An increasing amount of pesticide input is posing a serious threat to the environment and public health. However, the quantitative analysis of the impact of agricultural mechanization services (AMS) on reducing pesticide input is not yet clear. In this study, the impact of AMS on pesticide input was estimated by using the Chinese Family Database and the endogenous switching regression model. Subsequently, testing the robustness of the model using the substitution variable method. The impact of AMS on different types of pesticides and the influence of farmers' choices of AMS on pesticide input under different terrain conditions and farm sizes were analyzed as well. The results demonstrate that AMS has a significant and negative impact on pesticide input, reducing pesticide expenditures by 56.08% for farmers who adopt AMS. For farmers who do not adopt AMS, adopting such services is assumed to reduce pesticide input by 14.97%. AMS can also reduce the use of insecticides and herbicides by over 54%. Compared to mountainous and hilly areas, AMS in plain areas increase the effectiveness of pesticide input reduction by 30.40%. Furthermore, small-scale farmers who adopt AMS can increase pesticide input reduction by 90 yuan/mu compared with large-scale farmers. Therefore, promoting the development of socialized AMS, strengthening AMS in mountainous and hilly areas, and expanding the scale of operation for small-scale farmers can help improve the effectiveness of pesticide input reduction. The results of this study can inform the development of strategies to reduce chemical pesticide use in agricultural soil.

The extension and diffusion of the green production mode in rural areas forms the micro basis for improve the ecological environment. While government has issued a series of policies to promote the green production mode, the effect depends on farmers’ behavior. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the causes and mechanisms underlying the influence of farmers’ behavior differences with regard to biopesticide application. Based on 1202 sampled rice farmers in China, this paper analyzes the impact of social network on their biological pesticide application behavior. Furthermore, the internal transmission mechanism of social network on biological pesticide application behavior of “ration-making” farmers (whose main purpose is to meet the demand for rations) and “profit-making” famers (whose main goal is to maximize their profit) is studied according to different production purposes. The results show that: 1) Social network has a significant positive role in promoting rice farmers’ biological pesticide application behavior. 2) Social network encourages rice farmers to apply biological pesticides by influencing both their behavioral attitude and behavioral efficacy toward green production. 3) The intermediary effect of behavioral efficacy exceeds that of behavioral attitude. 4) Compared with “profit-making” farmers, the biological pesticides application of “ration-making” farmers is stronger affected by their social network. Operation mode, operation scale, and educational level positively affect the pesticide application behavior of “profit-making” farmers, while age imposes a significantly negative influence. Biopesticide application of “ration-making” farmers is negatively affected by age and education level and positively affected by the mode of operation. 5) The behavioral attitude and behavioral efficacy of green production exert significant mediating effects on both types of farmers. Moreover, both intermediary variables exert stronger impacts on “profit-making” farmers. To a certain extent, this study expands the theoretical explanation of the “rational man” in neoclassical economics, and provides reliable evidence, both theoretical and empirical, for effective measures to stimulate green production in rice farmers.

Using data from southwest China to investigate the marketization of land rentals, we find no difference in land rents for different types of transaction partners after accounting for endogeneity, even though relation-oriented rental transactions are popular in less-developed regions. Further analysis shows that oral contracts are more common in land rentals between kins or between farm households within the village. After excluding rent-free transactions, the land rents between kins are 677.143 yuan/mu per year on average. Our findings imply that both blood relation and regional relation do not impair the functioning of the market in today’s China.

This study investigates the impact of China’s construction of high-standard farmland (CHSF) initiatives on grain productivity, focusing on total factor productivity growth of grain (TFPG) from 2000 to 2021. Using a continuous Difference-in-Differences (DID) approach based on balanced panel data from 31 Chinese provinces, this paper identifies significant productivity improvements, with TFPG increasing by an average of 7% post-implementation of CHSF. However, the effects are not uniform across regions—productivity gains are more pronounced in non-major grain-producing and plain areas, emphasizing the role of region-specific infrastructure and adaptive strategies. These findings provide empirical evidence on how large-scale farmland improvement enhances productivity through mechanization and better land use. However, the reliance on provincial-level data may result in localized variations in CHSF implementation being overlooked, suggesting the need for further micro-level analysis. Overall, this study highlights the importance of tailored agricultural policies to enhance their effectiveness and promote agricultural sustainability in China and other developing economies.

In smallholder-dominated agricultural systems, farm expansion is often expected to improve agricultural performance, yet a larger operated area does not necessarily translate into higher returns per unit of land. This issue is particularly relevant in rice farming, where land fragmentation, labor constraints, and uneven access to agricultural services may limit the return-enhancing effect of farm-scale management (FSM). Using 2024 household survey data from 732 rice-farming households in Jiangxi Province, China, this study examines how FSM, service-scale management (SSM), and their organizational matching affect rice-farming returns (RFR). We apply ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models with interaction-term specifications and further conduct mechanism, moderation, and heterogeneity analyses. The results show that FSM alone does not automatically increase per-mu net operating returns, whereas SSM is positively associated with RFR. More importantly, the interaction between FSM and SSM is significantly positive, indicating that farm expansion generates return advantages mainly when supported by agricultural socialized services. Mechanism analysis suggests that this synergistic effect operates partly through higher land consolidation (LC) and more formalized service contractualization (SC), while smart agricultural technology (SAT) further strengthens the return-enhancing effect. Heterogeneity analysis further shows that the effect differs across farmers with different operating scales. These findings suggest that smallholder modernization should not be understood as land expansion alone but as the organizational matching between farm scale and the service-based division of labor. Policy efforts should therefore aim to improve agricultural socialized service systems, promote land consolidation, strengthen service contracts, and integrate smart agricultural technologies into service provision.