Study on Farmers’ Willingness to Accept for Chemical Fertilizer Reduction Based on the Choice Experiment Method: A Case Study of Communities Surrounding Poyang Lake, China

Abstract

Chemical fertilizer loss during agricultural production is an important factor leading to the eutrophication of lakes and reservoirs. As fertilizer technology has become more widespread, it has become necessary to explore the ecological compensation mechanism in areas with important ecological functions to further reduce chemical fertilizer application. Among these, farmers’ preferences for chemical fertilizer reduction are one of the most important issues. Based on the survey data of 142 farmers surrounding Poyang Lake, this paper studies the farmers’ willingness to accept (WTA) the attributes of a chemical fertilizer reduction scheme using the choice experiment method. The results are as follows: (1) The farmers’ WTA value for each additional year of the program was 63.75 CNY/ha/year, the WTA value for every 10 percent increase in the proportion of participating land area was 73.875 CNY/ha/year, and the WTA value for every 10 percent reduction in the fertilizer application was 413.505 CNY/ha/year. (2) The household support burden, the proportion of non-agricultural income, and farmers’ understanding of the importance of wetlands significantly affect farmers’ WTA value. (3) The interviewed farmers can be divided into four different types: farm type, farm-oriented hybrid type, off-farm-oriented hybrid type, and off-farm workers, each with different preferences for fertilizer reduction schemes.