Abstract:

【Objective】As the lacking application of organic fertilizer will exacerbate the soil nutrients imbalance and fertility decline and be a serious threat to sustainable agriculture and rural economic development as well, how to take effective measures to guide farmers to adjust their fertilization structure is a problem to be solved in the process of China’s agricultural development. The objective of the research is to study the impact of contract production on farmer’s organic fertilizing behalior. 【Method】 Using the survey data on apple growers in Shandong Province, this paper aims to evaluate the impact of contract production on organic fertilizer use behavior and the underlying mechanism.【Result】The analysis demonstrates that, marketing contract, production contract, orchard distance from house, orchard size, awareness of organic fertilizer and the proportion of non-agricultural income have a positive correlation with organic fertilizer application. Fertilizer application and the amount of labors have a negative correlation with organic fertilizer application.【Conclusion】When other conditions are the same, farmer signed marketing contract and production contract will increase organic fertilizer application by 678 yuan/hm2 and 1 497 yuan/hm2, respectively; orchard distance from house, orchard size, awareness of organic fertilizer, the amount of labors and the proportion of non-agricultural income are also important factors in farmer’s decision-making of organic fertilizer use.

Key words: marketing contract, production contract, organic fertilizer, apple growing