Can the Participation in Quality Certification of Agricultural Products Drive the Green Production Transition?

The green production transition in agriculture is all about the quality of agricultural products at the source of production. Whether the product quality certification can accelerate the green production transition in agriculture is an issue of concern. We have measured the degree of green production transition of kiwifruit growers using a finite mixture model in this paper, and use research data from the main kiwifruit production areas in Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces to verify the impact of conducting product quality certification on the green production transition of kiwifruit growers. Besides, we use a multi-valued treatment effects model to verify the differences in the degree of green production transition among kiwifruit growers in the face of different certification types. Our findings are mainly as follows: the degree of green production transition among kiwifruit growers is not high, with an average of only 36.3%. Product quality certification can significantly promote the green production transition of kiwifruit growers, and the promotion effect of different certification methods in green production transition of kiwifruit growers significantly varies. The promotion effect of organic certification is greater than that of green certification and pollution-free certification. Further, the mechanism test analysis reveals that product quality certification can influence the green production transition of kiwifruit growers through three mechanisms: quality monitoring, market premium, and market access threshold. Based on this, this paper proposes policy recommendations to advance quality certification and green production transition among kiwifruit growers to increase the certification, enhance the willingness to green transition, and boost the differentiated certification system.