Path Analysis Of Farmers' Low Carbon Business Behavior

Since the industrial age,the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane has caused severe environmental problems,such as global warming,rising sea levels and desertification of the soil,which has aroused the common concern of the whole human society.Governments and related organizations around the world have also reached a consensus:minimize the consumption of high-carbon energy such as coal and oil,reducing greenhouse gas emissions,achieving a win-win situation in social and economic development and ecological environmental protection.However,the carbon dependence of the current economic development mode determines that there is still a lot of resistance to the implementation of low-carbon development models in various sectors of the national economy.According to the 2007 IPCC report,agriculture has become the second largest source of greenhouse gases,13.5% of total carbon emissions.In addition,high carbon agriculture also brings about soil compaction,soil fertility decline,and ecological environment damage.Therefore,promoting the development of low-carbon agriculture can not only reduce carbon emissions,but also improve soil quality,optimize the agricultural production environment,and achieve sustainable agricultural development.Farmers are the direct business owners of agricultural land,and the behavior will inevitably affect the carbon intensity of agriculture.At present,smallholder production is still the mainstream of agricultural production in China.The traditional small-scale agricultural production mode adheres to the goal of short-term economic benefits.In the production process,the fertilizer and pesticide inputs are high and the technical level is low,so it is a high-carbon agricultural production mode.The low-carbon agriculture orientation will inevitably require farmers to change their behavioral goals,from the original focus on short-term economic benefits to the long-term comprehensive benefits.However,scattered farmers may have insufficient knowledge,insufficient effective experience,unknown risks,uncontrollable benefits and costs for new low-carbon agricultural production methods.And it has a certain path dependence on traditional smallholder production methods.Therefore,farmers' consideration on whether to engage in low-carbon management is a result of deliberation,which conforms to the characteristics of planned behavior.In summary,the paper intends to construct a conceptual model of the path analysis of low-carbon management behaviors of scattered farmers under the framework of planned behavior theory.And it implements the model using an SEM method that can interpret multiple inputs and multiple outputs.Taking the survey data of 296 households in 23 administrative villages in Jiangxia District of Wuhan City,Hubei Province and Tongshan County of Xianning City as examples,an empirical study was conducted.Main conclusions are as follows:(1)The application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in the survey area is the main source of carbon emissions.The carbon intensity of sample farmers has regional differences,and the low-carbon management of farmers is low.(2)The action logic of farmers' low-carbon business behaviors is in line with the theory of planned behavior.The behavioral logic of low-carbon business behavior follows the path of “low-carbon management perception? low-carbon business willingness?low-carbon business behavior”.Cognitive factors such as behavioral attitudes,subjective norms,and perceived behavioral control of low-carbon management and the influence of behavioral intentions.(3)The low-carbon business behavior of farmers is mainly based on the low-carbon business willingness and is the result of rational decision-making under the cognitive balance.In the decision-making of low-carbon business behavior of farmers,only 34% of low-carbon business intentions are directly transformed into actual low-carbon business behaviors,and there is a certain degree of deviation between farmers' low-carbon management willingness and low-carbon management behavior..(4)Farmers' perceptual behavior control perception is the decisive factor affecting low-carbon management behavior.The influencing factors of farmers' perceptual behavior control are ranked by importance as follows: the capital cost and market risk of low-carbon operation,the self-control degree of low-carbon operation technology means or the support degree of government-related services,the grasp degree of policy information related to low-carbon operation and the ability of independent low-carbon operation.(5)Farmers' behavior attitude cognition is an important factor affecting their low-carbon management behavior.Farmers attach most importance to food safety needs,followed by the protection of cultivated land and farmland ecological environment.Farmers hold a more conservative attitude towards the economic benefits of low-carbon agricultural products.(6)Farmers' subjective normative cognition is an effective factor affecting their low-carbon management behavior.The greatest external pressure of farmers' low-carbon management behavior comes from the views and behavior restrictions of village committees or relevant departments;secondly,the low-carbon management actions of relatives and neighbors;finally,the low-carbon management ideas of farmers' relatives and neighbors.In order to improve the low-carbon business behavior of farmers and promote the development of low-carbon agriculture.suggestions below: first,strengthen the promotion of low-carbon business ideas and the regulation of non-low-carbon business practices;second,establish a low-carbon operation specialization service mechanism to reduce the economic risks of low-carbon operation of farmers;third,the agricultural low-carbon operation will be included in the certification and emission reduction system,and a special subsidy mechanism for low-carbon operation will be established;fourth,organize low-carbon large-scale operation and low-carbon agricultural product certification to improve the comprehensive benefits of low-carbon operations.