Land Fragmentation, Technology Adoption and Chemical Fertilizer Application: Evidence from China

Although it has been widely recognized that land fragmentation has increased chemical fertilizer application, little is known about the role of technology adoption in mitigating these adverse effects. To empirically examine the relationship between land fragmentation, technology adoption and chemical fertilizer application, we developed a mediation model. We applied our analysis to a survey data set encompassing 1388 farm-level samples collected in 14 Chinese provinces in 2019. Our study demonstrated that land fragmentation can not only directly increase chemical fertilizer application but also indirectly increase it by hindering the adoption of agricultural mechanization technologies (AMT’s) and soil testing fertilization technologies (STFT’s). Both are recognized as potent drivers of fertilizer use reductions. Moreover, the adoption of information and communications technologies (ICT’s) can help mitigate the negative effects of land fragmentation on technology adoption, thus reducing chemical fertilizer application intensity (CFAI). However, the direct effects of land fragmentation on CAFI was unaffected by ICT’s. Our findings suggest that ICT’s have revolutionized farmer recognition, promotion and adoption of agricultural technologies by increasing awareness and diffusion of agricultural technology information.