ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Land, Livelihoods and Food Security
Volume 9 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1555509
Achieving more sustainable agricultural production: Investigating the impact of agricultural machinery services on fertilizer reduction based on survey data from wheat farmers
Provisionally accepted
- Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
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Reducing excessive fertilizer use is essential for mitigating environmental harm and achieving sustainable agricultural development. This study investigates the impact of agricultural machinery services on fertilizer application intensity, a critical factor for promoting sustainable agriculture. Using survey data from 926 wheat farmers across five provinces in the North China Plain, the analysis employs linear regression, LASSO, two-stage least squares, and mediation effect analysis to rigorously assess the effects. The results reveal that: (1) Agricultural machinery services significantly reduce fertilizer application intensity, and fertilizer reduction increases with greater participation in these services. (2) The effectiveness of agricultural machinery services in reducing fertilizer use exhibits considerable variation across farmers with different characteristics. (3) Technological progress and shifts in traditional fertilization practices serve as key mechanisms through which agricultural machinery services lower fertilizer application intensity. Based on these findings, we recommend enhancing the promotion of agricultural machinery services to facilitate the transition of small-scale farmers towards modern, sustainable agricultural development pathways.
Keywords: Agricultural Machinery Services1, Wheat Farmers2, Fertilizer Reduction3, Mechanisms of Action4, North China Plain5. (Min.5-Max. 8
Received: 04 Jan 2025; Accepted: 27 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Guo and Xin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ling Xin, Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
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