fertilizer) confirm the research results. Further heterogeneity analysis shows that farmers' participation in contract farming has a more obvious promoting effect on organic fertilizer application behavior in the older group, the group with an education level of primary school or below and the small-scale farming group. Therefore, the government should promote participation in contract farming, especially among elderly, low-education and small-scale farmers, to improve the adoption level of organic fertilizer in China.

Keywords

Contract farmingdistributional effectdynamic analysis frameworkendogenous switching probit modelorganic fertilizer
Type
Research Paper
Information
Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems , Volume 37 , Issue 5 , October 2022 , pp. 479 - 489
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abdoulaye, T and Sanders, JH (2005) Stages and determinants of fertilizer use in semiarid African agriculture: the Niger experience. Agricultural Economics 32, 167–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abdulai, A, Owusu, V and Goetz, R (2011) Land tenure differences and investment in land improvement measures: theoretical and empirical analyses. Journal of Development Economics 96, 66–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ajewole, OC (2010) Farmer's response to adoption of commercially available organic fertilizers in Oyo state, Nigeria. African Journal of Agricultural Research 5, 2497–2503.Google Scholar
Arslan, A, Belotti, F and Lipper, L (2017) Smallholder productivity and weather shocks: adoption and impact of widely promoted agricultural practices in Tanzania. Food Policy 69, 68–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arumugam, N and Arshad, FM (2011) Determinants of fresh fruits and vegetables (FFV) farmers’ participation in contract farming in Peninsular Malaysia. International Journal of Agricultural Management & Development 1, 65–71.Google Scholar
Aryal, JP, Sapkota, TB, Krupnik, TJ, Rahut, DB and Stirling, CM (2021) Factors affecting farmers' use of organic and inorganic fertilizers in South Asia. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 28, 51480–51496.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Belay, M and Bewket, W (2013) Farmers’ livelihood assets and adoption of sustainable land management practices in northwestern highlands of Ethiopia. International Journal of Environmental Studies 70, 284–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bellemare, MF (2012) As you sow, so shall you reap: the welfare impacts of contract farming. World Development 40, 1418–1434.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bellemare, MF and Novak, L (2017) Contract farming and food security. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 99, 357–378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chiburis, RC, Das, J and Lokshin, MA (2011) Practical comparison of the bivariate probit and linear IV estimators. Economics Letters 117, 762–766.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Choudhary, M, Panday, SC, Meena, VS, Singh, S, Yadav, RP, Mahanta, D, Mondal, T, Mishra, PK, Bisht, JK and Pattanayak, A (2018) Long-term effects of organic manure and inorganic fertilization on sustainability and chemical soil quality indicators of soybean-wheat cropping system in the Indian mid-Himalayas. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 257, 38–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Da Silva, CA and Rankin, M (2013) Contract Farming for Inclusive Market Access. Rome: FAO.Google Scholar
Freguin-Gresh, S, D'Haese, M and Anseeuw, W (2012) Demythifying contract farming: evidence from rural South Africa. Agrekon 51, 24–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fulton, M and Giannakas, K (2013) The future of agricultural cooperatives. Annual Review of Resource Economics 5, 61–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gao, Y, Liu, B, Niu, Z, Yu, L, Yang, H and Yin, S (2019) Social tenure security and the adoption of green control techniques of family farms in China. Land Use Policy 86, 135–146.Google Scholar
Grabowski, PP, John, MK, Haggblade, S and Kabwe, S (2016) Determinants of adoption and disadoption of minimum tillage by cotton farmers in eastern Zambia. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment 23, 54–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guo, H, Jolly, RW and Zhu, J (2007) Contract farming for improving smallholder incomes: what can we learn from effectiveness studies? Comparative Economic Studies 49, 285–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hao, J, Bijman, J, Gardbbroek, C, Heerink, N, Heijman, M and Huo, X (2018) Cooperative membership and farmers' choice of marketing channels—evidence from apple farmers in Shaanxi and Shandong provinces, China. Food Policy 74, 53–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
