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Nowadays, there is a growing interest in pro-environmental foods produced by pro-environmental practices. However, consumers’ payment motivations towards such foods are currently poorly understood. This manuscript provided a critical investigation of Chinese consumers’ intention to pay a premium (ITPP) for rice grown with green manure as crop fertilizer (GMR). One focus was the establishment of an explanatory structural research framework that includes effects of environmental behavior spillover (EBS) and public information induction (PII), another focus was to analyze the impacts of the selected structural elements on ITPP by introducing education as a moderator. Results suggest that consumers’ ITPP can be largely influenced by PII, therefore, for GMR marketers and policy makers, measures should be developed to widen consumers’ access to public information related to GMR and to improve their capacity of screening effective information. EBS, when ITPP remains low, emerged as a pivotal predictor of consumers’ ITPP. This observation provides us with the enlightenment that breeding consumers’ daily environmental behaviors is highly valued to inspire their payment intention in the early stages of GMR market development. Another finding is that, with the introduction of the educational variable, the influence coefficients of EBS and PII on ITPP increased from 0.42 and 0.53 to 0.61 and 0.66, respectively, which means that it is possible to boost consumers’ payment intention by improving their educational attainment. This study contributes to the existing literature by providing empirical evidence for the GMR industrial upgrading strategy and have significant implications for the environmental governance of the agricultural sector.

Currently, the Chinese government is promoting the transformation of clean energy in rural areas to reduce the consumption of coal to cope with the smog. It is mainly based on “coal to gas”. The development of biomass resources in agricultural areas is an alternative means of energy supply. In order to improve rural energy structure, we propose to upgrade “coal to gas” to “coal to biomass” derived from centralized biogas production (CBP) and straw-briquetting fuel (SBF). This study deals with the question of financing such projects. The public–private partnership (PPP) model is seen as a response that can mobilize social capital to finance investments in these new modes of production and energy supply in rural areas. Based on an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of the two projects considered above, an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was carried out with the assistance of experts in order to clarify the strategic choices which are more suitable for investors. First, we built a PPP strategic-decision model. The decision model was divided into four strategies (pioneering strategy, struggling strategy, conservative strategy and striving strategy) and two development intensities (conservative and proactive). We used this method to construct a SWOT–AHP model of the PPP strategy for CBP and SBF based on the investigation from the experts. The strategic-decision model identified that a pioneering strategy based on opportunity type is promised for SBF, while a more aggressive type strategy in struggling strategy is essential for the CBP. In order to encourage investors to adopt a positive and optimistic attitude towards the two projects, the public authorities have a role of guidance to ensure the mobilization of the social capital necessary for the construction of the projects.

With the greatly increased demand for animal products, the global dairy sector has experienced rapid expansion and intensification. The correspondingly increasing manure and sewage produced has been the major contributor to environmental burden and human health, especially in developing countries like China. Both worldwide environmental concerns and growing awareness of the circular economy have focused the governments' attention on environmental policies related to sustainable manure and sewage management (MSM). However, inherently dynamic decision-making processes of individual farms result in a great diversity of MSM practices, which leads to enormous difficulties and complexity in further sustainability and policy evaluation. Hence, it is essential to explore the key MSM pathways to represent diversity at a scientific and statistic view. While it is rarely practiced, particularly in China's dairy farming. We used China as a case study to develop the key MSM pathways using data from the nationwide survey of 306 scale dairy farms via a quantitative typology methodology. The results by optimal clustering solution revealed four key pathways based on the individual practices which are associated with the collection, storage, and processing and utilization stages. Furthermore, general characteristics were compared to identify potential determinant factors. It revealed that the major indicators such as resource endowments, milk productivity and quality, and revenues and expenditure showed a consistently increasing trend among pathways. The results indicated resource availability and intensive degree, to a certain extent, affected the farmers' selection. The possibilities of performing sustainability and policy evaluation at a higher scale were also demonstrated. Overall, the identified key pathways can help to know regional waste utilization and economic potential to evolve their MSM strategies. They are especially critical for developing countries to obtain typical MSM profiles and formulate targeted policies more effectively, aiming to promote dairy sustainable development and achieve the circular economy globally.

Corn stalk return (CSR) can manage agricultural residues on the spot to avoid field open burning and protect the environment. However, the implementation of this measure encounters reluctance from farmers which hinders its sustainability. This study combined the economic (cost) and technical (return amount, crushing quality, and decomposition of corn stalk) aspects to examine the factors affecting farmers' willingness to participate in the CSR by using a logistic regression model. The level of willingness to accept (WTA) compensation and its determinants were analyzed by using a tobit model. Based on the survey of 925 farmers, this study found the likelihood of farmers' participation in CSR will be decreased when CSR has high machinery cost, an excessive amount of stalk, poor quality of crushing, and slow decomposing rate. The farmers' WTA for CSR was estimated at about 711 Chinese Yuan (RMB) per ha annually, much higher than the current compensation level of 75-225 RMB per ha in Henan. Farmers were willing to be compensated more because of the high cost and slow decomposing rate. The issues in economic and technical sides should attract more attention, and the compensation should be increased and the technical problems should be solved to stimulate farmers' willingness of CSR. By providing a fuller understanding of farmers' CSR behavior, this study can serve as a reference for the Chinese government to develop and implement better policies.

