Nonlinear effects of internet development on chemical fertilizer application intensity: Macro evidence from China

The key to achieving green agricultural development and ensuring national food security in China is to balance the need for increasing crop yields while reducing chemical fertilizer application. In recent years, the rapid development of the internet has narrowed the “Digital Divide” between urban and rural areas and changed the way farmers produce and living. But can it offer the possibility of reducing chemical fertilizer application and protecting the environment? Therefore, by employing panel data of 280 cities in China from 2001 to 2018, this study empirically examines from a macro perspective the nonlinear impact and the mechanisms of internet development on chemical fertilizer application intensity. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) Internet development has an “inverted U-shaped” non-linear impact on chemical fertilizer application intensity. The impact is more significant in non-agricultural cities than in agricultural cities due to differences in agricultural resources endowments. (2) Urbanization plays a mediating role between internet development and chemical fertilizer application intensity. (3) The threshold effect is relatively significant if the level of advanced industrial structure works as the threshold variable. In other words, the inhibitory effect of internet development on chemical fertilizer intensity will be more obvious when the level of advanced industrial structure is above the threshold.