Promoting farmers’ adoption of low-carbon technologies constitutes a vital pathway for achieving agricultural sustainability and a key measure for implementing the national dual-carbon strategy. Drawing upon field survey data from 602 wheat farmers in Heze City, Shandong Province, this study employs an ordered probit model to empirically examine the influence mechanism of data capital on farmers’ low-carbon technology adoption behaviour. The results show that (1) data capital significantly promotes farmers’ adoption of low-carbon technologies; (2) ecological cognition plays a significant mediating role, while economic incentives and human capital serve as positive moderators; (3) heterogeneity analysis indicates that the promoting effect of data capital is more pronounced among large-scale farmers. Based on these findings, recommendations are proposed to consolidate rural digital infrastructure, establish agricultural data service platforms, and enhance farmers’ ecological cognition, thereby fully unleashing the potential of data capital in driving agricultural sustainability.
Xu et al. (Sun,) studied this question.