Study on farmers' willingness to pay for water saving irrigation technology and its influencing factors <b>–</b> Based on the choice experiment of Zhangye city, Gansu province in China

ABSTRACT This study aims to scientifically measure farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for water-saving irrigation technology in arid and semi-arid areas of Northwest China. Using Zhangye, a pilot city for water-saving construction in Gansu Province, as an example, the study uses the Choice Experiment (CE) methodology to evaluate the WTP for various attributes of water-saving irrigation technology. The results indicate that the average WTP for water-saving irrigation technology is 1.07 CNY/kg. Specifically, the WTP for water and fertilizer conservation attribute is 3.89 CNY/kg, for crop quality attribute is 5.34 CNY/kg, and for labor intensity attribute is −15.76 CNY/kg. Furthermore, the WTP increases with larger planting areas, greater planting experience, higher ecological cognition levels, and higher planting costs. These findings highlight the importance of understanding farmers’ payment expectations to inform government subsidy standards and the market pricing of water-saving irrigation technology.