What Motivates Greenhouse Vegetable Farmers to Adapt Organic-Substitute-Chemical-Fertilizer (OSCF)? An Empirical Study from Shandong, China

Abstract

This paper reports on a study of the determinants of the adoption behaviour related to Organic-Substitute-Chemical-Fertilizer (OSCF) against the background of Green and Low-carbon Circular Agriculture (GLCA) by analysing a survey of 318 greenhouse vegetable farmers in Shandong Province, China. We use regression analyses to identify policy measures and farmers’ psychological cognition of the determinants of adoption behaviour on farmers’ psychological cognition. We use three indices for farmers’ cognition, including economic value, resource capacity, and ecosystem impact, to examine the differences between training and subsidy. Our findings showed that two policy measures (training and subsidy) had a significant positive impact on vegetable farmers’ fertilizer application. Farmers’ cognition played a mediating role. We identified and discussed the influence of policy measures on farmers’ behaviour and the mediating role of farmers’ cognition. Hence, we suggest that local governments should strengthen farmers’ training in relation to fertilizer application techniques and enhance farmers’ cognition of organic fertilizer as a substitute for chemical fertilizer in terms of economic, resource and environment aspects.