| Climate change caused by greenhouse gas(GHG)emissions has become a global environmental problem that restricts social and economic development.Agriculture has a strong attribute of natural production and a close relationship with climate change,and such relationship can be two-way: on the one hand,the agricultural sector has become an important source of GHG emissions;on the other,agriculture is also the most sensitive industry that severely being affected by climate change.Farmers are the micro-subjects of agricultural production,as well as behavioral decision-making units that respond to climate change.Farmer’ response to climate can be defined as low-carbon production behaviors and climate adaptation behaviors,from the perspective of mitigation and adaptation,respectively.Understanding the behavioral logic and influencing mechanism of farmers’ response to climate,and clarifying the effect of climate-response behaviors on technical efficiency of agricultural production have important significance for promoting sustainable agricultural development in the context of climate constraints.Based on this,this research attempts to solve the following problems: First,what are the influencing factors and mechanisms of farmers’ implementation of climate-response behaviors? Based on heterogeneous situations of different farmers,what are the differences of these influencing factors? Second,how does farmers’ implementation of climate-response behaviors affect the technical efficiency of agricultural production? Third,what kind of policy system should be established to promote farmers’ response to climate?In order to answer the above questions,this research will be based on the logical thread of "mitigation-adaptation-technical efficiency",and conduct systematic analyses and discussion on farmers’ climate-response behaviors as well as the impact on technical efficiency,by taking rice production in the Jianghan Plain as an example.The main research contents include the following four parts: Part 1,research basis and analyses of the current situation(Chapter 1,2,and 3);Part 2,analyses of farmers’ climate-response behaviors from the perspectives of mitigation and adaptation(Chapter 4,5);Part 3: analyses of the impact of climate-response behaviors on technical efficiency(Chapter 6);Part4: policy system of promoting farmers’ response to climate(Chapter 7,8).Through systematic research,the following conclusions are concluded:(1)Affected by climate change,the average temperature in the Jianghan Plain has a significant upward trend.Droughts and floods have caused serve losses to agricultural production.The proportion and degree of farmers’ implementing climate-response behaviors are not high.Relatively speaking,farmers’ implementation of climate adaptation behaviors is more active than that of lowcarbon production behaviors.From 1988 to 2017,the annual average temperature of the Jianghan Plain has a significant upward trend,with an average temperature rising by 0.0246 degrees Celsius every year;although the annual precipitation fluctuates around the average,the distribution is extremely uneven during the year,and annual precipitation is concentrated in summer.The droughts and floods have caused a serious decrease in crop yield.Based on a survey of 1011 rice farmers in the Jianghan Plain,this research finds that 37.09%,36.50%,and 17.21% of farmers have implemented planting green manure,water-drought rotation,and integrated pest management,respectively;59.84%,58.36% and 32.15% of farmers have implemented adopting new varieties,improving irrigation and drainage conditions,and adjusting the use of pesticides and fertilizers,respectively.Relatively speaking,farmers’ implementation of climate adaptation behaviors is more active than that of low-carbon production behaviors.In addition,as for low-carbon production,there is a significant complementary relationship between farmers’ choices of the three behaviors;as for climate adaptation,farmers’ choice of improving irrigation and drainage conditions has a significant complementary relationship with adopting new varieties and adjusting the use of pesticides and fertilizers,respectively.(2)As for the implementation of three low-carbon production behaviors: planting green manure,water-drought rotation and integrated pest management,the behavioral choice and intensity are influenced by farmer’s individual characteristics,environmental perception and risk attitude,family endowment characteristics and agricultural management characteristics.Empirical analyses of the choice and intensity of low-carbon production behaviors of rice farmers in the Jianghan Plain are carried out,the research finds that:(1)in terms of the impact on farmers’ choice of low-carbon production behaviors,farmers who engage in nonagricultural work,prefer risk,have more family agricultural labors,raise livestock and poultry are more likely to plant green manure;farmers who are female,engage in non-agricultural work,have higher degree of environmental awareness,prefer risk,have more family agricultural labors,raise livestock and poultry,and only plant single-season rice are more likely to implement water-drought rotation;farmers who are female,receive fewer years of education,engage in non-agricultural work,have poor health,have higher degree of environmental pollution awareness and environmental health awareness,receive help from agricultural technology extension sectors,have internet and a motorcycle,and plant single-season rice are more likely to implement integrated pest management.(2)in terms of the impact on farmers’ intensity of low-carbon production behaviors,farmers who are female,engage in non-agricultural work,have poor health,have higher degree of environmental health awareness,prefer risk,have more family agricultural labors,have internet and a motorcycle,raise livestock and poultry,plant single-season rice have a higher behavioral intensity.