He, LY and Huang, JK (2001) On the stability of land using right and the input of fertilizer—a positive study in Guangzhou province. China Rural Survey 5, 42–48.Google Scholar
Hou, J, Ying, RY and Zhou, L (2018) Does contract farming effectively improve farmers’ income? An empirical research based on quantile regression. Journal of Nanjing Agricultural University (Social Sciences Edition) 18, 122–132.Google Scholar
Hu, YH (2013) Effect of contract farming on the U.S. crop farmers’ average return. Agricultural Economics 59, 195–201.Google Scholar
Hu, NJ, Sun, XL, Xu, YT, Zhou, ZY and Zhu, LQ (2019) Influencing factors of farmers’ organic fertilizer application behavior and their stratification based on logistic-ISM model. Resources Science 41, 1120–1130.Google Scholar
Huang, Z and Luo, XF (2020) Reduction and substitution of fertilizers: farmer's technical strategy choice and influencing factors. Journal of South China Agricultural University: Social Science Edition 19, 77–87.Google Scholar
Huang, Z, Xu, Y, Zeng, D, Wang, C and Wang, J (2018) One size fits all? Contract farming among broiler producers in China. Journal of Integrative Agriculture 17, 473–482.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kassie, M, Jaleta, M, Shiferaw, B, Mmbando, F and Mekuria, M (2013) Adoption of interrelated sustainable agricultural practices in smallholder systems: evidence from rural Tanzania. Technological Forecasting & Social Change 80, 525–540.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kassie, M, Teklewold, H, Jaleta, M, Marenya, P and Erenstein, O (2015) Understanding the adoption of a portfolio of sustainable intensification practices in eastern and Southern Africa. Land Use Policy 42, 400–411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, BW and Shen, YQ (2021) Effects of land transfer quality on the application of organic fertilizer by large-scale farmers in China. Land Use Policy 100, 105124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, X, Liu, C, Zhao, H, Gao, F, Ji, G, Hu, F and Li, H (2018) Similar positive effects of beneficial bacteria, nematodes and earthworms on soil quality and productivity. Applied Soil Ecology 130, 202–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, ZL, Luo, XF and Qiu, WW (2019) Land scale, tenure security and adoption of organic fertilizer of farmer: a mediation and moderated model. Resources and Environment in the Yangtze Basin 28, 1918–1928.Google Scholar
Lu, H, Zhang, PW, Hu, H, Xie, HL, Yu, ZN and Chen, S (2019) Effect of the grain-growing purpose and farm size on the ability of stable land property rights to encourage farmers to apply organic fertilizers. Journal of Environmental Management 251, 109621.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luo, XJ, Feng, SY and Huang, XZ (2019) The influence of information disseminators on farmers’ fertilization behavior: a spatial econometric modeling approach based on 690 large scale grain producers in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze river. China Population, Resources and Environment 29, 104–115.Google Scholar
Ma, W, Abdulai, A and Goetz, R (2018) Agricultural cooperatives and investment in organic soil amendments and chemical fertilizer in China. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 100, 502–520.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mao, H, Zhou, L and Ying, RY (2018) Farmers’ risk preferences and their technology adoption behavior: an examination from the perspective of contract farming. Chinese Rural Economy, 74–89.Google Scholar
Mao, H, Zhou, L and Ying, RY (2019) Does contract farming effectively improve farmers’ input?—Analysis based on ‘leading enterprises+farmers’ contract model. Journal of Nanjing Agricultural University (Social Sciences Edition) 19, 147–155.Google Scholar
