Agricultural Economics - In Press
Impact of the adoption of chemical inputs on crop yield downside riskOriginal Paper
Olha Aleksandrova, Štefan Bojnec
The study aims to analyse the impact of application the chemical inputs like fertilizers or pesticides on farm crop yield productivity in Estonian and Slovenian agriculture. We combined the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method with an Inverse Probability Weighted Regression (IPWRA) model to derive treatment effects of adoption of these critical inputs using a Farm Accountancy Data Network data. Results exhibit consistency across estimations techniques. Estimates of both ESR and PSM models showed that adoption at least one of chemical inputs decreases volatility of crop yield output and downside risk. The results are more robust for Estonian than for Slovenian farms suggesting on possible impacts of other exogenous factors such as climate change on mitigating the crop yield downside risk.
Rural E-commerce and Agricultural Total Factor Productivity: Evidence from ChinaOriginal Paper
jialong Zheng, xintong Liang, Junkai Ma, Guangsi Li
Considering the Comprehensive Demonstration of E-commerce in Rural Areas (CDERA) policy as a quasi-natural experiment, this paper explores the impact of rural e-commerce development on agricultural total factor productivity (ATFP) and its mechanisms by employing a difference-in-differences model. The analysis involves panel data from 1,495 counties in China from 2001 to 2021. Consequently, the study finds that, first, the CDERA policy increased county ATFP productivity by 1.5 percent. Second, CDERA policy improves the ATFP by elevating the efficiency of agricultural technology, guiding the refinement of the farming industry, and lifting farmers' income. Again, in impoverished county areas, the impact of CDERA policy on ATFP is more manifested as the advantage effect of latecomers than the disadvantage effect of infrastructure. Finally, the spatial impact mainly exhibits a local effect rather than a siphon effect.
Unveiling Green Perception Effect: How Live Streaming Scenes and Green Information Influence Purchase Intention of Prepared DishesOriginal Paper
Shuo Hao, Pei Li, Nannan Zhang, Yang Du, Rui Liang, Ziyang Liu
To promote the sustainable consumption of prepared dishes, this study examines how Green Attribute Information (GAI) and Live Streaming Scenes Experience (LSSE) influence consumers' Green Perceptions (GP)—including Perceived Green Value (PGV) and Perceived Green Trust (PGT)—and subsequently affect their Purchase Intention (PI). A green perception model was developed and tested using a mixed-method approach. Word cloud analysis was conducted on consumer comments collected from e-commerce platforms to extract key descriptors and concerns, which informed the design of a structured questionnaire. A total of 291 valid responses were analysed using PLS-SEM. Results show that: (a) GAI does not directly impact PI, indicating that GP is a necessary mediator; (b) GAI significantly influences PGV, but not PGT; (c) GP fully mediates the GAI–PI relationship, although PGV has a negligible direct effect on PGT; (d) LSSE significantly enhances both GP and PI; (e) GP partially mediates the LSSE–PI relationship. These findings highlight the dual role of LSSE in facilitating information adoption and emotional engagement, and suggest that enhancing LSSE design and enriching GAI are effective strategies to increase consumers' green perception and purchase intention towards prepared dishes.
Assessment of the Difference in Ecosystem Services Between Ecologically and Conventionally Managed Ponds: An Empirical Study from the South Bohemia Region, Czech RepublicOriginal Paper
Jiří Schneider, Gabriela Chmelíková
The aim of this article is to demonstrate the difference in the production of ecosystem services depending on the management method using a selected sample of ponds from the South Bohemian region of the Czech Republic and subsequently monetarily assessed this difference. Using 16 ponds over a 10-year period, the research evaluates key services such as biodiversity conservation, water purification, and fish production, employing the opportunity cost of foregone profits methodology. The results reveal that ecologically managed ponds provide enhanced ecosystem services but at a financial trade-off, with an average annual profit difference of 3 539 CZK per hectare compared to conventional management. This trade-off translates to a present value of 32 090 CZK per hectare over a decade, reflecting the additional societal value of ecosystem services from ecological management. The findings underscore the economic and ecological challenges faced by stakeholders, particularly fish farmers, in balancing conservation goals with economic viability.
