Crop rotation behavior of farmers in cold black soil: comparison of farming, forest and reclamation areas

In order to accelerate the transformation of agricultural development mode, promote ecological restoration and governance, and promote agricultural sustainable development, China has vigorously promoted the cultivation mode of rotation. As a region with significant natural environmental constraints, the cold black soil region has strict requirements for crop growth period, and it is relatively difficult to carry out crop rotation activities in this natural environment. This study used the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and a structural equation model (SEM) to perform an empirical study on 742 farmers’ rotation intention in Luobei County, China, to investigate the factors that influence farmers’ rotation intention in the cold black soil region. According to the different planting area mechanism, farmers were divided into agricultural area, forest area and reclamation area, and the planting area mechanism was included in the study as a regulating variable. The findings demonstrated that farmers’ intention to rotate their crops were significantly positively impacted by their attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control. There were notable beneficial effects on crop rotation intention due to the subjective norms and perceived behavior control in the three domains of agriculture, forestry, and reclamation. Farmers’ attitude in the agricultural and reclamation regions have a significant positive impact on their intention to rotate, whereas their attitude in the forest regions have no significant impact. This study also shows that there is a significant positive correlation in all three regions between farmers’ attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control, indicating that the TPB is a good tool to use when examining farmers’ intention to rotate. The findings of this study will be crucial in helping the government advance crop rotation technology and encourage the sustainable use of arable land.