Factors Influencing Farmland Abandonment at the Village Scale:Qualitative Comparative Analysis(QCA)

As a global issue,farmland abandonment is considered to be one of the most crucial fields in the study of land use change.The clarification of its driving factors plays a vital role in improving the efficiency of rural cultivated land use and ensuring national food security.This paper aims to study the factors influencing farmland abandonment in 49 villages of Ganzhou City by adopting the Qualitative Comparative Analysis(QCA).The results show that:(1)Farmland abandonment is the outcome of synergism among many factors,among which the low–level of agricultural mechanization is definitely a necessary condition in Ganzhou,and it contributes a material effect to the abandonment.(2)The path leading to farmland abandonment is not unique to the study area,and can be attributed to five different combinations.These combinations can be enumerated as:A1(a combination of convenient transportation,complete agricultural facilities,low-level agricultural mechanization,low-level land circulation,and no industrial policy support),A2(a combination of complete agricultural facilities,low-level agricultural mechanization,low-level land circulation,sufficient agricultural labor,and no industrial policy support),A3(a combination of convenient transportation,complete agricultural facilities,low-level agricultural mechanization,sufficient agricultural labor,and no industrial policy support),A4(a combination of convenient transportation,low-level agricultural mechanization,low-level land circulation,sufficient agricultural labor,and industrial policy support),and A5(a combination of inconvenient transportation,complete agricultural facilities,low-level agricultural mechanization,high-level land circulation,sufficient agricultural labor,and industrial policy support).(3)In the above-mentioned combinations,the core conditions and peripheral conditions conjointly impact on farmland abandonment.Finally,corresponding policy implications are proposed in order to further reveal the mechanism of farmland abandonment.These recommendations provide new ideas and methods for policy makers to use in making decisions and will promote the effective use of farmland.