Smartphone use and willingness to adopt digital pest and disease management: Evidence from litchi growers in rural China

This study uses a dataset covering 928 small litchi growers in southern China to investigate the determinants of farmers' willingness to adopt digital pest and disease management (DPDM), focusing on smartphone use. An endogenous switching probit model is employed to address potential selection bias. The result confirms the positive role of smartphone use on willingness to adopt DPDM. Age, education, health, wealth, cooperative membership, and credit access are also associated with farmers' willingness to adopt DPDM. Moreover, we find that the determinants of smartphone users' and nonusers' willingness to adopt DPDM are different. Finally, we propose a digital inclusion agenda to promote rural smartphone adoption and use in agriculture. [EconLit Citations: Q16, Q18].