Socio-economic factors influencing the adoption of low carbon technologies under rice production systems in China

BACKGROUND: Rice (Oryza sativa L.) production, such as farmers’ livelihood and the soil quality, has been identified to be strong influenced by climate change in China. However, the benefits of low carbon technologies (LCTs) are still debatable in rice production for farmers, which have been identified to tackle agricultural challenges. The choice of potential LCTs relevant to the case study is based on a literature review of previous empirical studies. Thus, the objectives of the study were to (1) investigate the public perception and preferences of LCTs in rice production of China, and (2) analyze the influences of the factors on farmer’s decision in adopting LCTs in rice production. There were 555 farmer surveys from eight representative rice production counties in HP province of southern China, both the Poisson estimators and multivariate probit (MVP) approach were applied in the study. RESULTS: Our results show that water-saving irrigation, integrated pest management techniques and planting green manure crops in winter season were the three major LCTs adapted by farmers in rice production. The intensity and probability of LCTs adoptions were influenced by the main factors including farmers’ education level, climate change awareness, machinery ownership, technical support and subsidies. There is a significant correlation among the LCTs, and the adoption of the technologies is interdependent, depicting either complementarities or substitutabilities between the practices. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that policies enhance the integration of LCTs would be central to farmers’ knowledge, environmental concerns, technical service and financial support in rice production systems in China.