Influence of Social Capital and Technology Perception on the Adoption of Organic Fertilizer——Based on the Survey Data of the Main Tea Producing Farmers in Liyang City, Jiangsu Province

Based on a survey of 365 tea farmers in Liyang City, the main tea-growing area of Jiangsu Province, a structural equation model was explored to examine the relationship between social capital, technology perception and tea farmers’ acceptance behavior of organic fertilizer over chemical fertilizer technology. The study also investigated how various personal characteristics and family resources influenced the adoption of organic fertilizers. The findings revealed heterogeneous effects on tea farmers’ technology adoption behavior, contributing to the advancement of ecofriendly practices and the overall development of the tea industry in Liyang City. The results revealed that:（1） Social capital and technology perception positively influence tea farmers’ adoption of organic fertilizers over chemical fertilizers.（2） Social trust can be perceived through the usefulness of the technology and the ease of use of the technology, social networks can be perceived through the ease of use of technology, and social norms has a mediating effect on tea farmers’ adoption behavior in adopting organic fertilizers instead of chemical fertilizer technology and perception of technology benefits.（3） Tea farmers’ personal characteristics and family resources significantly impact their adoption of organic fertilizers.. Factors such as gender, age, years of tea cultivation, tea garden size, and education level demonstrate notable differences. However, the ratio of annual tea production income to annual household income did not show any significant differences.