Moderate scale and realization potential of new citrus-planting business entities in hilly and mountainous areas in China

The natural and economic conditions of agricultural resources vary greatly in China,especially in hilly and mountainous areas.The phenomenon of land fragmentation has become increasingly prominent,so that large-scale operations cannot be fully achieved in a short period of time,and the centralized and continuous scale of operations cannot be realized in China.In addition,with increasingly strict farmland protection and agricultural land use control systems,the issues of nongrain production and nonagricultural cultivated land use have become increasingly restricted.Thus,it is quite necessary to determine the appropriate scale of operations and the means to achieve moderately scaled operations for the new business entities.On the basis of microsurvey data for 108 new citrus-planting business entities in the modern agricultural park in the Chongqing's Jiangjin District,an area with long citrus-planting history,we measured the moderate scale of new citrus-planting business entities to maximize profit using a translog growth model.According to the projection pursuit model,we evaluated the suitability conditions of citrus planting in garden land,woodland,grassland,and general cultivated land in the study area.We then explored the potential for new moderate-scale business entities within different farming radii.The results showed that large-scale planting conditions of citrus in garden land,forest land,grassland,and general cultivated land in the study area were suitable,and the proportion of high-suitable and mediumsuitable land was 73.42%.Under the existing social and economic conditions,the moderate scale of new citrus-planting business entities in the study area was 1.8–2.7 hm^(2).In particular,its rankings from large to small were agricultural enterprises(17.19–25.78 hm^(2)),farmer cooperatives(16.88–25.33 hm^(2)),big growers and breeders(6.39–9.59 hm^(2)),and family farms(5.02–7.53 hm^(2)).In the sample of 108 households,only 47.22%of the entities achieved moderate-scale operation,of which 25%of the entities achieved a scale greater than moderate operation.However,52.78%of the entities achieved a scale of less than moderate operation.These entities would have to transfer the surrounding adjacent garden land,forest land,grassland,or general cultivated land to achieve largescale land management.The land area of the adjacent gardens in a 1000 m farming radius could meet the moderate-scale operation demand of the vast majority of new business entities.For the vast majority of new business entities,the land area of the adjacent woodland,grassland,and general cultivated land could supplement the garden land to achieve moderate-scale operation in a 500 m farming radius.If the land area with moderate suitability and high suitability is prioritized,the land area in the adjacent gardens in the 1000 m farming radius could meet the moderate-scale operation demand for the vast majority of new business entities.Within the 500 m farming radius,the vast majority of new business entities have achieved moderate-scale operations if the land area adjacent to forest land,grassland,and general arable land was supplemented by gardens;however,a few entities could not achieve moderate-scale operations.From the village perspective,gardens were prioritized.Sixteen villages had planting areas and planting suitability that exceeded the average level of the study area,accounting for 23.53%.If combined with the reserve potential of the garden land,eight villages could improve their potential,accounting for 11.76%.Therefore,the conditions of large-scale citrus planting in the study area should be further improved,and the scale expansion of new citrus-planting business entities should receive additional scientific guidance.

Optimal Mode of Agricultural Moderate Scale Management Based on Measurement of Moderate Scale of Wugang City in Henan Province

The issue of agricultural moderate scale management is always a hot spot. In 2016,the No. 1 document of the central government once again set forth the requirement of bringing into play leading role of moderate scale management in various forms of agriculture. In the economic new normal,the solution to this issue is of great significance to promoting agricultural modernization. However,there are still problems such as unsmooth transfer of rural labor force,fragmentation of rural land management and low benefit of land scale management. Taking Wugang City in Henan Province as an example,this paper attempts to find out the optimal land management scale in accordance with the actual situation in Henan Province. It is concluded that small family farm is the optimal mode for agricultural moderate scale management.

Appropriate Scale of Breeding Cows in Family Operation of Yanbian Cattle

Family operation of breeding cow is the only way to realize modernization of animal husbandry. Through field survey of Yanbian cattle farmers, the main input indicators were analyzed, including number of breeding cows, number of breeding bulls, input of cattle house, feed cost, production equipment investment, and grazing rent. The slaughter number of store cattle per year was selected as the output index. The efficiency of family operation scale of Yanbian cattle was analyzed using BCC model of DEA. The results showed that the moderate scale of breeding cows in family operation with half grazing and half housing pattern was around 50 -60 cattle.

Reform Paths of Rural Land Property Rights System in the Context of Agricultural Modernization

The reform of rural land property rights system can promote large-scale and intensive agricultural production,improve the quality of laborers,improve agricultural production efficiency,increase farmers'income,and effectively promote the development of agricultural modernization.In the context of the reform of the"separation of three powers",the rural land property rights system still has problems in terms of ownership,use rights,disposal rights,and income rights,which affect the healthy development of agricultural modernization.In this situation,it is necessary to further clarify the subject of rural land ownership,thoroughly improve the right to use rural land,vigorously improve the right to dispose of rural land,effectively protect the right to benefit from rural land,and deeply promote the reform of the rural land property rights system in order to effectively promote the development of agricultural modernization.

