The Effect of Non-Cognitive Ability on Farmer’s Ecological Protection of Farmland: Evidence from Major Tea Producing Areas in China

Ecological protection of farmland is an important means to reduce agricultural non-point source pollution and improve the quality of agricultural products. As the main body of current agricultural production and operation, the aging labor force has insufficient cognitive ability and low ability to learn actively, which is not conducive to transforming the green output. However, non-cognitive abilities closely related to the acquired environment can promote the elderly farmers’ farmland ecological protection behavior by improving life satisfaction and social adaptability. Based on the above background, using the survey data of 964 farmers in China, the bivariate Probit model was used to empirically test the influence mechanism of non-cognitive ability on the ecological protection behavior of farmland. The study found that non-cognitive ability significantly promoted farmer’s ecological protection of farmland in China. Specifically, the variables of non-cognitive ability, social communication ability, active learning ability, self-efficacy, stress resistance, altruistic tendency and individual resilience were found to significantly promote ecological protection of farmland. Mechanism analysis showed that non-cognitive ability promoted the ecological protection behavior of farmland by expanding social capital, information channels and improving technical value perception. A heterogeneity analysis revealed that non-cognitive ability had a greater impact on ecological protection behavior of farmland in the elderly and low-income groups. Therefore, government should attach importance to improving farmers’ non-cognitive abilities, further increase technical publicity, and build a communication platform for farmers in order to promote the ecological protection of farmland.