Residents′ awareness to agricultural nonpoint source pollution and willingness to pay for its environmental protection in a high-yielding agricultural region in northern China.

Agro-environment awareness and corresponding behavior choices of some essential technical and economic policies as well as even legislative countermeasures were investigated in a high-yielding farmland county in northern China.The contingent valuation method(CVM)was used to evaluate the public′s Willingness to pay(WTP)for the nonpoint source pollution resulting from intensive farming.Survey results showed that more than 60% of the interviewers expressed concerns on the environment health for their future generations.As high as 76% of the subjects revealed positive attitudes toward dealing with the pollution and protecting the environment from further deterioration.The averaged WTP was 22.8 yuan/year per capita.However,the public′s awareness of the potential threats caused by farming was at a quite low level.Willingness to pay mainly depended on such factors as family income,education level and occupation.Based on the population,the total WTP of the county was estimated at about 11.1-13.2 million yuan/year,which could be the best base for charging the fee.To improve conventional farming practices,especially over-fertilization,would be the most efficient technical measure.In contrast,legislation and strict regulations may not work efficiently due to the relatively weak environmental awareness of the public.