Can Sustainable Practices Optimize Fertiliser Use and Economic Efficiency? A Micro Panel AnalysisOriginal Paper
Faruque As Sunny, Juping Lan, Mohammad Ariful Islam
The intensification of agricultural practices in Bangladesh has led to significant environmental challenges, including soil degradation, biodiversity loss, and ecological contamination. The widespread use of subsidised chemical fertilisers in rice cultivation has worsened these issues, threatening the sustainability of agricultural systems. In response, Bangladesh has aligned its agricultural policies with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), emphasising sustainable farming practices. A key element of this approach is the implementation of Recommended Fertiliser Dosage Application (RDFA), aimed at optimising fertiliser use, improving farmers' livelihoods, and reducing environmental damage. This study evaluates the effectiveness of RDFA protocols developed by the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) for the BRRI dhan29 rice variety in addressing both environmental sustainability and economic efficiency. Using five years of panel data (2017–2021) from 2,025 households across three acidic soil regions in Dinajpur, the research assesses RDFA’s impact on fertiliser use and cost efficiency. The findings show that RDFA adoption reduces fertiliser use by 12% and enhances cost efficiency by 5–5.2%. These results highlight the potential of sustainable practices, particularly RDFA, to mitigate environmental degradation while improving economic outcomes. The study provides valuable insights for policymakers and development practitioners, offering a framework for scaling up RDFA adoption and advancing sustainable agriculture.
From Metrics to Insights: Evaluating Cereal Farming Sustainability in Catalonia Using Composite Index ApproachOriginal Paper
Mahdieh Khezri nejad gharaei, Bouali Guesmi, Jose Maria Gil Roig
Assessing the agricultural sustainability of farms is challenging, since it involves various aspects that can change over time and differ by location. This paper provides a potential composite index, considering the most available important individual indicators, to evaluate the sustainability of cereal farming in Catalonia, Spain. Through a systematic review of the relevant literature, we combined 21 quantitative and qualitative indicators to capture the multidimensional and dynamic nature of sustainability. The composite index is built using the latest information obtained from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) during the period 2016-2021. A factor analysis method was used to derive weights for different indicators and sustainability dimensions. The empirical results show that the score of the sustainability composite index varies between 2 and 5 for farms. In addition, the average composite index indicates that large-scale farms tend to be more sustainable, while smallholders may need tailored measures to improve their sustainability performance. Despite significant variations in sustainability among farms of different economic sizes, no clear temporal trend has been observed, suggesting that current sustainability practices may require further scrutiny. The methodology and the indicators developed would be a practical tool to understand the sustainability performance of cereal farms and identify possible sources of improvements toward more sustainable agricultural sector in Catalonia.
Deconstruction of China's agricultural bioeconomy policies in the context of sustainable systems transition - Based on policy texts analysisOriginal Paper
Xiuxiang Li, Yanhan Hu
The instability of food security has triggered countries' demands for sustainable transformation of agri-food systems, and the agricultural bioeconomy may be a more reliable grip. This study deconstructs the development framework of China's agricultural bioeconomy policy based on the agricultural biosystem dimension, the policy instrument dimension, and the comprehensive dimension by capturing, coding, and displaying word clouds of Chinese agricultural bioeconomy policy texts, and finds that the cross-sectoral linkage attributes of China's agricultural bioeconomy policy are clear, and the trend of sustainable transformation is obvious. Overall, the comprehensive characteristics of China's agricultural bioeconomy policy are as follows: first, the policy is deeply integrated, considering both economic development and environmental friendliness; second, the policy is safety-oriented, taking into account competitiveness and strategy; and third, the policy is innovation-driven, taking into account fundamentality and foresight. In the future, efforts should be made to enhance the competitiveness of the agricultural bioeconomy within the framework of an all-encompassing approach to food, and to help China's agricultural bioeconomy on the road to sustainable transition by improving fiscal and tax support, advocating the use of financial instruments, creating an alliance for the agricultural bioeconomy, and promoting international trade exchanges and co-operation.
