Factors influencing the farmer's chemical fertilizer reduction behavior from the perspective of farmer differentiation

Farmers are the primary decision-makers in chemical fertilizer application. Identifying their chemical fertilizer reduction behavior and its influencing factors is critical to controlling the surface source pollution caused by excessive fertilizer. This paper incorporates farmer characteristic, technology cognition and social capital into the analytical framework of farmers' fertilizer reduction behavior. Based on 889 farmers' questionnaire data, this paper constructs a Structural Equation Model to analyze farmers' fertilizer reduction behavior and its influencing factors from the perspective of farmers' differentiation. The findings are as follows. (1) Farmer characteristics, technology cognition and social capital all positively influences farmers' chemical fertilizer reduction behavior. Among them, social capital has the highest degree of influence on farmers' chemical fertilizer reduction behavior, followed by farmer characteristics, while technology cognition shows the lowest influence. (2) The effect of technology cognition on small-scale pure farmers' chemical fertilizer reduction behavior is insignificant. However, the effect on part-time farmers and large professional farmers is significant, and the effect is higher for large professional farmers. (3) The effect of farmer characteristics on part-time farmers' chemical fertilizer reduction behavior is insignificant. However, the effect on small-scale pure farmers and large professional farmers is significant, and the effect is higher for large professional farmers. (4) The effect of social capital on chemical fertilizer reduction behavior of small-scale pure farmers, part-time farmers, and large professional farmers is significant. This effect is the highest for part-time farmers, followed by large professional farmers, and the lowest for small-scale pure farmers. Accordingly, to continuously promote chemical fertilizer reduction, the government should focus on strengthening policy support, technical support, education guidance and classification.