The influence of information communication technology on farmers' sales channels in environmentally affected areas of China.

The rapid development of information communication technology (ICT), represented by mobile phones and the Internet, allows capitalizing to a greater extent on the wealth of information and knowledge available for agriculture knowledge and can be used to increase production, conserve the environment, etc. This study analyzes the current market-oriented behavioral effects of information communication technologies on farmers, based on data of 1263 rural households in two highly environmentally affected and major vegetable producing provinces-Shandong and Hebei. A probit model was used to analyze the impact of information communication technology on the choice of farmers' sales channels. The results show that the differences between the farm households with and without access to ICT, as well as those who actively or passively acquire information, have a significant impact on the choice of sales channels. Using ICT increases the probability that farmers choose sales through middlemen and cooperatives and reduces the probability of self-sales. Actively acquiring information has a positive impact on the cooperative channel choice and a significant negative impact on self-sales. Accordingly, we recommend that the government should increase the penetration rate of ICT, strengthen the information technology in rural areas, emphasize the construction of information sources, such as the collection and distribution of market information, enhance information literacy among farmers, reduce their transaction costs, and increase overall farmer participation in the market.