Digital literacy, land characteristics, and conservation tillage adoption: evidence from a multi-province survey of Chinese farmers

Digital literacy is a critical form of human capital influencing farmers’ adoption of conservation tillage (CT). However, the extent to which this effect depends on land resource endowments remains underexplored. Using data from the China Rural Revitalization Survey (CRRS) covering 6,484 households across 10 Chinese provinces, a binary logistic model examines digital literacy’s impact on CT, focusing on the moderating roles of land fragmentation and operational scale. First, digital literacy significantly promotes CT adoption, a result robust across probit and outlier treatments. Second, land fragmentation exhibits a conditional moderating effect: it positively strengthens the relationship when operational scale is not controlled, but reverses once it is included, suggesting that land characteristics intertwine with farm scale. Third, effects vary regionally, following a ‘strongest in the west, weaker in the east, and negative in the central region’ gradient. These findings challenge the view that land fragmentation solely acts as a barrier. Instead, fragmentation amplifies digital literacy’s marginal value by generating demand for precise management. The results underscore that digital literacy’s role remains embedded in resource constraints and regional contexts. The study advances a ‘human capital–land endowment’ interaction perspective, suggesting that CT policies should avoid one-size-fits-all approaches using context-sensitive, differentiated strategies.