Search

Adaptive farming behavior is a key strategy for farmers to cope with climate change. This paper aims to explore the potential impacts of climate change information sources on farmers’ adaptive farming behavior. This paper clarifies the internal mechanism of three typical information sources, namely government departments, scientific research institutions and neighborhood communication, affecting farmers' adaptive farming behavior. Based on the sample data of 1200 farmers in the main wheat producing areas of Shaanxi Province, the theoretical conjecture is empirically tested. The results showed that the climate change information from government departments and scientific research institutions has a significant positive impact on farmers' adaptive farming behavior, but in the case of considering the three sources of information at the same time, the information source of scientific research institutions has the strongest positive impact on farmers' adaptive farming behavior. After farmers have access to climate change information exchanged by government departments, scientific research institutions and neighbors, their differences in climate change adaptive farming behavior mainly depend on their climate change cognition rather than subject trust factors. Formally organized climate change information represented by government departments and scientific research institutions has a more significant positive impact on farmers' adaptive farming behavior, but this impact depends largely on whether the information obtained by farmers can improve their climate change awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding genetic variability in existing wheat accessions is critical for collection, conservation and use of wheat germplasms. In this study, 138 Chinese southwest wheat accessions were investigated by genotyping using two resistance gene makers (Pm21 and Yr26) and DArT-seq technique. Finally, about 50% cultivars (lines) amplified the specific allele for the Yr26 gene (Gwm11) and 40.6% for the Pm21 gene (SCAR1265). By DArT-seq analysis, 30,485 markers (6486 SNPs and 23999 DArTs) were obtained with mean polymorphic information content (PIC) value 0.33 and 0.28 for DArT and SNP marker, respectively. The mean Dice genetic similarity coefficient (GS) was 0.72. Two consistent groups of wheat varieties were identified using principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) at the level of both the chromosome 6AS and the whole-genome, respectively. Group I was composed of non-6VS/6AL translocation lines of different origins, while Group II was composed of 6VS/6AL translocation (T6VS/6AL) lines, most of which carried the Yr26 and Pm21 genes and originated from Guizhou. Besides, a model-based population structure analysis revealed extensive admixture and further divided these wheat accessions into six subgroups (SG1, SG2, SG3, SG4, SG5 and SG6), based on their origin, pedigree or disease resistance. This information is useful for wheat breeding in southwestern China and association mapping for disease resistance using these wheat germplasms in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring the formation mechanism of farmers' behavioral intention to adopt electricity to replace coal (INT-CE) is important for adjusting energy policies in the context of passive energy transition. Based on the integrated framework of Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Normative Activation Model (NAM), taking farmers in Yulin City, Shaanxi Province as the research sample, the formation mechanism of INT-CE is empirically analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). INT-CE was influenced by both self-interested and altruistic motives, with self-interested motives having a greater impact. The results show that: (1) Subjective attitudes and perceived behavior control have significant positive effects on low-income farmers' transformation intention, the influence coefficients are 0.170 and 0.331, respectively. (2) Perceived behavior control has a significant positive impact on the transition intention of middle - income farmers, the coefficient is 0.155. (3) Subjective norms have significant positive impacts on the energy transition intention of high-in- come farmers, the coefficient is 0.261. Attitude has the greatest influence on INT-CE. The effect of past habits on INT-CE was not significant, but was controlled by attitudes and perceptual behaviors. Outcome awareness and responsibility attribution indirectly enhance INT-CE through personal norms. The government should consider farmers' self-interest and altruistic motives when motivating INT-CE. On the one hand, positive concepts of energy conservation should be fostered and farmers' knowledge of energy conservation should be enhanced. On the other hand, the education of farmers should be strengthened to make them realize the ecological damage caused by non-clean energy. At the same time, the influence of relevant groups on INT-CE should be further emphasized to play the role of demonstration and leadership, to enhance farmers' environmental awareness and to cultivate a sense of social responsibility to protect the ecological environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]