The impact of high-standard farmland construction on fertilizer reduction among farmers from a triple-scale perspective

Reducing chemical fertilizer use is indispensable for maintaining global food security and promoting sustainable agricultural development. Some scholars have used meso- and macro-level data to confirm that the construction of high-standard farmland can reduce fertilizer use through scale effects. However, they have not fully discussed the triple farmland scale economy effects of high-standard farmland construction on fertilizer reduction. Based on this, this paper utilizes micro-survey data from 1029 rice farmers and adopts a triple-scale analysis perspective to systematically explore the effects of high-standard farmland construction on fertilizer reduction. The study results show that: (1) The construction of high-standard farmlands significantly promotes farmers' fertilizer reduction. Operating high-standard farmland can increase the probability of fertilizer reduction by farmers by 14.90 percentage points. (2) Mechanism analysis reveals that high-standard farmland construction can boost fertilizer reduction among farmers by promoting triple scales (operational scale, plot scale, and contiguous plot scale). Among these, expanding plot scale and contiguous plot scale has a relatively greater impact on farmers' fertilizer reduction. (3) Heterogeneity analysis finds that high-standard farmland construction has a stronger promoting effect on fertilizer reduction among farmers in hilly and mountainous areas and among large-scale farm operators. Therefore, in order to ensure the sustainability of fertilizer reduction, the following recommendations are proposed. First, the government should continue to promote the construction of high-standard farmland and place greater emphasis on construction projects related to concentrated and contiguous operations. Second, the land transfer market should be improved to promote moderately scaled land management. Finally, the rights and interests of small farmers in agricultural operations should be fully protected.