Analysis of carbon dioxide emissions, energy consumption, and economic growth in China | Abrham Tezera Gessesse, Ge He | Agricultural Journals

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of media and social network in the development of farmers land consolidation (LC) awareness, perception and adaptation intention decisions. Design/methodology/approach: A face-to-face interview was carried out with randomly selected farmers from three districts (Neijiang, Ya’an and Dujiangyan) of Sichuan province, China. A structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was used to test the conceptual framework of this study. The SEM was set to confirmatory factor analysis of the measurement and structural models for maximum likelihood estimate by means of IBM-AMOS to capture the models goodness-of-fit. Findings: The result indicates that social network contributes a significant role in the development of farmers LC awareness, perception and adaptation intention decisions than media. The total (direct and indirect) effect of social network and media toward the farmers LC adaptation intention is 56.7 and 14 percent, respectively. When farmers are aware and perceived of LC and rehabilitation program, their adaptation intention improves significantly. Therefore, social network is a useful tool in improving the awareness, perception and adaptation intention decisions of Sichuan farmers compared to media. Originality/value: This study tests the applicability of SEM techniques to understand the farmers LC adaptation intentions; and synthesizes the impact of social network and media in the development of the farmers LC awareness, perception as well as adaptation intentions. This study serves as an outline for assessing the adaptation intention of farmers toward sustainable land management.

Among other cultivated crops, rice is the most sensitive to climate variability over its growing season. As such, over-reliance on climate conditions for rice farming calls for a wide range of strategies critical to curtailing the adverse impact of climate change on rice production. Notwithstanding, there remain considerable gaps in our knowledge of adaptive capacities among China’s small-scale farmers who depend on climate conditions for farming. This study is broadly divided into two parts that are distinct but connected. First, we assess the effects of climate change on rice production in Chengdu (China), covering the period 2000Q1-2016Q4. We show that mean rainfall and temperature induce rice production positively in the long and short run. While temperature variability insignificantly impacts rice production in the long run, it plays a substantial role in the short run. Rainfall variability and the interaction term between temperature and precipitation are unfavourable to rice production in the long and short run. The results reveal that energy usage and fertilizer application support rice production, although the impact of energy consumption is significant in the short run. Second, we used a survey of 383 smallholder rice growers in Chengdu to examine farmers’ adaptive capacities to climate change in rice production. The results show that farmers’ adaptive capabilities significantly affect rice production. We argue that the centrepiece of improving rice production under continuous climate change is for farmers to develop a high adaptive capacity to the changing climatic conditions. This is achieved through intensive education on available adaptation strategies and their long-term implications.