Abstract
We have investigated manure management practices at three farm scales in Chinese pig and poultry production. The concept of ecological rationality was employed to explore empirically how environmental concerns drive adoption of environmental-friendly manure management technologies at different farm scales. The more developed Rudong County in Jiangsu Province and the less developed Zhongjiang County in Sichuan Province were chosen as cases for study of 258 animal breeders. On the contrary to our hypothesis, medium-scale farmers were not always found to be laggards in adoption of manure management technologies. Government ecological rationality played a key role to induce environmental-friendly technology adoption on its own, but also in cooperation with ecologically rational individual or network drivers. Authorities no longer applied their efforts in a conventional command-and-control way, but more in the form of incentives, stimulation, and information to farmers. Individual farmers in general showed low environmental responsibility in relation to manure handling.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Notes
Progressive pricing: the more electricity or water is used, the higher the price will be per unit.
References
Bearden, W.O., S.E. Calcich, R. Netemeyer, and J.E. Teel. 1986. An exploratory investigation of consumer innovativeness and interpersonal influences. Advances in Consumer Research 13: 77–82.
Bluemling, B., and C.S. Hu. 2011. Vertical and system integration instead of integrated water management? Measures for mitigating NPSP in rural China. Groundwater Conference 2011, 269–277.
Burton, C.H., and C. Turner. 2003. Manure management: Treatment strategies for sustainable agriculture. Silsoe: Silsoe Research Institute.
Cederberg, C., and A. Flysjö. 2004. Environmental Assessment of Future Pig Farming Systems—Quantifications of Three Scenarios from the FOOD 21 Synthesis Work. The Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology, Gothenburg, 39 pp. Retrieved 10 November, 2012, fromhttp://www.vaxteko.nu/html/sll/institutet_livsm_bioteknik/sik-rapport/SIK723/SIK723.PDF.
Chen, X., M. Nils Peterson, V. Hull, C. Lu, D. Hong, and J. Liu. 2013. How perceived exposure to environmental harm influences environmental behavior in urban China. AMBIO 42: 52–60.
De Souza Filho, H.M., T. Young, and M.P. Burton. 1999. Factors influencing the adoption of sustainable agricultural technologies: Evidence from the State of Espírito Santo, Brazil. Technological Forecasting and Social Change 60: 97–112.
Edin, M. 2003. Local state corporatism and private business. Journal of Peasant Studies 30: 278–295.
Engle, P.G.H. 1995. Facilitating innovation: An action-oriented approach and participatory methodology to improve innovative social practice in agriculture. PhD Thesis. Wageningen, Netherlands: Wageningen University.
Fuglie, K.O., and C.A. Kascak. 2001. Adoption and diffusion of natural-resource-conserving agricultural technology. Review of Agricultural Economics 23: 386–403.
Gao, C., and T. Zhang. 2010. Eutrophication in Chinese context: Understanding various physical and socio-economic aspects. AMBIO 39: 385–393.
Giller, K.E., G. Cadisch, and C. Palm. 2002. The North-South divide! Organic wastes, or resources for nutrient management? Agronomie 22: 703–709.
Goldstein, M., and C. Udry. 1999. Agricultural innovation and resource management in Ghana. Yale University, Final Report to IFPRI under MP17, New Haven, USA.
He, G.Z., Y.L. Lu, A.P.J. Mol, and T. Beckers. 2012. Changes and challenges of China’s environmental management. Environmental Development 3: 25–38.
He, G.Z., B. Bluemling, A.P.J. Mol, L. Zhang, P. Wang, and Y. Lu. 2013. Comparing centralized and decentralized biomass-to-energy systems: The case of Shandong Province, China. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2013.06.019.
Karahanna, E., D.W. Straub, and N.L. Chervany. 1999. Information technology adoption across time: A cross-sectional comparison of pre-adoption and post-adoption beliefs. MIS Quarterly 23: 183–213.
Kellogg, R.L., C.H. Lander, D.C. Moffitt, and N. Gollehon. 2000. Manure nutrients relative to the capacity of cropland and pastureland to assimilate nutrients: Spatial and temporal trends for the United States. In Proceedings of the Water Environment Federation 2000, vol. 16, 18–157.
Le, Y., S. Hollenhorst, C. Harris, W. McLaughlin, and S. Shook. 2006. Environmental management: A study of Vietnamese hotels. Annals of Tourism Research 33: 545–567.
