Full Utilization of Resources: Does Straw Incorporation Reduce Farmers' Production Costs? Evidence from China

Full Utilization of Resources: Does Straw Incorporation Reduce Farmers' Production Costs? Evidence from China | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Full Utilization of Resources: Does Straw Incorporation Reduce Farmers' Production Costs? Evidence from China Mengfei Song, Honghui Zhu, Xinjuan Kuang, Qiuyi Wu, Shuo Qing This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8720686/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study investigates the impact of straw incorporation on farmers’ production costs, offering empirical evidence for green agricultural transformation. Utilizing data from 2094 farmers in the China Rural Revitalization Survey (CRRS), the research applies the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method and multiple linear regression models. It examines the net effect of straw incorporation on overall production costs and specific costs such as fertilizer, pesticide, and sowing. Additionally, the study explores the moderating effect of farm size heterogeneity. The study’s findings are as follows: (1) Straw incorporation exhibits a significant structural impact on farmers’ production costs, with a notable reduction in fertilizer costs, an increase in pesticide and sowing costs, ultimately increasing total production costs. (2) Counterfactual analysis reveals that traditional Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression is subject to sample selection bias, underestimating fertilizer cost savings from straw incorporation and overestimating its impact on pesticide, sowing, and total costs. The Propensity Score Matching (PSM) model corrects this bias, enhancing the reliability of the findings. (3) Heterogeneity analysis indicates that straw incorporation significantly increases total costs for smallholder farmers, while its impact on total costs for large-scale farmers shows a negative trend. Regarding segmented costs, large-scale farmers achieve greater savings in fertilizer costs through straw incorporation compared to smallholder farmers. Their pesticide cost increases are lower than those of smallholder farmers, and sowing costs decrease rather than rise. This demonstrates clear economies of scale. The study reveals the cost effects of straw incorporation technology promotion, providing a scientific basis for the government to formulate differentiated subsidy policies, strengthen adaptive technical support for smallholder farmers, and leverage the advantages of large-scale operations. Biological sciences/Ecology Earth and environmental sciences/Ecology Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences Straw Incorporation Production cost Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method Resource Utilization Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers invited by journal 20 Apr, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 20 Apr, 2026 Editor invited by journal 18 Feb, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 12 Feb, 2026 First submitted to journal 12 Feb, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8720686","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":627371868,"identity":"cede9486-d40d-4e48-9e96-330739ff54f5","order_by":0,"name":"Mengfei Song","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shihezi University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mengfei","middleName":"","lastName":"Song","suffix":""},{"id":627371869,"identity":"87cb3fa3-03ef-4dce-85e7-9652a9a0d310","order_by":1,"name":"Honghui Zhu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shihezi University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Honghui","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhu","suffix":""},{"id":627371870,"identity":"99ba64bd-fca7-4fc5-af1f-70fc14a52b97","order_by":2,"name":"Xinjuan Kuang","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAyklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACNvnnBx98MLCR42dvIFILH0NOsuGMijRjyZ4DRGqRY0gwk+Y5cyhxw40EYh3GcCBNgrftQGLDzccbbzDU2EQT1sLYeNhCsu2OcePstGILhmNpuQ0EtTAzJN4wbHsm2yydYybB2HCYCC1sDAYSiW2HGdskzxCrhYfBSOLAmcOKPRI8xGqR4Ek2bAAGsgQP0C8JxPhFfgb7wcd/gFFpf/zwxhsfamwIa0EGBhIJpCiHaCFVxygYBaNgFIwMAACKiz/4WuFCfgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Wuzhou University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xinjuan","middleName":"","lastName":"Kuang","suffix":""},{"id":627371871,"identity":"f3d6d527-fd39-4e60-85f1-69e3f66c8fa4","order_by":3,"name":"Qiuyi Wu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shihezi University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Qiuyi","middleName":"","lastName":"Wu","suffix":""},{"id":627371872,"identity":"8310fe10-b8df-4cb5-ae1a-d7671a32fab5","order_by":4,"name":"Shuo Qing","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Wuzhou University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shuo","middleName":"","lastName":"Qing","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-28 12:24:40","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8720686/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8720686/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":108007524,"identity":"8e8e8a28-2315-4e11-8e32-07e642a04e31","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-28 13:00:20","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":778845,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript2.12.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8720686/v1_covered_746a9329-33ab-46ef-8244-3326352f2dfb.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Full Utilization of Resources: Does Straw Incorporation Reduce Farmers' Production Costs? 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