数字推广与农户化肥减量——来自陕西省苹果主产区的实证分析

Digital Extension and Farmers’Fertilizer Reduction:An Empirical Analysis of China’s Major Apple Producing Areas in Shaanxi Province

化肥减量是实现中国农业可持续发展的重要举措,数字推广能以较低成本、较快速度为农户提供个性化技术推广服务。然而,关于数字推广对农户化肥减量影响的经验证据仍然很少。本文基于陕西省苹果主产区622户苹果种植户调查数据,分析数字推广对农户化肥减量的影响及作用机制。基准回归结果表明,数字推广对农户化肥施用费用和施用量均有显著抑制作用。这一结论经过稳健性检验仍然成立。在作用机制方面:数字推广可以通过促进农户采用能替代化肥的绿色施肥技术降低其化肥施用费用和施用量;数字推广可以通过提高农户对化肥减量生态效益和经济效益的认知降低其化肥施用费用和施用量。异质性分析表明:相较于低数字素养农户,数字推广对高数字素养农户的化肥减量作用更大;相较于小农户,数字推广对规模户化肥施用费用的负向影响更大。

Fertilizer reduction is an important measure to achieve sustainable agricultural development in China,and digital extension can provide farmers with personalized technology extension services at a lower cost and faster pace.However,empirical evidence on the impact of digital extension on farmers’fertilizer reduction is still scarce.Based on the survey data of 622 apple growers in major apple producing areas in Shaanxi Province,China,this article analyzes the impact of digital extension on farmers’fertilizer reduction and its mechanism.The benchmark regression results show that digital extension has a significant inhibitory effect on the cost and amount of fertilizer application.This conclusion remains robust after a series of robustness tests.In terms of action mechanism,the results show that digital extension can reduce the cost and amount of fertilizer application by encouraging farmers to adopt green fertilization technology that can replace traditional chemical fertilizer.Besides,digital extension can reduce the cost and amount of fertilizer application by improving farmers’awareness of the ecological and economic benefits of fertilizer reduction.Heterogeneity analysis shows that compared with farmers with low digital literacy,digital extension has a greater impact on fertilizer reduction of farmers with high digital literacy.Moreover,compared with small-scale farmers,digital extension has a greater negative impact on fertilizer application costs of large-scale farmers.