Influence Of Technology Promotion On Pesticide Reduction Behavior Of Vegetable Growers And The Effect Of Pesticide Reduction

Promoting the green development of agriculture and accelerating the overall transformation of the industry are important propositions of the supply-side structural reform of agriculture and the strategy of quality agriculture.At present,the resource and environmental constraints of agricultural production are becoming increasingly tight,and the agricultural production methods of high input,high consumption and high pollution are no longer sustainable.Excessive use of chemical inputs not only leads to an increase in the“floor”of agricultural production costs,but also easily leads to agricultural pollution and food quality and safety issues.Promoting the pesticide reduction has become an important part of improving the quality and efficiency of agricultural development,but the implementation of pesticide reduction still faces many difficulties.On the one hand,the phenomenon of non-agricultural employment of rural households is serious,and the productivity of left-behind labor is limited;on the other hand,the alternative technology for pesticide reduction is more complicated,and the technical support system for pesticide reduction is not complete.Therefore,it is necessary to study the pesticide reduction of farmers from the perspective of technology promotion,and effectively solve the labor dilemma and technical problems of farmers in pesticide reduction,so as to achieve the effect of technical elements boosting the safe production of agricultural products.Based on this,this article takes vegetable growers as the research sample.According to the systematic review of domestic and foreign research,use theories of innovation diffusion theory,technology extension framework theory,and inducible technology innovation theory to construct an analytical framework ‘category of technology extension(technical attributes)-organizational methods for technology promotion-channels for technology promotion'.This paper systematically studies the influence of technology promotion on pesticide reduction behavior of vegetable growers and the effect of pesticide reduction.Using the survey data of 957 vegetable growers in Shandong and Shaanxi provinces,the current situation and problems of pesticide reduction applied by vegetable growers in the sample area are analyzed.From the three dimensions of technology promotion,content attributes,organizational methods,and promotion channels,we investigate the mechanism of influence on vegetable growers' pesticide reduction behavior intentions,behavior decisions,and behavior implementation,and analyze the behavioral effects of vegetable growers' pesticide reduction.It aims to provide theoretical basis and empirical support for the realization of the high-quality development path and policy design of the vegetable industry.The main research conclusions of this paper are as follows:(1)The problem of overuse of pesticides by farmers in vegetable production is serious.From the perspective of farmers,vegetable farmers are over-reliant on pesticides,and there are cognitive biases on pesticide reduction.From the village level,the herding effect of farmers' behavior is obvious,and the service system for pesticide reduction needs to be improved urgently.From the government level,the suspension of grassroots governance is serious,and the support system of pesticide reduction is lacking.From a technical perspective,the alternative technology for pesticide reduction is more complicated,and the advantages of substitution are not obvious.(2)The influence of technical attributes on the pesticide reduction behavior of vegetable growers has stage differences.In the behavioral intention stage,both the simple technologies of increasing capital and stabilizing labor and the complex technologies of saving capital and increasing labor have a significant positive impact on vegetable growers' intention to reduce pesticide,and the marginal effect of the complicated technology of saving capital and increasing labor is higher.In the behavioral decision-making stage,the simple technology of increasing capital and stabilizing labor has a significant positive impact on the decision-making of vegetable growers' pesticide reduction,while the impact of the complex technology of saving capital and increasing labor is not significant.In the behavior implementation stage,the simple technology of capital increasing and labor stabilization and the complicated technology of saving capital and labor increasing have a significant positive impact on the implementation of pesticide reduction of vegetable growers,and the marginal effect of the simple technology of capital increasing and labor stabilization is higher.(3)The organization of technology promotion has obvious effects on pesticide reduction behavior of vegetable growers.In the behavioral intention stage,both the farmers' cooperative and the agricultural technology extension station have a significant positive influence on the vegetable growers' intention to reduce pesticide,while the agricultural supply dealers have a significant negative influence on it.The absolute value of the marginal effect of the three is agricultural supply dealers >farmers' cooperative> agricultural technology extension station.In the behavioral decision-making stage,the farmers' cooperatives have a significant positive influence on the vegetable growers' decision-making on pesticide reduction,the agricultural supply dealers have a significant negative influence on it,and the agricultural technology extension stations have no significant influence.In the implementation phase,both the farmers' cooperatives and agricultural technology extension stations have a significant positive impact on the implementation of pesticide reduction by vegetable growers,while the agricultural supply dealers have a significant negative impact on their implementation of pesticide reduction.(4)The channels of technology promotion have a significant positive impact on the pesticide reduction behavior of vegetable growers,and there are substitution and complementary relationships between different channels.In the process of promotion channels affecting the pesticide reduction behavior of vegetable growers,the traditional interpersonal communication channels and their subordinate variables-channel quantity and channel quality,the superficial use of the Internet and the deep use of the Internet,have significantly positively affected their intentions,decision-making,and implement.In the behavioral intention stage,both the superficial use of the Internet and the deep use of the Internet present an alternative relationship with the traditional channels of interpersonal communication.In the stage of behavior decision-making and behavior implementation,the shallow use of the Internet has a significant substitute for traditional channels of interpersonal communication,and the deep use of the Internet and traditional channels of interpersonal communication are complementary.(5)The pesticide reduction behavior of vegetable growers has economic,ecological and food safety effects.Pesticide reduction has no significant impact on the average output per mu of vegetable growers,but has a significant positive impact on the average net income of vegetable growers per mu,and can increase the average annual income of vegetable growers by RMB 1,845.49.Pesticide reduction has a significant positive impact on the improvement of agricultural ecological environment and food safety.(6)In the analysis of typical cases,the promotion and demonstration of farmers' cooperatives,the promotion of alternative technologies,and a good production and marketing system have a positive impact on farmers' pesticide reduction behavior,and pesticide reduction will bring economic,ecological,and food safety benefits.Based on the research conclusions,this article puts forward the following policy recommendations: pay attention to the orientation of safe production and enhance farmers' awareness of pesticide reduction;promote the effective connection between technical attributes and farmers' resources to enhance the effect of alternative technology adoption;clarify the organization function of technology promotion,and build a diversified agricultural technology promotion system;multi-channel integration innovate the information dissemination method of farmers' pesticide reduction;face up to the differentiation of farmers,and implement targeted pesticide reduction actions to support.