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Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2013, Vol. 12 Issue (2): 364-373    DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(13)60237-3
AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT Advanced Online Publication | Current Issue | Archive | Adv Search |
Farmer’s Adoption of Improved Nitrogen Management Strategies in Maize Production in China: an Experimental Knowledge Training
 JIA Xiang-ping, HUANG Ji-kun, XIANG Cheng, HOU Lin-ke, ZHANG Fu-suo, CHEN Xin-ping, CUIZhen-ling , Holger Bergmann
1.Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Institute for Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, P.R.China
2.Graduate University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, P.R.China
3.College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, P.R.China
4.Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen, Goettingen D-37073, Germany
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摘要  Chemical fertilizer plays an important role in increasing food production in China. Nevertheless, excessive nitrogen fertilizer use in China has resulted in severe environmental problems. The goal of this paper is to examine the impacts of an improved nitrogen management (INM) training experiment on farmers’ chemical nitrogen (N) use behaviors in maize production in China. Based on household data collected from 813 maize farmers in Shandong, China, this study finds that while INM training can significantly reduce farmers’ N fertilizer use, an INM training is not sufficient to change farmer’s practices significantly, and farmers only partially adopted the recommended INM. This study reveals that China faces challenges to transform its agriculture to a low-carbon one. The research also sheds light on China’s extension system and future technologies in meeting the objectives of reducing the excessive nitrogen fertilizer use in agricultural production.

Abstract  Chemical fertilizer plays an important role in increasing food production in China. Nevertheless, excessive nitrogen fertilizer use in China has resulted in severe environmental problems. The goal of this paper is to examine the impacts of an improved nitrogen management (INM) training experiment on farmers’ chemical nitrogen (N) use behaviors in maize production in China. Based on household data collected from 813 maize farmers in Shandong, China, this study finds that while INM training can significantly reduce farmers’ N fertilizer use, an INM training is not sufficient to change farmer’s practices significantly, and farmers only partially adopted the recommended INM. This study reveals that China faces challenges to transform its agriculture to a low-carbon one. The research also sheds light on China’s extension system and future technologies in meeting the objectives of reducing the excessive nitrogen fertilizer use in agricultural production.
Keywords:  maize       nitrogen       training       farmer       China  
Received: 17 April 2012   Accepted:
Fund: 

We would like to thank the financial supports from the National Basic Research Program of China (MoST 2012CB955700), the Sino-German Research Project (MoST 2007DFA30850), and the China- UK Sustainable Agriculture Innovation Network (SAIN).

Corresponding Authors:  Correspondence HUANG Ji-kun, Tel: +86-10-64889833, Fax: +86-10-64856533, E-mail: jkhuang.ccap@igsnrr.ac.     E-mail:  jkhuang.ccap@igsnrr.ac
About author:  JIA Xiang-ping, E-mail: jiaxp.ccap@igsnrr.ac.cn

Cite this article: 

JIA Xiang-ping, HUANG Ji-kun, XIANG Cheng, HOU Lin-ke, ZHANG Fu-suo, CHEN Xin-ping, CUIZhen-ling , Holger Bergmann. 2013. Farmer’s Adoption of Improved Nitrogen Management Strategies in Maize Production in China: an Experimental Knowledge Training. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 12(2): 364-373.

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