Incentivizing smallholder farmers' green production behaviors with nudges: an experimental survey study in Heping Town, China

Introduction Green agricultural development has become a key activity in global sustainable transformation. The Chinese government has actively promoted the transition to green agricultural production through diversified policies. However, the main target group of these policies is smallholder farmers, who have an “intention-behavior gap” in adopting sustainable practices due to their bounded rationality characteristics. Methods Based on the theory of farmer behavior and nudge theory, this study focuses on the micro production behavior of smallholder farmers from the perspective of policy compliance. Two experimental surveys are administered in the Guangxi Heping Town Pueraria thomsonii (a common plant) planting area in China to investigate the internal mechanisms guiding decision-making related to smallholder farmers' green production behaviors, given specific behavioral constraints. The experiments explore the role of nudge strategies on the green production behavior of smallholder farmers. Results The results show that both dynamic and static descriptive norms promote smallholder farmers' green production behaviors, with dynamic descriptive norms playing a greater role. Perceived economic and ecological value both promote smallholder farmers' green production behaviors and have comparable roles. The degree of organization exerts a significant positive moderating role in both dynamic and static descriptive norms in promoting smallholder farmers' green production behaviors. Discussion This study addresses the decision-making dilemmas arising from smallholder farmers' bounded rationality through behavioral nudge mechanisms. This highlights actionable solutions for promoting agricultural green transition and sustainable food production systems in smallholder-dominated regions.