Li, J. 2008. Production structure adjustment of animal husbandry based on animal product consumption. Master Thesis. Beijing, China: Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (in Chinese).
Li, P.J. 2009. Exponential growth, animal welfare, environmental and food safety impact: The case of China’s livestock production. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 22: 217–240.
Li, Y., Z. Xue, and H. Yang. 2007. The new characteristics and problems of livestock husbandry development in China. Journal of Shanxi Agriculture Science 4: 119–121 (in Chinese).
Li, X., Q. Yuan, L. Wan, and F. He. 2008. Perspectives on livestock production systems in China. The Rangeland Journal 30: 211–220.
Liang, D., and A.P.J. Mol. 2013. Political modernization in China’s forest governance? Payment schemes for forest ecological services in Liaoning. Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning 15: 65–88.
Maguire, R.O., G.H. Rubaek, B.E. Haggard, and B.H. Foy. 2009. Critical evaluation of the implementation of mitigation options for phosphorus from field to catchment scales. Journal of Environmental Quality 38: 1989–1997.
MoEP (Ministry of Environmental Protection of People’s Republic of China). 2010. The Report of China Pollution Resource Census. Beijing, China (in Chinese).
Mol, A.P.J. 1999. Ecological modernization and the environmental transition of Europe: Between national variations and common denominators. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning 1: 167–181.
Mol, A.P.J., and G. Spaargaren. 2000. Ecological modernisation theory in debate: A review. Environmental Politics 9: 17–49.
Ogink, N.W.M., H.C. Willers, A.J.A. Aarnink, and I.H.G. Satter. 2000. Development of a new pig production system with integrated solutions for emission control, manure treatment and animal welfare demands. In Swine Housing, Proceeding of First International Conference of American Society of Agricultural Engineers, 9–11. Des Moines, Iowa, USA.
Petersen, S.O., S.G. Sommer, F. Beline, C. Burton, J. Dach, J.Y. Dourmad, A. Leip, T. Misselbrook, et al. 2007. Recycling of livestock manure in a whole-farm perspective. Livestock Science 112: 180–191.
Pitt, M.M., and G. Sumodiningrat. 1991. Risk, schooling and the choice of seed technology in developing countries: A meta-profit function approach. International Economic Review 32: 457–473.
Qi, X., J. Cui, and C. Zhao. 2008. The theory and practice of new rural reconstruction in China. Beijing: Economic Science Press.
Rogers, E.M. 2003. Diffusion of innovations, 5th ed. New York: Free Press.
Shen, G., and Y. Shi. 2008. An Strategic Research of Regional Agricultural Sustainable development in China: The integrated report. Beijing, China: China Agriculture Press (in Chinese).
Wang, C., Y. Yang, and Y. Zhang. 2011. Economic development, rural livelihoods, and ecological restoration: Evidence from China. AMBIO 40: 78–87.
Welsh, R., and R. Rivers. 2011. Environmental management strategies in agriculture. Agriculture and Human Values 28: 297–302.
Woodhouse, P. 2010. Beyond industrial agriculture? Some questions about farm size, productivity and sustainability. Journal of Agrarian Change 10: 437–453.
Zaks, D.P.M., N. Winchester, C.J. Kucharik, C.C. Barford, S. Paltsev, and J.M. Reilly. 2011. Contribution of anaerobic digesters to emissions mitigation and electricity generation under U.S. climate policy. Environmental Science and Technology 45: 6735–6742.
Zhong, L.J., and A.P.J. Mol. 2008. Participatory environmental governance in China: Public hearings on urban water tariff setting. Journal of Environmental Management 88: 899–913.
Acknowledgments
This research was carried out with the support of the research project SURE (SUstainable Natural REsource Use in Rural China, http://sure.ernasia.org/), which is funded by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Grant 08-PSA-E-02, as well as the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MST), Grant 2009BAC62B01. The authors also thank for Dai Weiwei from Rudong County, Deyang Environmental Protection Bureau, and Zhongjiang County Environmental Protection Bureau for the support on farm household interviews and data collection. The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zheng, C., Bluemling, B., Liu, Y. et al. Managing Manure from China’s Pigs and Poultry: The Influence of Ecological Rationality. AMBIO 43, 661–672 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-013-0438-y
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-013-0438-y