Aging of agricultural labor and the adoption of improved crop varieties: A study based on rural China

Abstract

The aging of agricultural labor in China has exceeded 40 % and continues to increase, which will impede the progress of agricultural science and technology, subsequently affecting food security. This paper examines the impact of the agricultural labor aging on farmers' adoption of improved crop varieties and its mechanism, using data from corn farmers in China. Based on the results of the Probit Model and Poisson Model, we find that agricultural labor aging significantly inhibits both the adoption of improved varieties and the number of improved varieties adopted. These findings remain robust after endogeneity concerns and robustness checks. In terms of mechanism, the aging of agricultural labor further inhibits farmers' adoption behavior of improved varieties by increasing risk aversion and reducing farm scale. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that higher household income, reduced information asymmetry, participation in variety training, and strengthened social network can alleviate the inhibitory effect of agricultural labor aging on farmers’ improved varieties adoption behavior. The conclusion of this paper is helpful for the government to promote moderate-scale operation, formulate differentiated improvement variety promotion policies, strengthen publicity and training, improve targeting efficiency, so as to promote the adoption of improved varieties and realize the sustainable development of agriculture.