Farming experience and farmers' adoption of low-carbon management practices: the case of soil testing and fertilizer recommendations in China

In response to global climate change, the Chinese Government has taken numerous measures to promote low-carbon management practices, but the overall adoption rate has been lower than expected. Empirical studies on the path dependence of farming experience, that is, long-standing planting concepts that will hinder farmers from adopting new technologies, have not been reported. Hence, to fill the research gaps, this paper uses survey data from 805 rice farmers in Zhejiang, Hubei, and Jiangxi provinces, China, to examine the impact of farming experience on the adoption of soil testing and fertilizer recommendations. The results show that farming experience significantly negatively affects the adoption of low-carbon practices, especially among farmers with low resource endowment. However, farmers, who make decisions based jointly on farming experience and social networks, are more likely to adopt low-carbon practices. This means that as long as farming experience is used reasonably, for example, by broadening the social network of farmers and urging them to form a decision-making method that comprehensively utilizes farming experience and social networks, it can also demonstrate value. Our findings contribute meaningfully to the development of efforts to promote the adoption of low-carbon management practices in China.