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Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2026, Vol. 25 Issue (6): 2214-2228    DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2025.12.057
Section 2: Digital Literacy as Adoption Driver Advanced Online Publication | Current Issue | Archive | Adv Search |
Does digital literacy promote climate disaster-adaptive production behaviors among grain-producing smallholders in China?

Qingyun Bai, Jiajia Li, Jian Zhang, Dungang Zang, Kuan Zhang, Qianling Shen#

College of Economics, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China

 Highlights  
The adoption rate of climate disaster-adaptive production behaviors remains low among grain-producing smallholders in Sichuan Province, China.
Digital literacy contributes to climate disaster-adaptive production behaviors by enhancing farmers’ climate disaster risk awareness.
The positive impact of digital literacy on climate disaster-adaptive production behaviors is heterogeneous across different levels of government support.
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摘要  

气候灾害给粮食产量造成了重大经济损失,凸显了采取适应性行为以保障粮食安全的重要性。随着数字技术的发展,迫切需要研究粮食种植户的数字素养如何影响他们在气候灾害面前的适应性生产行为。本研究基于中国四川省505名粮食小农户的调查数据,构建了数字素养、气候灾害风险感知与气候灾害适应性生产行为三者关系的理论框架。实证分析表明,数字素养对粮食小农户的气候灾害适应性生产行为有积极影响。我们的结果在各种模型和测试中均表现稳健。对中介机制的分析显示,数字素养通过提高气候灾害风险意识,促进了气候灾害适应性生产行为。异质性分析表明,在接受互联网技能培训和气候信息服务的样本中,数字素养的积极影响更为显著,且随着农业基础设施水平的提高,这种影响会增强。研究结果表明,数字素养在降低生产风险方面发挥着关键作用,从而有助于提高小农户的可持续农业发展水平。



Abstract  Climate disasters lead to substantial economic losses and grain yield losses, emphasizing the need for adaptation to ensure food security.  As digital technologies advance, it is imperative to investigate how digital literacy among grain farmers affects their adaptive production behaviors in the face of climate disasters.  Drawing on survey data from 505 grain-producing smallholders in Sichuan Province, China, this study constructs a theoretical framework linking digital literacy, climate disaster risk perception, and adaptive production behaviors.  Empirical analysis shows that digital literacy positively impacts the adaptive production behaviors of grain-producing smallholders.  Our results are robust across various models and tests.  An analysis of the mediation mechanism reveals that digital literacy contributes to climate disaster-adaptive production behaviors by improving the awareness of climate disaster risks.  Heterogeneity analysis shows that the positive impact of digital literacy is more pronounced for smallholders that receive internet skills training and climate information services, and this impact intensifies as the level of agricultural infrastructure improves.  The findings suggest that digital literacy plays a key role in reducing production risks, thereby contributing to increased sustainable agricultural development among smallholders.
Keywords:  digital literacy       climate disaster-adaptive production behavior       grain-producing smallholders       China  
Received: 20 February 2025   Accepted: 30 July 2025 Online: 29 December 2025  
Fund: 

The work was supported by the National Social Science Foundation of China (22BGL071), the Major Project of Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning in Sichuan Province, China (SC22ZD005), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (72104166), the Humanities and Social Sciences Research Youth Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (23YJC790104), the Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan, China (24NSFSC4673), and the General Project of the Research Center for Ecological Economic Development in Northwest Sichuan under the Key Research Base of Philosophy and Social Sciences of Ganzi Prefecture, China. (CXBSTJJ202403).

 

About author:  #Correspondence Qianling Shen, E-mail: qianling@sicau.edu.cn

Cite this article: 

Qingyun Bai, Jiajia Li, Jian Zhang, Dungang Zang, Kuan Zhang, Qianling Shen. 2026. Does digital literacy promote climate disaster-adaptive production behaviors among grain-producing smallholders in China?. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 25(6): 2214-2228.

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