Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 839: Factors Influencing Farmer Willingness to Fallow Winter Wheat and Ecological Compensation Standards in a Groundwater Funnel Area in Hengshui, Hebei Province, China (Sustainability)

Land use/land cover change will have a certain impact on the regional ecological environment. This study uses the questionnaire survey method, an opportunity cost method and a logistic model to evaluate the suitability of an ecological compensation standard for a winter- wheat-fallow cropping system in a groundwater funnel area in Hebei. The main factors affecting farmers` willingness to fallow fields provide a theoretical basis for scientifically and rationally developing a rotation policy in the groundwater funnel area. The results indicate the following: (1) nearly 87% of the surveyed farmers would accept a winter-wheat-fallow policy, whereas 13% would not; (2) farmer educational level, the total number of participants in the agricultural labor force, dependency rate, farmers` attitudes toward a winter wheat-fallow policy in the groundwater funnel area and the farmer level of trust in government policy have significant positive effects farmer intention to fallow, whereas the number of days of participation in farming, the cultivated land quality and the per capita area of cultivated land have a significant negative effect on farmers` fallowing intentions; (3) considering only the impact of winter wheat on groundwater, the proposed compensation standard for farmers who accept the policy is 0.00095 $/hm2; (4) some policy implications are put forward to improve the effectiveness of the winter wheat fallowing policy in the groundwater funnel.