AN EMPIRICAL RESEARCH ON ECO-COMPENSATION STRATEGY FOR HANDLING NON-POINT SOURCE POLLUTION OF WATER BODIES

This paper attempts to disclose the farmers' selection bases among different eco-compensation options for the reduction of fertilizer use, a typical non-point source (NPS) of water pollution. Firstly, the reduction methods were divided into six types. Then a survey was carried out on the farmers near two water bodies in south-eastern China's Zhejiang Province, namely, Qiaodun Reservoir and Siming Lake Reservoir. It was found that when multiple options are available, financial compensation is the most favoured one among farmers, followed by technical learning and policy compensation; the organic fertilizer has the lowest acceptance. Next, a simultaneous bivariate probit model was established to illustrate the effect of each factor on farmers' selection between intellectual and non-intellectual technical compensations, and between alternative and organic fertilizers. Meanwhile, the farmers' intentions on policy compensation were examined by the binary probit model. The modelling results show that: the farmers prefer compensation options that complement each other and wish the government could offer integrated compensation plans of these options; the age and education level of house owner, coupled with family income, farmland area, farmland fragmentation, production efficiency and farmers' willingness to reduce fertilizer application all have important impacts on the selection of compensation means.