Impact Of ICT On Pest Control Technology And Pesticide Knowledge Of Apple Growers And Pesticide Knowledge

The problem of pesticide overuse has become more and more serious in recent years and has led to a series of food security problems and environmental pollution,which has largely affected the pace of China’s development toward sustainable and intensive agriculture.Against this background,it is imperative to explore a new method that can increase farmers’ knowledge of pesticides and improve their pest control techniques.With the rapid development of information technology,information and communication technology has become a new medium for disseminating and promoting agricultural knowledge and technology.Among them,cell phone applications born from information and communication technology play a great role in spreading agricultural technology services.However,the degree of farmers’ pesticide knowledge and pest control technology learning varies depending on their individual and family characteristics.Whether mobile apps can increase farmers’ knowledge of pesticides and enable them to understand and use more pest control techniques,thus improving the problem of pesticide overuse and promoting green,healthy,and sustainable agriculture.These need to be further verified.Based on information dissemination theory,technology diffusion theory,and user behavior theory,this paper is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC)under the topic of "Mobile Application Service for Apple Pest Control from the Perspective of Sustainable Intensification: Farmers’ Adoption Behavior and Effect Evaluation".The study is based on the knowledge content of apple pest control technology and pesticides provided by Shennongshi App.Through the field research data of 230 apple farmers in 2020,the first analysis was conducted on the use of Shennongshi APP by farmers and the use of pesticides by farmers.Secondly,we analyzed whether the installation of Shennongshi APP would affect farmers’ pesticide knowledge and pest control technology use,and tested them using Poisson regression model and logistic regression model to further evaluate the effect of Shennongshi APP.Thirdly,the influence of farmers’ personal and family characteristics on farmers’ pesticide knowledge and pest control technology was analyzed.Finally,relevant policy recommendations are proposed based on the findings.The study shows that:(1)Shennongshi APP has a positive effect on farmers’ pesticide knowledge and a negative effect on pest control technology;(2)farmers’ age,years of apple growing,labor per apple growing household,whether they are production decision makers and whether they have participated in training all have a positive effect on farmers’ pesticide knowledge.(3)Farmers’ education level,apple growing sector,gender,household size,whether they are production decision makers,and whether they have participated in training all had a positive effect on farmers’ pest control technology.(4)Duration of using Shennongshi APP had a positive effect on farmers’ pest control knowledge but a negative effect on pest control technology.Relevant policy recommendations are provided at the end of the article:(1)Promote the rapid development of ICT in rural areas and enable the development of ICT together with the promotion of agricultural technology;(2)Provide continuous training on farmers’ mobile phone skills to accelerate the development of rural information technology;(3)Promote the green development of Chinese agriculture;(4)Strongly promote scientific pesticide application techniques to reduce pesticide overuse and develop environmentally friendly agriculture.