Does the adoption of Internet digital technologies improve farmers’ fertilizer management performance? An empirical analysis based on the China Rural Revitalization Survey

The rapid growth of Internet digital technology has provided a new boost to the field, making it important to examine its impact on reducing fertilizer usage at the individual farmer level. This study uses data from the 2020 China Rural Revitalization Survey to investigate how the farmers’ Internet...

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Main Authors: Dongshou Fan, Weiming Gan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/14735903.2025.2467619
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author Dongshou Fan
Weiming Gan
author_facet Dongshou Fan
Weiming Gan
author_sort Dongshou Fan
collection DOAJ
description The rapid growth of Internet digital technology has provided a new boost to the field, making it important to examine its impact on reducing fertilizer usage at the individual farmer level. This study uses data from the 2020 China Rural Revitalization Survey to investigate how the farmers’ Internet use affects their fertilizer management efficiency and the intrinsic mechanisms in the context of agricultural machinery and social services. The results show that farmers who used the Internet to obtain information regarding farming were nearly 3.5% more fertilizer efficient than farmers who did not use the Internet. Heterogeneity analysis showed that farmers who plant staple crops, acquire agronomic training, and farm on small scales are more likely to improve fertilizer use efficiency. An analysis of the mechanism indicated that the aforementioned effect was achieved by increasing the demand for social services and enhancing agricultural machinery operation. Therefore, it is recommended to use the Internet and other digital technologies to deepen the division of labour in agriculture and advance agricultural technology, as well as strengthen its deep integration with social services and operating agricultural machinery to stimulate the green effect of digital empowerment.
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publishDate 2025-12-01
publisher Taylor & Francis Group
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series International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability
spelling doaj-art-b8a135bff35447ee958ca6895268ea422025-08-20T03:05:21ZengTaylor & Francis GroupInternational Journal of Agricultural Sustainability1473-59031747-762X2025-12-0123110.1080/14735903.2025.2467619Does the adoption of Internet digital technologies improve farmers’ fertilizer management performance? An empirical analysis based on the China Rural Revitalization SurveyDongshou Fan0Weiming Gan1School of Economics and Management, Yunnan Minzu University, Kunming, Yunnan Province, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Economics and Management, Yunnan Minzu University, Kunming, Yunnan Province, People’s Republic of ChinaThe rapid growth of Internet digital technology has provided a new boost to the field, making it important to examine its impact on reducing fertilizer usage at the individual farmer level. This study uses data from the 2020 China Rural Revitalization Survey to investigate how the farmers’ Internet use affects their fertilizer management efficiency and the intrinsic mechanisms in the context of agricultural machinery and social services. The results show that farmers who used the Internet to obtain information regarding farming were nearly 3.5% more fertilizer efficient than farmers who did not use the Internet. Heterogeneity analysis showed that farmers who plant staple crops, acquire agronomic training, and farm on small scales are more likely to improve fertilizer use efficiency. An analysis of the mechanism indicated that the aforementioned effect was achieved by increasing the demand for social services and enhancing agricultural machinery operation. Therefore, it is recommended to use the Internet and other digital technologies to deepen the division of labour in agriculture and advance agricultural technology, as well as strengthen its deep integration with social services and operating agricultural machinery to stimulate the green effect of digital empowerment.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/14735903.2025.2467619Internet digital technology usefertilizer utilization efficiencysocial servicesagricultural machineryrural China
spellingShingle Dongshou Fan
Weiming Gan
Does the adoption of Internet digital technologies improve farmers’ fertilizer management performance? An empirical analysis based on the China Rural Revitalization Survey
International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability
Internet digital technology use
fertilizer utilization efficiency
social services
agricultural machinery
rural China
title Does the adoption of Internet digital technologies improve farmers’ fertilizer management performance? An empirical analysis based on the China Rural Revitalization Survey
title_full Does the adoption of Internet digital technologies improve farmers’ fertilizer management performance? An empirical analysis based on the China Rural Revitalization Survey
title_fullStr Does the adoption of Internet digital technologies improve farmers’ fertilizer management performance? An empirical analysis based on the China Rural Revitalization Survey
title_full_unstemmed Does the adoption of Internet digital technologies improve farmers’ fertilizer management performance? An empirical analysis based on the China Rural Revitalization Survey
title_short Does the adoption of Internet digital technologies improve farmers’ fertilizer management performance? An empirical analysis based on the China Rural Revitalization Survey
title_sort does the adoption of internet digital technologies improve farmers fertilizer management performance an empirical analysis based on the china rural revitalization survey
topic Internet digital technology use
fertilizer utilization efficiency
social services
agricultural machinery
rural China
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/14735903.2025.2467619
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AT weiminggan doestheadoptionofinternetdigitaltechnologiesimprovefarmersfertilizermanagementperformanceanempiricalanalysisbasedonthechinaruralrevitalizationsurvey