Summary
This study uses propensity score matching on survey data from 404 households in Yulin, Shaanxi to quantify the causal effect of government support on water-saving irrigation adoption whilst accounting for farmers' pro-environmental intentions. Government support increased adoption probability by 29.0–30.7 percentage points overall, but had markedly stronger effects (40.5%) among farmers with weaker pro-environmental intentions, suggesting that targeted subsidies may be most effective when coupled with intention-matching policy design.
Regional applicability
The findings are based on Chinese agricultural conditions and policy contexts and may have limited direct transferability to United Kingdom farming. However, the methodological approach and policy insight—that subsidy efficacy varies by baseline environmental motivation—could inform UK agri-environment scheme design and targeting.
Key measures
Adoption probability of water-saving irrigation techniques; percentage point increases in adoption; differential effects stratified by pro-environmental intention level (weak vs. strong); entropy weight method for intention scoring
Outcomes reported
The study examined the impact of government support and farmers' pro-environmental intentions on adoption of water-saving irrigation techniques using propensity score matching to control for confounding. Adoption rates, probability increases, and differential effects by environmental intention level were measured.
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