Urban air pollution generated from straw open burning after the harvest seasons in China has been one of the significant problems interfering with the city's proper functioning. This paper applied contingent valuation in a face to face survey to assess the individual willingness of urban residents in Henan, China to pay for corn straw burning ban to policy makers. Such assessments are important for policy makers to determine the investment and policy instruments for regulating environmental impacts of straw open burning. To investigate the determinants of the stated willingness to pay (WtP) a sample of 1890 urban residents in Henan, China was selected. The study used Tobit model. About 62% of respondents stated that they were willing to pay. The expected WtP was about 76.72 Chinese Yuan (RMB) per person per year for the total respondents and 142.70 RMB per person per year for observations with positive WtP bids. Aggregate value was between 3.41 and 3.90 billion RMB indicating that corn straw burning ban is of considerable economic value to Henan. Results from the study show that the experience of environmental protection, expenditure on protecting health from air pollution, influence of straw burning on respondent's health, life, work, household income, education, job place, and family size were significant variables explaining WtP. The results of the study will be useful for policy makers when making up their mind how much funds should be invested and what kinds of policy instruments could be suitable for banning straw burning. (C) 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Heavy metal(loid)s (HMs) in organic fertilizer have become a primary source of HMs pollution of farmlands, which could cause deleterious health effects in people exposed through soil-plant systems via multi-pathways. This study investigated China's main grain production area (Henan Province) to evaluate the accumulation and transport characteristics of HMs (Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd and Pb) in a soil-wheat system and conduct a health risk assessment for wheat (Triticum aestivum) grain under different nitrogenous fertilizer treatments. The results indicated that the Cr, Cu, As and Cd contents in soil were 56.21-113.66, 13.97-58.72, 5.79-22.62 and 0.04-0.23mg·kg-1, and the mean contents of Cr and As contents in wheat grains were 0.78±0.31 and 0.49±0.18mg·kg-1, respectively, which exceeded the corresponding standards. The bio-concentration factor and transfer factor were lowest in response to N-fertilization with N8-N15. Health risk assessment showed that the local population who ingested grain from culture condition of N15 experienced the lowest non-cancer and cancer risks. Among different population groups, HMs posed relatively higher non-cancer and cancer risks to children aged 0-5years. Furthermore, Cr and As exposure was the greatest contributor to Hazard Index (HI), accounting for 74.72-83.11%, while Cr exposure accounted for >90% of the total potential cancer risk. Concluding, this study indicated that, to protect human health, the current application of nitrogenous fertilizer should be controlled to an appropriate level.

This study investigated smallholder farmers' adoption preferences for cropping patterns of cover crops, duration of adoption, and supplementing technical support to reduce agrochemicals regarding sustainable farm management (SFM). A discrete choice experiment was conducted in the Hexi Corridor (D1) and the west Loess Plateau (D2) in northwest China. The results show that farmers in D1 preferred intercropping and rotating cover crops to the current single cropping system, while farmers in D2 prioritized intercropping over rotation and least preferred planting cover crops in marginal land in the double-cropping system. Farmers in both sites preferred 1 or 3 years of adoption over 5 years. Additionally, farmers in D2 preferred technical assistance to reduce the high proportion of agrochemicals. The results indicate that younger farmers with higher annual household incomes were most likely to opt out in D1. In D2, more agricultural labor inputs and raising livestock had positive effects on the adoption of the package. Moreover, farmers who cultivated cash crops were more reluctant to move away from the current cropping system. This study highlights the uses of cover crop intercropping and rotation combining with technical assistance in different agriculturally intensive cropping systems that may be useful in guiding site-specific policy.

