Farmers' willingness to pay for smart farming technologies: evidence from a smart drip irrigation technology in North China

IF 4.4 2区经济学 Q1 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS & POLICY

China Agricultural Economic Review Pub Date : 2023-12-05 DOI:10.1108/caer-03-2023-0050

Hui Tao, Hang Xiong, Liangzhi You, Fan Li

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Purpose

Smart farming technologies (SFTs) can increase yields and reduce the environmental impacts of farming by improving the efficient use of inputs. This paper is to estimate farmers' preference and willingness to pay (WTP) for a well-defined SFT, smart drip irrigation (SDI) technology.

Design/methodology/approach

This study conducted a discrete choice experiment (DCE) among 1,300 maize farmers in North China to understand their WTP for various functions of SDI using mixed logit (MIXL) models.

Findings

The results show that farmers have a strong preference for SDI in general and its specific functions of smart sensing and smart control. However, farmers do not have a preference for the function of region-level agronomic planning. Farmers' preferences for different functions of SDI are heterogeneous. Their preference was significantly associated with their education, experience of being village cadres and using computers, household income and holding of land and machines. Further analysis show that farmers' WTP for functions facilitated by hardware is close to the estimated prices, whereas their WTP for functions wholly or partially facilitated by software is substantially lower than the estimated prices.

Practical implications

Findings from the empirical study lead to policy implications for enhancing the design of SFTs by integrating software and hardware and optimizing agricultural extension strategies for SFTs with digital techniques such as videos.

Originality/value

This study provides initial insights into understanding farmers' preferences and WTP for specific functions of SFTs with a DCE.

查看原文本刊更多论文

农民为智能农业技术付费的意愿:来自华北地区智能滴灌技术的证据

智能农业技术(SFTs)可以通过提高投入物的有效利用来提高产量并减少农业对环境的影响。本文旨在评估农民对智能滴灌技术的偏好和支付意愿(WTP)。本研究采用混合logit (MIXL)模型对中国北方1300名玉米农户进行离散选择实验(DCE)，以了解农户的WTP对SDI各功能的影响。结果表明，农民对SDI的总体偏好以及其特定的智能感知和智能控制功能具有强烈的偏好。然而，农民对区域一级农艺规划功能的偏好程度不高。农民对SDI不同功能的偏好具有异质性。他们的偏好与他们的教育程度、担任村干部和使用电脑的经历、家庭收入以及持有土地和机器有很大关系。进一步的分析表明，农民对由硬件实现的功能的WTP接近于估计价格，而他们对全部或部分由软件实现的功能的WTP大大低于估计价格。实践启示实证研究的结果为通过软件和硬件的整合来加强农村农村服务区的设计以及利用视频等数字技术优化农村农村服务区的农业推广策略提供了政策启示。原创性/价值本研究提供了初步的见解，以了解农民的偏好和WTP的特定功能的SFTs与DCE。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

China Agricultural Economic Review AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS & POLICY-

CiteScore

9.80

自引率

5.90%

发文量

审稿时长

>12 weeks

期刊介绍： Published in association with China Agricultural University and the Chinese Association for Agricultural Economics, China Agricultural Economic Review publishes academic writings by international scholars, and particularly encourages empirical work that can be replicated and extended by others; and research articles that employ econometric and statistical hypothesis testing, optimization and simulation models. The journal aims to publish research which can be applied to China’s agricultural and rural policy-making process, the development of the agricultural economics discipline and to developing countries hoping to learn from China’s agricultural and rural development.