The Real Impact of Digital Agricultural Technology Extension on Pesticide Reduction Behavior Among Wheat Farmers in Henan, China

In the context of sustainable development, the behavior of reducing pesticide use in the agricultural sector is crucial for environmental protection and ecological balance. However, there are two divergent views on whether digital agricultural technology extension can promote farmers’ behavior in reducing pesticide use: one is supportive, and the other is doubtful. Based on interviews with 20 typical wheat growers in Henan, this paper re-examines this issue. The results show that the extension of digital agricultural technology has no significant impact on the pesticide reduction behavior of wheat growers. This paper further employs fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to explore the mechanisms influencing pesticide reduction behavior among wheat growers. The findings indicate that digital agricultural technology extension can only enhance growers’ ecological value cognition, but the ecological value cognition of pesticide reduction does not significantly promote the pesticide reduction behavior of wheat growers. Instead, rational economic value cognition plays a dominant role in promoting this behavior, with resource endowment serving as a supplementary factor. Therefore, this paper suggests integrating the characteristics of farmers’ resource endowment, fully leveraging the productive functions of digital agricultural technology extension, and focusing on enhancing farmers’ rational economic value cognition of pesticide reduction to further promote the application of pesticide reduction among farmers and provide strong support for sustainable agricultural development.