Sustainable Agriculture in the Face of Climate Change: Exploring Farmers’ Risk Perception, Low-Carbon Technology Adoption, and Productivity in the Guanzhong Plain of China

Abstract

Agriculture is a significant contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, and reducing carbon emissions in this sector is essential for mitigating global warming. To achieve China’s targets of carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, promoting low-carbon agricultural technology (LCAT) is fundamental. This study examines the impact of farmers’ risk perception on LCAT adoption behavior and its productivity effects with the Ordered Probit regression method, using micro survey data from 531 farmers in Shaanxi Province, China. The results show that farmers with stronger risk perceptions were more likely to adopt LCAT, based on their loss aversion characteristics. Additionally, farmers’ perceptions of yield, market, and climate risks positively influence the adoption of LCAT, with market risk perception having the strongest effect. Adopting LCAT has significant production and spillover effects, improving the output rate of farmers’ operating farmland and neighboring plots by 2.4% and 1.2%, respectively, for each additional measure adopted. This study contributes to the perception and loss aversion literature by examining farmers’ adoption of low-carbon agricultural practices. This study sheds light on the importance of risk perception in the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices and can inform policies aimed at promoting the adoption of LCAT for achieving sustainable agriculture and mitigating climate change, highlighting the crucial role of sustainable environmental management in the agricultural sector.