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. 2025 Aug 23;15(1):31044.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-09181-x.

The role of cooperative membership in promoting agricultural green production technologies among rice farmers in rural China

Chao Chen  1 , Ruohan Peng  2 , Feng Ye  3   4 , Wenmei Liao  5   6   7
Affiliations

The role of cooperative membership in promoting agricultural green production technologies among rice farmers in rural China

Chao Chen et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Adopting agricultural green production technologies (AGPTs) is crucial for enhancing agricultural sustainability. This study draws on data from 1281 rice farmers in Jiangxi Province, China, surveyed in 2023. Using multivariate ordered probit models and mediated effects models, it examines whether cooperative membership affects the utilization of AGPTs. The findings reveal that the means of sample farmers' adoption of AGPTs and cooperative membership are 0.764 and 0.234, respectively, indicating that the adoption rate of AGPTs and the cooperative participation rate among farmers are relatively low. Cooperative membership, along with services such as land transfer, agricultural input procurement, production technology, and product marketing, significantly promotes the use of AGPTs. Specifically, cooperative membership encourages the adoption of organic fertilizers, soil-formula fertilizers, water-fertilizer integration, and green pest control technologies. However, it has no significant influence on the uptake of water-saving irrigation technologies. The impact of cooperative membership is powerful among farmers with lower educational attainment and in villages with higher economic levels. Additionally, cooperative membership enhances the application of AGPTs by improving farmers' environmental awareness, risk attitude, operational scale, and credit accessibility. Therefore, the government should encourage farmers to actively adopt AGPTs through measures such as supporting the development of cooperatives and improving the quality of their services.

Keywords: Agricultural green production technologies; Cooperative membership; Mediating effect; Rice cultivation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethical approval: All methods were carried out in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. All experimental protocols were approved by the Jiangxi Agricultural University. Informed consent was obtained from all subjects and/or their legal guardian(s).

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Theoretical analysis framework.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Study area. The map was drawn by the author using ArcMap 10.8 software (URL: https://www.arcgis.com/home/index.html).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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