(1) Background: Rare empirical evidence has been explored concerning the ways in which training affects farmers’ adoption of resource conservation technology in agricultural production. This study attempts to analyze the role of three factors, including farmers’ absorptive capacity, social interaction and active learning, in bridging agricultural training and farmers’ adoption of the drip fertigation system (DFS), based on the primary data of 632 banana farmers collected in China. (2) Methods: A mediation model is used to estimate the role of farmers’ absorptive capacity, social interaction and active learning in the relationship between agricultural training and farmers’ adoption of the DFS. A treatment effect model (TEM) is employed to address the potential endogeneity problem. (3) Results: The results show that agricultural training has significantly increased farmers’ adoption of the DFS in banana cultivation. The mediating effect of the three factors appears statistically significant. Specifically, farmers’ active learning contributes to the effect of agricultural training on encouraging their adoption of the DFS by around 60 percent; farmers’ absorptive capacity and social interaction contribute about 30 and 10 percent, respectively. This study also find that agricultural training can increase farmers’ adoption rate of the DFS by 18.75 percent after the endogeneity problem has been addressed using the treatment effect model (TEM). (4) Conclusions: The findings suggest that agricultural training can promote farmers’ adoption of the DFS through improving their absorptive capacity, social interaction and active learning. Understating these mediating factors will enable extension agency to design effective agricultural training programs and better promote resource-conservation technologies in developing countries.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of climate information intervention on farmers' tendency to adopt climate adaptation strategies in agricultural production. Design/methodology/approach: A randomized controlled trial is used to conduct two types of climate information interventions through short-form videos, and then data from farmers in the control and treatment groups are collected. The negative binomial regression model is employed to analyze the impact of climate information intervention on farmers' adoption willingness of climate adaptation strategies. The mediating effect model is applied to further detect the mediating role of farmers' cognition between climate information intervention and farmers' adoption willingness. Findings: The results show that: (1) The average adoption willingness intensity in treatment group CII (crop-specific information intervention) is 29.48% higher than that in the control group. For treatment group GII (general information intervention), the average adoption willingness is 27.94% higher than that of the control group. (2) Two types of climate information interventions significantly influenced farmers' willingness to adopt climate adaptation strategies. In particular, the incidence rate ratio (IRR) of CII group indicates that farmers receiving CII showed a 55.3% higher adoption willingness compared to those who did not receive interventions. Similarly, the IRR of GII group suggests that farmers exposed to the GII had a 53.7% higher adoption willingness than those who did not receive interventions. (3) Climate cognition plays an important mediating role between information interventions and farmers' adoption willingness of climate adaptation strategies. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study first attempts to conduct two types of climate information interventions (CII and GII) using emerging short-form videos, which are more acceptable to smallholder farmers. This study also provides new evidence to reveal how climate information intervention affects farmers' adoption willingness of climate adaptation strategies.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to unveil the role of short-form video platforms (SVPs) in changing the dietary quality of rural households, based on the primary data collected from rural households in China. Design/methodology/approach: The Poisson regression with endogenous treatment effects and linear regression with endogenous treatment effects models are used to estimate the impact of SVP usage on the dietary quality and food intake of rural households, respectively. The quantile regression model is applied to evaluate the effect of SVP usage on the distribution of household dietary quality. The mediation model is employed to explore the mediating role of knowledge acquisition between SVP usage and the diet quality distance (DQD) of rural households. Findings: The results reveal that (1) SVP usage decreases the DQD and low bound score of rural households by 6.5 and 9.067, respectively, while increasing the high bound score of rural households by 8.359. Specifically, SVP usage increases the consumption of cereals and tubers, vegetables and dairy products and decreases the consumption of cooking oil. (2) SVP usage decreases the DQD of households by enhancing diet-related knowledge acquisition. (3) SVP usage decreases the DQD of households by 9.305 among lower-income households. SVP usage decreases the DQD of households with more members by 5.999 and those with fewer members by 4.248. Practical implications: Policymakers can be aware of the benefits of SVPs in improving the dietary balance level of rural households, thereby encouraging content creators to share diet-related knowledge among rural residents through SVPs. Originality/value: This study bridges the empirical gap by examining how SVP usage influences household dietary quality and identifies knowledge acquisition as a key mediator in the pathway through which SVP usage affects the DQD of rural households.