Analysis of the impact of farmland transfer on agricultural carbon emissions-Based on survey data from farming households in groundwater irrigation areas of Hebei Province, ChinaOriginal Paper
Baozhen Jia, Xiqin Wang, Bingqing Ran, Jingao Hu
Abstract: Farmland transfer is a practical need for China to achieve agricultural mechanization and modernization, and also an important way for farmers to optimize their family resource allocation. Under the background of the "dual carbon" goal, exploring the impact of farmland transfer on farmers' agricultural carbon emissions will promote agricultural carbon emissions reduction. Based on the questionnaire data of 767 farmers in the groundwater irrigation area of Hebei Province, this paper studies the impact of land transfer on agricultural carbon emissions based on the heterogeneity of land management scale. The results show that: (1) Land transfer has different impact on agricultural carbon emissions. Land transfer of small-scale farmers increases carbon emissions, while land transfer of large-scale farmers reduces carbon emissions. The threshold value of land management scale is 15 mu (1 mu is approximately equal to 0.066 ha). (2) The impact mechanism of farmland transfer on agricultural carbon emissions is the adoption of water-saving technologies and the input of fertilizers and pesticides. Small-scale farmers mostly transfer in small and scattered lands, leading to short-term agricultural production behavior, thus increase the input of fertilizers and pesticides, increasing carbon emissions. Large-scale farmers mostly transfer in concentrated and contiguous lands, and the effect of scale management and integration are more obvious after land transfer, which is conducive to adopting water-saving technologies and reducing the electricity consumption for agricultural irrigation. After transferring land, large-scale farmers pay more attention to the sustainability of their production methods, reducing the use of fertilizers and pesticides, thereby reducing agricultural carbon emissions. Conclusion: It is recommended to guide farmers to expand the area of farmland transfer through economic incentives policy to achieve the scale effect and strengthen the management of farmland transfer procedures.
Nonlinear Effects of Bank Loans on County Agrifood SMEs Innovation: Empirical evidence from ChinaOriginal Paper
Xi Chen, Kai Wang, Lirong Xing, Jianzhen Lu
Innovation is the driver of sustainable business development and is essential to promote high quality economic development in the country. So, are more bank loans better for SMEs innovation? Therefore, based on mixed cross-sectional data of county sweet potato processing enterprises, this paper applied the econometric model to explore the impact of bank loans on county agricultural SMEs innovation. We find that there is an “inverted U-shaped” relationship between bank loans and county agricultural SMEs innovation. The analysis of the mechanism shows that bank loans can not only alleviate the problem of innovation financing constraints for agricultural SMEs, but also provide financial support for the innovation activities of agricultural SMEs as a result of trade openness. This study has important practical implications for promoting county agricultural SMEs innovation in China and promoting high-quality county economic development.
REVEALING KEY LINKS BETWEEN COMPONENTS IN THE CIRCULAR ECONOMYOriginal Paper
CARMEN EUGENIA NASTASE, GABRIELA PRELIPCEAN, CARMEN EMILIA CHASOVSCHI, MARIANA LUPAN, RUXANDRA BEJINARU
The circular economy (CE) has proven to be an effective solution for sustainable development in the last two decades, especially in the context of multiple crises. Businesses are looking for a development model that balances economic progress, social security, and resource conservation, while also facing resource shortages and strict recycling regulations. This research highlights the essential role of green logistics (GL) and green human capital (GHC) in sustainable production (SP), which is necessary for the successful implementation of CE. The study, based on data collected from 117 companies in the Romanian food industry, uses partial structural equation modeling to explore the causal relationships between these variables. The results show that both green logistics and green human capital are important factors for circular economy, and sustainable production significantly mediates the relationships between green human capital, and circular economy, but not significantly for green logistics. Thus, it is concluded that sustainable production has a determining positive effect on circular economy. Although the research is limited by the geographical and sectoral context, it contributes theoretically and practically by analyzing the relationships between these concepts and the relevant managerial implications.
Modelling the circular bioeconomy in the palm oil industry: Emerging approaches to address cattle feed shortages in IndonesiaOriginal Paper
Atien Priyanti, Priyono Priyono, I Gusti Ayu Putu Mahendri, Dwi Yulistiani, Hotmatua Daulay, Yuhendra Yuhendra, Nasir Rofiq, Astu Unadi, Uning Budiharti, Adji Parikesit, Arsyadi Ali, Edi Erwan, Muladno Muladno
Indonesia is presently ranked as the first crude palm oil producer in the world. However, the palm oil industry faces significant challenges, including extensive criticism related to environmental degradation and social impacts. The circular bioeconomy concept emphasizes sustainable production and consumption through the repurposing, recycling, and regeneration of resources to address these challenges. Integrating palm and cattle farming represents a promising approach to enhancing resource efficiency and sustainability in agricultural systems. This study employs a system dynamics analysis to model the circular bioeconomy in the palm oil industry, with a specific focus on addressing cattle feed shortages. The results demonstrate that utilising oil palm biomass can yield a total of 21,204.52 tonnes of feed and generate a yearly revenue of USD 317,020.14. Key findings indicate that integrating palm by-products into cattle feed not only addresses feed shortages but also reduces waste and enhances overall farm productivity. The implications of this study suggest that adopting circular bioeconomy practices in the palm oil industry can promote more resilient and sustainable agricultural practices.