Do farmers adopt fewer conservation practices on rented land? Evidence from straw retention in China. (December 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gao, Li; Zhang, Wendong; Mei, Yingdan; Sam, Abdoul G.; Song, Yu; Jin, Shuqin
• Is Part Of: Land use policy. Volume 79(2018)
• Page Start: 609
• Page End: 621
• Publication Date: 2018-12
• Subjects: Q15 -- Q18 -- O13; Land tenure -- Conservation practice -- Control function -- Bivariate probit -- Chinese agriculture; Land use -- Periodicals; Land use -- Government policy -- Periodicals; Sol, Utilisation du -- Périodiques; Sol, Utilisation du -- Politique gouvernementale -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 333.7305
• DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2018.08.026
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0264-8377

Abstract

Highlights: How land tenure arrangements affect the adoption of straw retention in China is examined. A three-period adoption model for straw retention is constructed. Probit, bivariate probit and control function approaches have been applied. Probability of adopting straw retention is found significantly lower on rented plots. Abstract: We examine how land tenure arrangements affect Chinese crop farmers' adoption of straw retention, a key conservation practice promoted by the Chinese government in part to curb rising air pollution. Using data from a 2016 farmer household survey covering 1659 crop plots in Henan Province in central China, we analyze whether farmers are less likely to adopt straw retention on rented plots compared to own-contracted plots. To address the potential endogeneity of the choice of renting from others, we use an instrument exploiting the role of remittance income from household members migrated to cities in a bivariate probit model and a control function approach, respectively. Our main results reveal that the Chinese crop farmers' likelihood of adopting straw retention were almost cut in half on rented plots compared to their owned plots, assuming the assumptions for biprobit or control functions hold. This suggests greater attention is needed to examine the spillovers across agricultural and environmental policies as China pushes for both a nationwide land rental market and more sustainable agricultural practices.