Effects of technological information sources on farmers’ pest control behaviors

Pest control is one of the most necessary links in rice production. Scientific and correct technological information has played an important role in improving farmers’ pest control capability and ensuring the national grain security. Based on a survey data of 963 rice farmers in 3 provinces in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River basin, this study analyzed the current situation of pest occurrence and farmers’ pest control behaviors by the Probit and Tobit models and discussed the effects of different technological information sources on farmers’ pest control behaviors. Results show that there were total of 10 003 observations regarding pest occurrence for rice farmers, of which only 34.29% of them were controlled by farmers at the pest observation level. In addition, the average pest control rate per farmer is only 35.20% at the farm level. A diversified rural social service system has been gradually established in China. In addition to personal experience, agricultural extension agents and pesticide retailers are the main technological information sources for farmers. Compared with that from pesticide retailers, technological information from agricultural extension agents has significantly positive effect on the probability and the rate of pest control. However, the technological service effects of agricultural extension agents have not reached a consistent level in the control of different types of pests. Therefore, the government should establish a monitoring system for pests, deepen the reform of the agricultural extension system, strengthen technological guidance and training for pesticide retailers, and encourage the development of commercial service systems for the pest control such as specialized and unified prevention.