(3)The implementation of low-carbon production behaviors is significantly affected by the heterogeneity of farmers.For farmers with different agricultural dependence and rice scales,there are differences in the factors affecting farmers’ choice and intensity of low-carbon production behaviors.By investigating the factors influencing farmers’ choice and intensity of low-carbon production behaviors in heterogeneity scenarios,this research finds that:(1)the grouping research based on agricultural dependence shows that,environmental pollution awareness only has a significant impact on the implementation of integrated pest management for farmers with low agricultural dependence;the impact of environmental health awareness on the three low-carbon production behaviors for farmers with high agricultural dependence are significant and positive,but only significant for farmers with low agricultural dependence in implementing integrated pest management;risk attitude only has a significant and negative effect on the implementation of planting green manure and water-drought rotation for farmers with low agricultural dependence;the impact of cropping multi-season rice on three low-carbon production behaviors are significant and negative for farmers with high agricultural dependence,it only has a significant and negative impact on the implementation of integrated pest management for farmers with low agricultural dependence.At the same time,gender,health status,risk attitude,receiving help from agricultural technology extension sectors,having a motorcycle,raising livestock and poultry,and paddy area have significant impact on the intensity of low-carbon production behaviors for farmers with low agricultural dependence,but have insignificant impact on farmers with high agricultural dependence.(2)the grouping research based on rice scales shows that,health status has a significant and positive impact on the implementation of integrated pest management for small-scale farmers,but it has significant and negative impact on planting green manure for large-scale farmers;risk attitude only has a significant and negative impact on planting green manure for large-scale farmers;the number of family agricultural labors only has a significant and positive impact on the implementation of planting green manure and water-drought rotation for large-scale farmers;raising livestock and poultry has a positive and negative impact on implementing water-drought rotation and integrated pest management respectively for small-scale farmers.At the same time,health status,have internet and a motorcycle,raising livestock and poultry,and paddy area all have significant impact on behavioral intensity of lowcarbon production for small-scale farmers;the number of family agricultural labors only has significant and positive impact on behavioral intensity of low-carbon production for large-scale farmers(4)As for the implementation of three climate adaptation behaviors: adopting new varieties,improving irrigation and drainage conditions,adjusting the use of pesticides and fertilizers,the behavioral choice and intensity are influenced by farmer’s individual characteristics,climate perception and risk attitude,family endowment characteristics and agricultural management characteristics.By empirically analyzing the behavioral choice and intensity of climate adaptation behaviors for rice farmers in the Jianghan Plain,the research finds that:(1)in terms of the impact on farmers’ behavioral choice of climate adaptation behaviors,farmers who have more education,have good health,perceive more frequent pests and diseases,hate risk,have internet and do not raise livestock and poultry are more likely to adopt new varieties;farmers who are elder,receive more education,perceive more irregular rainfall and more frequent pests and diseases,have access to climate information,do not raise livestock and poultry and crop single-season rice are more likely to improve irrigation and drainage conditions;farmers who perceive more frequent pests and diseases,have more family agricultural labors,do not join in an agricultural cooperative,receive help from agricultural technology extension sectors and do not raise livestock and poultry are more likely to adjust the use of pesticides and fertilizers to adapt to climate change.(2)in terms of the impact on farmers’ behavioral intensity of climate adaptation behaviors,farmers who receive more education,perceive more irregular rainfall and more frequent pests and diseases,receive help from agricultural technology extension sectors,have access to climate information,have internet and do not raise livestock and poultry have have a higher behavioral intensity.(5)The implementation of climate adaptation behaviors is significantly affected by the heterogeneity of farmers.For farmers with different agricultural dependence and rice scales,there are differences in the factors affecting farmers’ choice and intensity of climate adaptation behaviors.By investigating the factors influencing farmers’ choice and intensity of climate adaptation behaviors in heterogeneity scenarios,this research finds that:(1)the grouping research based on agricultural dependence shows that,the years of education has a significant impact on the adopting new varieties and improving irrigation and drainage conditions for farmers with low agricultural dependence,but it has a significant impact on adjusting the use of pesticides and fertilizers for farmers with high agricultural dependence;health status only has a significant impact on adopting new varieties and adjusting the use of pesticide and fertilizers for farmers with low agricultural dependence;joining in an agricultural cooperative and receiving help from agricultural technology extension sectors only have significant impact on adjusting the use of pesticide and fertilizers for farmers with low agricultural dependence.At the same time,years of education,receiving help from agricultural technology extension sectors,access to climate information,having internet,raising livestock and poultry only have significant impact on the intensity of implementing climate adaptation behaviors for farmers with low agricultural dependence,cropping multiseason rice has an impact for farmers with high agricultural dependence.(2)the grouping research based on rice scales shows that,years of education have a significant and positive impact on implementation of three climate adaptation behaviors for small-scale farmers,but it has an insignificant impact on large-scale farmers;perceiving more frequent pests and diseases has a significant and positive impact on implementing three climate adaptation behaviors for small-scale farmers,but it only has a significant impact on adjusting the use of pesticides and fertilizers for large-scale farmers;agricultural labors and receiving help from agricultural technology extension sectors only have significant and positive impact on adjusting the use of pesticides and fertilizers for small-scale farmers;family income and access to climate information only have significant impact on improving irrigation and drainage conditions for small-scale farmers.At the same time,years of education,receiving help from agricultural technology extension sectors only have significant impact on the behavioral intensity of climate adaptation behaviors for small-scale farmers.