ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Land, Livelihoods and Food Security
Volume 9 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1644535
Assessing the Effect of Land Psychological Ownership on the Adoption of Pro-environmental Fertilization Technology among Rice Farmers in Southern China
Provisionally accepted
- 1Guangdong University of Finance, Guangzhou, China
- 2The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR China
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Driven by policies that promote environmental compliance, quality improvement, and rural revitalization, the adoption of pro-environmental fertilization technologies(PFTs) has become a key part of China's sustainable agriculture agenda. Understanding how land psychological ownership (LPO) shapes farmers' decisions on using such technologies is essential for improving agri-environmental governance. This study analyzes survey data from 489 rice farmers in South China collected in 2022. We then use a binary logistic regression model to examine their choices of adoption or non-adoption. Our findings show that LPO significantly increases the likelihood of adopting PFTs, though its impact varies depending on land certification, social identity, and farmers' capabilities. Based on these findings, we propose a policy package that combines psychological empowerment, institutional support, and capacity building, aiming to transform LPO into concrete green practices through land certification, village regulations, and farmer field schools. By linking behavioral economics with agricultural technology diffusion, this approach addresses policy failures through both psychological and institutional pathways. Strengthening the institutional basis of LPO with land certification, reshaping village norms, and enhancing technical skills together form a collaborative governance framework that aligns property rights incentives, social recognition, and capability development.
Keywords: Land psychological ownership, pro-environmental fertilization technology, resource property rights, environmental governance, Physical ownership
Received: 10 Jun 2025; Accepted: 01 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zheng, Gong, Zhang and Tang. 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:
Wolin Zheng, Guangdong University of Finance, Guangzhou, China
Zhenhan Gong, Guangdong University of Finance, Guangzhou, China
Weikun Zhang, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR China
Longhai Tang, Guangdong University of Finance, Guangzhou, China
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