Impacts of Green Production Behaviors on the Income Effect of Rice Farmers from the Perspective of Outsourcing Services: Evidence from the Rice Region in Northwest China

Abstract

Along with the increasingly prominent contradiction between agricultural development and a healthy ecological environment, the adoption of agriculture green production (AGP) methods has become an important measure to reduce excessive pesticide application, avoid ecological environmental pollution and promote sustainable agricultural development. However, few studies have explored the impact of green production behaviors on the revenue effect from the perspective of outsourcing services, and existing studies have not subdivided outsourcing into multiple categories to examine their impact. In this study, the first-hand data of 447 rice farmers in Ningxia and Shaanxi in northwest China were collected. By using the endogenous switching regression model (ESR), we focuses on the influence of rice farmers’ AGP behaviors on their income effect, and analyzed whether outsourcing service categories can promote rice farmers’ AGP behaviors and income. The results showed that outsourcing services significantly promoted AGP behaviors and the income of rice farmers. Specifically, outsourcing pesticide application showed the greatest effect on the reduction of pesticide usage, rice harvesting after a safe interval after pesticide application, and the income of rice farmers; weeding and harvesting outsourcing had less effect. These indicate that outsourcing services can improve environmental and economic benefits by reducing pesticide input costs, to promote rice farmers to engage in AGP behaviors. Moreover, green production behaviors help to increase the income of rice farmers. If rice farmers who have not implemented AGP conduct physical control behaviors, their income will increase by 23.110%; the reduction of pesticide application ranks the second, and their income will increase by 5.970%. The implementation of rice harvesting at the safe intervals after pesticide application had the lowest degree of improvement, and the farmers’ income will increase by 4.505%. The study provides data for promoting outsourcing services and AGP in developing countries. Therefore, the government should further improve outsourcing services and AGP policies to maximize the income of rice farmers in low- and middle-income areas.