Resumen de Farmers’ attitudes towards the introduction of agri-environmental measures in agricultural infrastructure projects in China: Evidence from Beijing and Changsha
Qian Zhang, Xiao He, Meichun Duan, Xin Zhang, Zhenrong Yu
Agricultural infrastructure construction is an important component of agricultural policies in China that aim to increase production and ensure food security. One objective of agricultural infrastructure is to promote modern intensive agriculture, which has already caused agri-environmental problems including environmental pollution, landscape degradation, and biodiversity loss. In European countries, agri-environmental measures are widely implemented with farmers’ participation, and it is anticipated that these measures will be introduce into agricultural policies, such as agricultural infrastructure projects, in China. As one of the direct stakeholders, farmers and their attitudes towards agricultural infrastructure projects and their perceptions of agri-environmental issues need to be understood before the policy is implemented. This research aimed to determine farmers’ attitudes towards agricultural infrastructure projects and the possible incorporation of agri-environmental measures in these projects using a questionnaire survey in Beijing and Changsha. The results showed that farmers were generally unsatisfied with the top-down implementation process of agricultural infrastructure projects because they were seldom involved and felt their needs were not considered by the authorities. Most farmers would accept at least one simple agri-environmental measure, and subsidies could significantly increase the acceptance level. Economic risk and farm business type were crucial factors influencing farmers’ acceptance of measures. We suggested that if governments hope to implement agri-environmental measures as part of agricultural infrastructure projects, improving the public participation process should be a priority, and a combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches should be considered with respect to farmers’ knowledge, opinions and farm business types to design suitable measures for local conditions.
