The Impact of Information Acquisition Channels and Risk Preferences on Farmers’ Chemical Pesticide Reduction Behavior

Farmers, as the primary decision makers in agricultural production, are crucial to ensuring food safety and ecological security through chemical pesticide reduction, thereby contributing to agricultural sustainability. While existing research has acknowledged the influence of information factors on farmers’ pesticide reduction behavior, there remains a lack of comprehensive consideration of multiple information acquisition channels. The differential impacts and underlying mechanisms among these channels require further exploration. This study focuses on cash crops with higher chemical pesticide usage, utilizing field survey data from 573 peach farmers across seven province-level regions (including provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities) in China in 2023 to assess the impact of information acquisition channels on farmers’ chemical pesticide reduction behavior. The results indicate the following: (1) Information acquisition channels significantly promote farmers’ implementation of chemical pesticide reduction behavior. (2) Information acquisition channels encourage the adoption of agricultural and biological control technologies, but have no significant impact on physical control technologies. (3) Information acquisition channels have a more substantial impact on older farmers and those in the eastern-central regions compared to other demographic groups. (4) Information acquisition channels alter farmers’ risk preferences, thereby facilitating chemical pesticide reduction behavior. Based on the above conclusions, government agencies should diversify information acquisition channels and enhance the dissemination of information related to chemical pesticide reduction. Furthermore, given the characteristics of different green control technologies, government agencies should select appropriate information acquisition channels to conduct targeted promotion and outreach to farmers.