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Technology in food production is constantly evolving and advancing, and the emerging genetically modified (GM) technology is making a significant contribution to solving the world's food problems. However, sporadic food safety incidents and negative media coverage have caused Chinese consumers to remain apprehensive about the safety of food and GM technology, even to the extent that they are reluctant to buy vegetables in unusual shapes because they believe the vegetables are produced by GM technology. This paper examines this negative association with GM food. The results show that when seeing an abnormally shaped vegetable, consumers perceive that the vegetable is likely to be genetically modified, thus increasing their perceived risk. In order to estimate the mediation effect, we adopted the causal step approach using an ordered probit model. To investigate consumers' preferences for attributes of vegetables, we employed a choice experiment, stochastic parametric logit models and latent class logit models. Apart from price, consumers place the highest importance on appearance attributes, followed by traceability attributes, and then safety certification attributes. There is also heterogeneity in consumer preferences. Consumers' characteristics such as age, marital status and family size influence their preferences. The findings of this paper suggest that traceability labelling and safety certification labelling can be useful in addressing information asymmetry in food safety and can increase consumer utility and improve their trust in the safety of the food they buy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonstandard pesticide-application behavior leads to excessive pesticide residue and even affects the quality and safety of agricultural products and agricultural sustainability. Based on 968 valid samples randomly selected in Jiangsu Province of China, it focuses on the impact of incident shock and yield fluctuation avoidance on the pesticide-application behavior of farmers. Then, it investigated the impact of intentional factors, such as insufficient cognition and lack of knowledge, on their improper pesticide-application behavior. This study shows that, besides the pursuit of improper income, inadequate awareness and preventive actions to avoid operational risks are also important factors in farmers' nonstandard pesticide application. In addition, the study also shows that farmers who understand the responsibility unit of agricultural product quality and safety supervision are more inclined to choose standardized application of pesticides. The higher the education level of farmers, the higher the probability of standardized application of pesticides. Therefore, farmers' nonstandard pesticide-application behavior is largely due to the farmers' insufficient awareness of the harm of pesticide residues or the lack of trust in the efficacy of pesticides. Moreover, the study also shows that adverse selection phenomenon exists in pesticide-application training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pesticide residue has been one of the most serious problems for the vegetable quality and safety in China. Based on the survey of vegetable farmers in Jiangsu, Shandong and Anhui Provinces, this paper studies the behavior of vegetable farmers on pesticide application, compares the impacts of the government regulation and the market, and further investigates the influential factors of the premium perception associated with the quality and safety of agricultural products. Results show that currently it is relatively rare for vegetable farmers to apply pesticide according to standards in China. Given the frequency of pesticide application, the market incentive factors affect the behavior of vegetable farmers on pesticide application more effectively compared to the impact of the government supervision. However, the government regulation impacts the premium perception associated with the quality and safety of agricultural products, that is, government regulation provides a better environment for the market incentive. Therefore, it is essential to create the synergistic effect of government regulation and market incentive to regulate the behavior of vegetable farmers on pesticide application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]