Outsourcing Fertilizer Mechanization Services to Different Types of Service Providers: Assessing the Impact on Fertilizer Application for Wheat Producers in China

IF 2 3区经济学 Q2 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS & POLICY

Agribusiness Pub Date : 2026-04-10 Epub Date: 2025-04-07 DOI:10.1002/agr.22048

Jiaojiao Ding, Amin Mugera, Xia Zhao

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Abstract

Agricultural mechanization services (AMS) are important for promoting sustainable agricultural development. However, little is known about the effect of outsourcing fertilizer mechanization services (FMS) for fertilizer application to different types of service providers. This study simultaneously investigates the determinants and effect of outsourcing FMS to different types of service providers for fertilizer application in rural China. The multinomial endogenous treatment effects model that accounts for potential selection bias and endogeneity is employed to analyze cross-sectional survey data of wheat producers. The results reveal that the likelihood of outsourcing FMS is influenced by household (gender, education, off-farm employment, and risk attitude) and farm (farm size, land topography, soil fertility) characteristics, membership to cooperative, and the availability of AMS at village level. The treatment effect estimates suggest that outsourcing FMS can decrease fertilizer application by at least 6.6%. Outsourcing both FMS and fertilizer supply has a greater reducing effect on fertilizer application compared to only outsourcing FMS. Besides, outsourcing both FMS and fertilizer supply to organization providers has a higher effect on reducing fertilizer application and enhancing yield compared to outsourcing to individual service providers. The results have policy implications for promoting agri-environmental sustainability in the agricultural sector.

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将化肥机械化服务外包给不同类型的服务提供商：评估对中国小麦生产者施肥的影响

农业机械化服务是促进农业可持续发展的重要手段。然而，对不同类型的服务提供商外包施肥机械化服务（FMS）的影响知之甚少。本研究同时探讨了将FMS外包给不同类型的中国农村施肥服务提供商的决定因素和影响。采用考虑潜在选择偏倚和内生性的多项内源处理效应模型对小麦生产者的横断面调查数据进行了分析。研究结果显示，农户（性别、受教育程度、非农就业和风险态度）和农户（农场规模、土地地形、土壤肥力）特征、合作社成员以及村一级农业辅助服务的可用性对农户外包农业辅助服务的可能性有影响。处理效果估计表明，外包FMS可以减少至少6.6%的肥料施用。与仅外包FMS相比，外包FMS和肥料供应对肥料施用的减少效果更大。此外，将FMS和肥料供应外包给组织供应商，与外包给个人服务提供商相比，在减少肥料施用和提高产量方面具有更高的效果。研究结果对促进农业部门的农业环境可持续性具有政策意义。

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

Agribusiness 农林科学-食品科技

CiteScore

5.50

自引率

6.20%

发文量

审稿时长

6 months

期刊介绍： Agribusiness: An International Journal publishes research that improves our understanding of how food systems work, how they are evolving, and how public and/or private actions affect the performance of the global agro-industrial complex. The journal focuses on the application of economic analysis to the organization and performance of firms and markets in industrial food systems. Subject matter areas include supply and demand analysis, industrial organization analysis, price and trade analysis, marketing, finance, and public policy analysis. International, cross-country comparative, and within-country studies are welcome. To facilitate research the journal’s Forum section, on an intermittent basis, offers commentary and reports on business policy issues.