(6)There is still potential for improving technical efficiency of rice production in the Jianghan Plain;the implementation and behavioral intensity of climate-response behaviors significantly improve the technical efficiency in rice production.However,for the "mitigation-adaptation" farmers,implementing too many low-carbon production and climate adaptation behaviors simultaneously may lead to technical inefficiency.Based on the data of single-middle-season rice farmers in the Jianghan Plain,the technical efficiency of rice production of farmers is 0.87 measured by stochastic frontier analysis,and the average comprehensive technical efficiency,pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency measured by data envelopment analysis are 0.65,0.72 and 0.91,respectively;the measurement results of the two methods are highly correlated.Therefore,there is a certain room for the improvement of technology efficiency in rice production for farmers in the Jianghan Plain.Either the implementation of low-carbon production behaviors or climate adaptation behaviors can significantly improve technical efficiency.Besides,farmers’ behavioral intensity of low-carbon production and climate adaptation can also improve technical efficiency.Generally speaking,the “mitigation-adaptation” farmers are more likely to achieve higher technical efficiency.For the "mitigation-adaptation" farmers,implementing too many mitigation/adaptation behaviors simultaneously may result in a loss of technical efficiency.Finally,the research also finds that,there is also heterogeneity among farmers regarding the impact of climate response behaviors on technical efficiency.Overall,the enhancing effect of implementing climate-response behaviors on technical efficiency are more obvious for farmers with low agricultural dependence and small scales.(7)The technical efficiency of rice production for farmers in the Jianghan Plain is affected by individual characteristics,household characteristics,agricultural production and management characteristics.At the same time,for farmers with different types of climate-response behaviors,the factors affecting technical efficiency are different.By analyzing the influencing factors of farmers’ technical efficiency in rice production,this research finds that,in individual characteristics,male,age,years of received education,and better health status can improve farmers’ technical efficiency,while farmers’ risk aversion significantly decreases technical efficiency.In family characteristics,having a motorcycle and internet can improve the technical efficiency.In characteristics of agricultural production and management,the proportion of agricultural income can improve technical efficiency,while the distance from the rice plot to home and the total rice area decrease the technical efficiency.The research also finds that,engaging in nonagricultural work has significantly improved the technical efficiency of "mitigation" farmers;poor health reduces the technical efficiency of "adaptation" farmers;access to climate information and the internet have positive effect on technical efficiency of "mitigation" and "adaptation" farmers,respectively.The number of paddy plots and the total rice area all have significant impact on the "mitigation " farmers.(8)A three-dimensional policy system that promotes farmers’ response to climate includes compound policy promotion goals,diversified policy implementation principles,and targeted policy measures.Based on the conclusions from the empirical analyses above,combining with the actual requirements of policy formulation,this research holds that,in order to promote farmers’ response to climate,it is necessary to establish such policy objectives: promoting GHG emissions in the agricultural sector while focusing on the promotion and application of low-carbon technologies among farmers;promoting the adaptation of agriculture to climate change while targeting on strengthening farmers’ capability of accessing resources of climate adaptation;increasing agricultural productivity while emphasizing the enhancement of farmers’ agricultural technical efficiency.At the same time,policy implementation should follow these principles: consider the complexity,focus on differentiation and stick to priorities.Finally,the three main policy measures to promote farmers’ response to climate are: conscientiously advancing agricultural technology innovation and extension,vigorously developing agricultural productive public services,and strengthening the construction and support of agricultural infrastructures.The innovations of this research lie in:(1)This research constructs a theoretical framework for analyzing farmers’ climate-response behaviors.Based on the analysis of influencing factors and mechanisms of farmers’ climate-response behaviors,this research introduces the dual perspectives of "mitigation" and "adaptation",and carries out empirical studies on the occurrence mechanism and practical effects of farmers’ climate-response behaviors.Compared with similar studies in the existing literature,this research expands the content that most of them discuss farmers’ mitigation and adaptation behaviors from a single perspective.(2)This research demonstrates the influencing mechanism of farmers’ climateresponse behaviors on technical efficiency.The research finds that,either the low-carbon production behaviors or climate adaptation behaviors can significantly improve farmers’ technical efficiency.Compared with the existing research on farmers’ technical efficiency,this research has largely compensated for the lack of attention on the effect of climateresponse behaviors.At the same time,this research links farmers’ climate-response behaviors and technical efficiency,it broadens the theoretical path for agriculture to break through "climate lock" and increase productivity to a certain extent,thus providing new ideas for the subsequent research.(3)This research establishes a three-dimensional policy system to promote farmers’ response to climate.Based on the conclusions of empirical research,this research combines the multiple purposes of promoting "mitigation-adaptation-technical efficiency" in agricultural production,and proposes a three-dimensional policy system to promote farmers’ response to climate.Compared with research in the existing literature,this research makes up for the lack of compatibility and integrity of policy recommendations proposed by most research because of neglecting the equal importance of mitigation and adaptation,as well as the potential of climate-response behaviors to improve efficiency. |