Mishra, AK, Kumar, A, Joshi, PK and D'Souza, A (2018 a) Impact of contract farming on yield, costs and profitability in low-value crop: evidence from a low-income country. Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics 62, 589–607.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mishra, AK, Kumar, A, Joshi, PK, D'Souza, A and Tripathi, G (2018 b) How can organic rice be a boon to smallholders? Evidence from contract farming in India. Food Policy 75, 147–157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mishra, AK, Rezitis, AN and Tsionas, MG (2019) Estimating technical efficiency and production risk under contract farming: a Bayesian estimation and stochastic dominance methodology. Journal of Agricultural Economics 70, 353–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miyata, S, Minot, N and Hu, D (2009) Impact of contract farming on income: linking small farmers, packers, and supermarkets in China. World Development 37, 1781–1790.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mwambi, MM, Oduol, J, Mshenga, P and Saidi, M (2016) Does contract farming improve smallholder income? The case of avocado farmers in Kenya. Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies 6, 2–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Narayanan, S (2014) Profits from participation in high value agriculture: evidence of heterogeneous benefits in contract farming schemes in southern India. Food Policy 44, 142–157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ndiritu, SW, Kassie, M and Shiferaw, B (2014) Are there systematic gender differences in the adoption of sustainable agricultural intensification practices? Evidence from Kenya. Food Policy 49, 117–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nigussie, Z, Tsunekawa, A, Haregeweyn, N, Adgo, E, Nohmi, M, Tsubo, M, Aklog, D, Meshesha, DT and Abele, S (2017) Factors influencing small-scale farmers’ adoption of sustainable land management technologies in north-western Ethiopia. Land Use Policy 67, 57–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olayide, O (2010) Determinants of adoption and intensity of use of organic fertilizer in northern Nigeria. Journal of Environmental Extension 8, 67–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pingali, P, Aiyar, A, Abraham, M and Rahman, A (2019) Agricultural technology for increasing competitiveness of small holders. In Pingali, P, Aiyar, A, Abraham, M and Rahman, A (eds), Transforming Food Systems for a Rising India. Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 215–240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poku, AG, Birner, R, Gupta, S, Da Silva, CA and Rankin, M (2018) Contract farming for inclusive market access. Sustainability 10, 1604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sun, LL, Yang, H and Zheng, HT (2020) The impact of land titling on agricultural investment in rural China. Economic Research Journal 55, 156–173.Google Scholar
Teklewold, H, Kassie, M and Shiferaw, B (2013) Adoption of multiple sustainable agricultural practices in rural Ethiopia. Journal of Agricultural Economics 64, 597–623.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tey, YS, Li, E, Bruwer, J, Abdullah, AM, Brundal, M, Radam, A, Ismail, MM and Darham, S (2014) The relative importance of factors influencing the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices: a factor approach for Malaysian vegetable farmers. Sustainability Science 9, 17–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, HH, Wang, Y and Delgado, MS (2014) The transition to modern agriculture: contract farming in developing economies. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 96, 1257–1271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, X, Zhang, JB and He, K (2020) Will livelihood capital affect farmers' organic fertilizer application behavior? Journal of Ecology and Rural Environment 36, 1141–1148.Google Scholar
Xiao, JL, Pan, Y and Dai, YY (2018) Couples’ joint holdings and corporate risk-taking. Economic Research Journal 53, 190–204.Google Scholar
Xu, H, Huang, X, Zhong, T, Chen, Z and Yu, J (2014) Chinese land policies and farmers’ adoption of organic fertilizer for saline soils. Land Use Policy 38, 541–549.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yang, YR and Luo, XF (2018) The impact of reduction and replacement policy on famers’ willingness to adopt the organic fertilize substitution technology mode—an empirical analysis based on the survey data of tea growers in Hubei. Journal of Agrotechnical Economics, 77–85.Google Scholar
Zhang, LZ (2016) The latest development of the international rules on contract farming—brief introduction and comment on legal guide on contract farming by UNIDROIT/FAO/IFAD. Hebei Law Science 34, 63–76.Google Scholar
Zhang, C, Zhang, CS, Qiu, HG and Lv, KY (2017) Impact of agricultural insurance on farmers’ input—taking organic fertilizer as an example. Journal of Agrotechnical Economics, 79–87.Google Scholar
Zhang, X, Wan, GH, Zhang, JJ and He, ZY (2019) Digital economy, financial inclusion, and inclusive growth. Economic Research Journal 54, 71–86.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Gao et al. supplementary material

Appendix

Download Gao et al. supplementary material(File)
File 49 KB