The global dairy farming sector has markedly expanded and intensified over the past decades due to the growing demand for milk and dairy products. The interest in implementing life cycle assessments of various manure and sewage management (MSM) strategies is increasing on a global scale, which is motivated by the concerns of environmental degradation caused by unsustainable MSM and growing awareness of circular economy. Life cycle thinking concept has been widely introduced to favor the comparative studies of different MSM strategies, with the aim of identifying suitable MSM strategies and formulating related policies. This meta-analysis presented comparative results of publicly available dairy MSM pathways, including waste-to-energy, composting, recycling, and other management pathways, aiming to explore potential benefits towards a circular economy. Results showed a consensus that waste-to-energy pathway significantly reduced global warming, eutrophication, and ecotoxicity potential. More specifically, the comparative performances of various detailed technologies belonging to a specified pathway were analyzed. Results indicated that anaerobic mono-digestion decreased global warming and eutrophication remarkably; its integrated management technologies reduced global warming considerably and an obvious decrease in eutrophication potential was observed. It revealed that most of current MSM strategies had limited potential and uncertain consequences to reduce environmental impacts and costs. In terms of influence factors, besides the intrinsic factor (pathway type), key extrinsic determinants including location, country income level, and farm scale were proved to affect mitigation potential of some specific impacts. Overall, it is necessary for the scientific community and policy-makers to focus on more possible trade-offs of different life cycle performances towards sustainability and circularity.

Northeast China (NEC) is the corn granary of China, with average 38% of corn sowing area, 41% of corn production and over 80% corn commodity rate, which makes a great contribution to China's food security. Straw return is the primary way for disposal after harvesting. However, it is controversial in the effect of corn straw return on corn yield, the optimal amount of corn straw return is still unclear. Furthermore, NEC farmers are unwilling to adopt, so these issues require comprehensive regional evaluation. To begin with, this paper studied effects of corn straw return on corn yield increase with meta-analysis. The results illustrated that corn straw return has positive effect on corn yield increase. Secondly, in order to find optimal proportions, n-fold cross-validation method was implemented, and an inventory of corn straw return on corn yield in NEC was compiled. The optimal scheme of corn straw return is 48% of corn straw could bring 5.83% corn yield increase. Finally, results from system dynamics with Monte Carlo (MC) simulation revealed that such production increase potential (around 6.1 million tons of corn) was being blocked by the unaffordable cost for farmers under ordinary scenario. Interestingly, this paper contrived an extreme scenario that corn straw return could be profitable. The flexible adjustment of subsidy could become the motivation for measurement adaptation. This paper concludes that, corn straw return is a sustainable safeguard that can promote corn production in NEC, thus to China's food security in the long run.

A preliminary conceptual framework is proposed for the estimation of the costs of desertification. This framework consists of assessment of the extent and severity of desertification, identification of various impacts and valuation of the direct and indirect costs of desertification. Based on this framework, three well-cited studies of the costs of desertification in China were critically reviewed. Limitations in these studies include double counting, confusion of short-term and long-term costs and the lack of necessary adjustment of price parameters. Refinement of the estimates indicates that these limitations have caused serious overestimation or underestimation of the costs of desertification. To achieve more reliable and useful estimates, future studies need to overcome the limitations mentioned in the preceding texts and use the latest available data on desertification and its various impacts. A more comprehensive conceptual framework that includes the valuation of dryland ecosystem services could also be developed to guide future studies. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In the highest soil erosion regions of arid and semiarid northwest China, water resource deficits and farmland misuse have further exacerbated soil degradation. Therefore, understanding how farmers in diverse agroclimatic zones perceive and respond to different conservation practices is important to the implementation of sustainable agriculture practices (SAPs). To this end, this study uses a best&ndash, worst scaling approach to examine the adoption preferences for nine SAPs among grain and cash crop farmers and investigates the influence of farm and climatic characteristics on adoption preferences based on a face to face survey of 554 households in Gansu province, which is classified as an arid and semiarid area in northwest China. Both grain and cash crop farmers had stronger preferences for the practices of using organic instead of chemical fertilizers and of improving irrigation practices. In addition, while cash crop farmers also had strong preferences for cover crop-related practices, they preferred long-term fallows least. Household income, livestock, and precipitation influence the potential perceived importance of SAPs. The different perceived importance of these practices suggests new possible combinations or packages for a sustainable agriculture program during the cropping structure adjustment in Gansu.

Planting green manure in fallow croplands in winter can bring various economic and environmental benefits, including increased food production, carbon capture and sequestration, soil retention, sandstorm prevention, water retention, and provision of habitat for biodiversity. However, the increased production cost of planting green manure reduces farmers&rsquo, willingness to adopt this approach, which is unfavorable for its sustainability. This research aims to investigate the influence of instrumental variables on farmers&rsquo, perceptions of sustainable agriculture practices, especially the use of rotation fallow, and tries to understand the relationship between farmers&rsquo, perceptions of using rotation fallow and planting green manure under incentive measures adopted by local authorities in Guangxi Province, China. Using simultaneous equation models, the results show that subsidies and planting training were the most important drivers for restoring green manure planting in the target region. These incentive measures could be further enhanced as a priority to restore green manure planting. The study also finds that socioeconomic factors such as farmer&rsquo, s income, area of farmland, and labor for agricultural production have a certain influence on planting green manure planting and on farmers&rsquo, perceptions of using rotation fallow as a form of sustainable agriculture practice.