Impact of media channels and social interactions on the adoption of straw return by Chinese farmers.

Burning crop straws in open fields presents a major threat to the environment in China. To mitigate this problem, numerous methods have been applied. Straw return provides an environmentally friendly and economically sustainable solution to this problem. However, straw return is not popular among Chinese farmers despite the government support for this practice. In this article, the effect of major information sources-media channels and social interactions-on the adoption of straw return. Specifically the interaction between these two information sources is evaluated using survey data from provinces of Hebei, Hubei and Anhui. The main finding is that receiving information from either source increases the probability that a farmer voluntarily adopts the practice of straw return and that the two information sources reinforce each other in promoting the adoption of straw return.