Are Socialized Services of Agricultural Green Production Conducive to the Reduction in Fertilizer Input? Empirical Evidence from Rural China

Reducing the use of chemical fertilizers in agricultural production is an inevitable requirement for achieving carbon neutrality and coping with global warming, and it is also an important measure for achieving green and sustainable agricultural development. Furthermore, the development of socialized services of green production provides a new approach to effectively reducing the use of fertilizers. Based on the survey data of 2202 rice growers in Jiangsu Province in 2021, this paper empirically analyzed the effects of socialized services of green production and social network on the reduction in fertilizer application by farmers. The results showed that both the socialized services of green production and social networks could significantly promote the reduction in fertilizer application by farmers. Social networks have a moderating effect between socialized services of green production and reduction in fertilizer application and can enhance the promotion of farmers’ adoption of socialized services of green production to reduce the application of fertilizers. With consideration of the potential endogenous problems of the model and the robustness test by replacing the key explanatory variables and the explained variables, all of the results were stable. Therefore, it is emphasized that the government should cultivate the main body of agricultural socialized services, improve the socialized service system of green production, and promote the green development of agriculture by service scale operation. Equally, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of rural social networks for the exchange of fertilization experience and give full play to the positive role of social networks in the reduction in fertilizer application by farmers.