How does high-standard farmland construction influence farmers’ green production behaviors? With a discussion on the synergistic effect of land tenure stability

Abstract

As a key component of China’s the strategy to “store grain in the land and in technology,” high-standard farmland construction (HSFC) provides an important pathway to promote farmers’ green production and enhance national food security by improving agricultural production conditions. Using survey data from 1,400 farmers in Jiangxi Province, China, this study employs an instrumental variables approach to examine the impact of HSFC on farmers’ GPBs and the underlying mechanisms. The results indicate that: (1) HSFC significantly enhances farmers’ GPBs. (2) Mechanism analysis shows that HSFC primarily promotes farmers’ GPBs by expanding plot size, increasing operational scale of farmland, and fostering the development of agricultural socialized services. Meanwhile, land tenure stability serves as an important institutional safeguard for realizing the green effect of HSFC and helps stabilize farmers’ long-term investment expectations. (3) Heterogeneity analysis shows that the green-promoting effect of HSFC is broad-based, with no clear evidence of systematic selectivity across farmer groups or village regions. Based on these findings, it is recommended to advance HSFC in a scientific and comprehensive manner, strengthen supporting safeguards for the land tenure system, and emphasize the positive role of expanded farmland scale and agricultural socialized services in facilitating the green transformation of agriculture.