Effects Of Social Learning And Farmers’ Cognition On Farmers’ Behavior Of Water-saving Irrigation And Technology Adoption

With the rapid development of agricultural society,the shortage of water resources and the waste of agricultural water have seriously restricted the sustainable development of China’s rural economy.As the key decision-maker and ultimate implementer of water-saving irrigation technology,farmers’ adoption behavior of water-saving irrigation technology is of great significance for saving agricultural water resources,ensuring food production,and promoting sustainable development of agriculture.Farmers can acquire technical information,knowledge,and skills through learning in their social environment,which is an important process for decision-making and can effectively compensate for the shortage of agricultural technology extension supply.Different cognitive abilities of farmers can also have an impact on the adoption behavior of water-saving irrigation technology,and farmers can often change their own cognition through continuous learning and knowledge accumulation,thereby changing their water-saving irrigation technology adoption behavior.The purpose of this article is to systematically elaborate and analyze the relationship between social learning,farmer awareness,and water-saving irrigation technology adoption behavior To explore effective ways to promote farmers’ adoption of water-saving irrigation technology.Using data from a survey of food crop farmers in Changge,Henan Province,this paper first uses a binary Probit model to empirically analyze the impact of social learning and farmers’ cognition on water-saving irrigation technology adoption behavior.Secondly,the mediating effect model is applied to analyze the mediating effect of farmers’ cognition,that is,whether social learning can have a positive impact on farmers’ adoption behavior by improving their cognitive level.The main conclusions of this study are as follows:First,empirical analysis found that each dimension of social learning,neighborhood learning,learning from others,and mass media learning,has a significant promoting effect on the adoption behavior of water-saving irrigation technology.That is,the higher the level of social learning of farmers,the more they can promote the adoption behavior of water-saving irrigation technology.The cognition of water scarcity and efficiency enhancement in each dimension of farmers’ cognition has a significant positive effect on farmers’ water-saving irrigation technology adoption behavior,that is,the higher the level of farmers’ cognition,the more it can promote farmers’ water-saving irrigation technology adoption behavior.In addition,factors such as farmers’ gender,age,years of education,and main sources of household income also have varying degrees of impact on farmers’ adoption of water-saving irrigation technology.Secondly,farmers’ cognition plays a mediating role in social learning affecting the adoption of water-saving irrigation technologies.Social learning not only directly affects the adoption of water-saving irrigation technology by farmers,but also has a positive impact on their adoption behavior by improving their awareness.Thirdly,in order to promote the enthusiasm of farmers to adopt water-saving irrigation technology,the author suggests that the farmers should improve their cognition of water scarcity,strengthen the neighborhood learning and communication among farmers,and play the leading role of demonstration households To encourage farmers to actively communicate with technical extension personnel and village cadres to learn,visit demonstration fields,and enhance the frequency of farmers’ use of mass media.