Abstract:

The prevention and control of agricultural waste pollution is effective to protect and improve the ecological environment of agriculture and promote the sustainable development of agriculture，which has been written into the Agoecological Environment Protection Ordinance in a number of provinces (cities, districts). In spite of our increased knowledge on it, only limited information is available about empirical studies. In view of this, we attempt to add some information to this field, making up the vacancies. Specifically, the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) model was applied, using the microeconomic survey data in the rural areas of Wuhan and Suizhou, Hubei Province from July to August, 2012, to analyze farmers willingness to pay for the prevention and control of agricultural waste pollution and its influencing factors, and the nonmarket value was then estimated with the application of Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). The results are as follows.(1) Despite relative low degree of ecological environment cognition, farmers show more positive attitude towards to prevention and control of agricultural waste pollution. 792 percent of the respondents farmers have never heard of “circular economy” and 876 percent of them have no idea of “cleaner production”, while 853 percent of the respondents farmers hold a point of view that the prevention and control of agricultural waste pollution is conducive to human health. (2) There exist positive externalities in the prevention and control of agricultural waste pollution, which is an objective reality, and farmers have their higher demands for it. 685 percent of the respondents were willing to pay the ecological benefits brought by the prevention and control of agricultural waste pollution. There were 252 farmers willing to pay for it, the amount of whose monthly expenditure on it was mainly concentrated in two grades, less than 10 Yuan and 11 to 20 Yuan. (3) The prevention and control of agricultural waste pollution contained great nonmarket value. For instance, farmers annual average willingness to pay for it was 13008 Yuan to 18984 Yuan per household per year, the total present value of which was 139 to 204 billion Yuan, equivalent to 033~048 percent of the total value of agricultural production of Hubei Province in the year of 2011. (4) The determinants of farmers willingness to pay included mainly farmers behavior and attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and the annual net income of the family. In the four influencing factors mentioned above, farmers behavior and attitude and the annual net income of the family had maximum impacts on farmers willingness to pay, while subjective norms and perceived behavioral control had similar impacts. In conclusion, we got the following policy implications. (1) Strengthen the guiding role of media in public opinions to enhance farmers value recognition of the prevention and control of agricultural waste pollution. (2) Enhance the leading role model of local government so as to improve farmers willingness to pay for it. (3) Develop proper ecological compensation policies for the prevention and control of agricultural waste pollution based on the level of local economic development and local conditions