Empowering sustainability: How digital agricultural extensions influence organic fertilizer choices among Chinese farmers.

Abstract

The adoption of organic fertilizers is crucial for improving sustainable agricultural development in China. Digital agricultural extensions offer personalized guidance to farmers, delivering these services more cost-effectively and rapidly. This paper, conducted in Shaanxi Province with a total of 495 kiwifruit farmers, employs an endogenous switching regression model to empirically examine the influence of digital agricultural extensions on the purchasing behaviors associated with organic fertilizers. The findings reveal three key insights. First, digital agricultural extensions significantly boost the likelihood of farmers purchasing organic fertilizers. Second, public welfare digital extensions have a more pronounced effect on these purchasing behaviors compared to those driven by profit motives. Finally, digital agriculture extensions facilitate organic fertilizer adoption by enhancing ecological literacy and broadening information channels. Based on these findings, the government is recommended to robustly support digital agricultural extensions, develop a supply system prioritizing public welfare with profit-driven approaches as supplementary, to encourage the adoption of organic fertilizers.