Factors Limiting Centralized Land Circulation in China from the Perspective of Farmers' Property Right

At present,there are many factors limiting large area centralized,rapid development,and moderately large-scale land operation in China.These factors include(i) the existing land utilization system is still at adaptation stage,and it lacks universal agreement of people on large-scale land operation;(ii) farmers' dependence on land is great;(iii) it is difficult to transfer surplus labor;(iv) there is no positive connection between promotion of moderately large-scale land operation and realization of increase of farmers' income;(v) it remains to be proved whether large-scale operation can become a stable rural occupation and whether big farming households can grow to professional farmers;(vi) large-scale land operation in rural areas may lead to waste of resources;(vii) the promotion of large-scale land operation may cause other social contradictions.

Is Larger Scale Better? Evidence from Rice Farming in Jianghan Plain

Small-scale household agricultural production has been in conflict with China＇s agricultural modernization.In the context of vigorously promoting rural land circulation and moderate scale management nationwide,research on the relationship between farm size and scale efficiency has become increasingly important.In this paper,we use the ＂DEA-OLS＂ two stage method to analyze data from 368 surveys of rice farming households in the Jianghan Plain.The scale efficiency of rice farming was calculated,and the relationship between farm size and scale efficiency investigated.The results indicate that（1） the rice farm size is generally small in Jianghan Plain,with an average of 0.77 ha.The average scale efficiency is 0.88,and it is the main factor limiting an increase in comprehensive technical efficiency.Moreover,88.32% of households are in the stage of increasing returns to scale.（2） There is a stable inverted ＂U＂ type relationship between rice farm size and scale efficiency.Considering characteristics of the householder,the household and land quality,the maximum scale efficiency corresponds to a household with 5 ha of rice farm.（3） Among householder characteristics,age has a significant negative influence on scale efficiency,and scale efficiency is lower for a household whose householder is engaged in non-farm work than for one whose householder is devoted to farming.As for land quality,there was a significant positive effect of irrigation on scale efficiency.Among family characteristics,the application of a machine during the seeding process increased scale efficiency by 3.07%.Therefore,we suggest that local government should actively promote rural land circulation,implement a staged-scale management subsidy,and other forms of support for the purchase of agricultural machinery and technical popularization.Increased investment in irrigation improvements and mechanical facilities and encouragement of farmers to enlarge their farm size could improve scale efficiency and farming profit and lead to the development of moderate scale management.

How farmers’non-agricultural employment affects rural land circulation in China?

To clarify the impact of non-agricultural employment on rural land circulation in China,we built logit models using the Chinese Household Income Project 2013 dataset,which includes 18,948 household samples over 15 provinces,126 cities and 234 counties of China in 2013.We use the proportion of non-agricultural income,the proportion of non-agricultural laborers and non-agricultural fixed operating assets to reflect the degree of the households’dependence on agriculture,the degree of the households’laborers committed to non-agricultural employment and the stability of non-agricultural employment,respectively.The results show that the stability of non-agricultural employment is an important reason for farmers to transfer out their land,and an increase in non-agricultural income is the fundamental reason.The proportion of non-agricultural assets has the greatest impact on the decision to transfer land,followed by the proportion of non-agricultural income.Per unit increase in the non-agricultural income ratio has a stronger effect on the transfer-out decision than it does on the transfer-in decision,which is a 0.09 increase of the probability of transfer-out the land and a 0.07 decrease of the probability of transfer-in the land.In terms of regional differences,when considering the impact of non-agricultural employment on the land transfer-out decision,the impacts of non-agricultural income and labor force are the greatest in the Central region.The impact of non-agricultural assets is the greatest in the Eastern region.For the Eastern region,the decision to transfer out land is mainly affected by non-agricultural assets and the non-agricultural labor force,and the decision to transfer in land is mainly affected by non-agricultural assets.In the Central and Western regions,the decision to transfer out land is mainly affected by non-agricultural assets,non-agricultural income and the non-agricultural labor force,in that order.The decision to transfer in land in the Central region is not significantly affected by non-agricultural employment.The decision to transfer in land in the Western region is mainly affected by non-agricultural assets,non-agricultural labor force and non-agricultural income,in that order.We note that non-agricultural assets have a prominent impact on land transfer,which shows that the stability of non-agricultural employment has an important impact on land transfer decision-making.Vocational training for rural labor forces may be an effective means to promote stable non-agricultural employment and simultaneously facilitate rural land circulation,especially in Central and Western China.