The Impact of Training on Beef Cattle Farmers’ Installation of Biogas Digesters

Anaerobic digestion is one of the leading ways to manage livestock manure for energy production and move towards the target of carbon neutrality in the agricultural sector. Based on field survey data from China, a binary probit model and the propensity score matching method are employed to empirical...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Energies (Basel) 2022-05, Vol.15 (9), p.3039
Main Authors: Li, Qian, Wang, Jingjing, Wang, Xiaoyang, Wang, Yubin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriculture
Alternative energy sources
Anaerobic digestion
Animal manures
Beef
Beef cattle
Biogas
biogas digesters
Cattle
Climate change
Cooperation
Cost benefit analysis
Dairy cattle
Digesters
Educational technology
Farmers
Farming
Farms
Feasibility studies
Greenhouse gases
Livestock
Livestock farming
manure management
Manures
Poultry
Refuse as fuel
Statistical analysis
Subsidies
Sustainable agriculture
Training
Urban agriculture
Urban areas
Urban environments
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Summary:Anaerobic digestion is one of the leading ways to manage livestock manure for energy production and move towards the target of carbon neutrality in the agricultural sector. Based on field survey data from China, a binary probit model and the propensity score matching method are employed to empirically examine the impact of agricultural training on livestock farmers’ installation of biogas digesters to manage livestock manure. The survey results show that beef cattle farmers in our study area are reluctant to install biogas digesters and the actual installation ratio of farmers is much lower than that that is willing to install. On the contrary, the beef cattle farmers are enthusiastic to participate in training (e.g., policy-oriented, technology-oriented, and field-based) related to sustainable farming practices. Regression results suggest that training can effectively promote the installation of biogas digesters, and with the increase of training intensity, the probability to install biogas digesters increases. We further find three other factors that affect farmers’ installation of biogas digesters: the education level of a farmer, which is one of the most important factors positively affecting the installation of biogas digesters; longer farming experience of a farmer, which can significantly promote biogas digester installation; and the farther away a farm is from town/urban centers, which means the more likely it is that the farmer will install biogas digesters. Policy implications are discussed.
ISSN:1996-1073
1996-1073
DOI:10.3390/en15093039