Appropriate Management Scale of Farmland and Regional Differences under Different Objectives in Shaanxi Province, China

Qianxi Zhang,Fei Li,Zehui Chen

doi:10.3390/land10030314

Abstract

Agricultural development is facing two problems: insufficient grain production and low profit of farmers. There is a contradiction between the government’s goal of increasing production and the farmer’s goal of increasing profit. Exploring the appropriate management scale of farmland under different objectives is of great significance to alleviate the conflict of interests between the government and farmers. In this study the Cobb-Douglas production function model was used to measure the appropriate management scale of farmland under different objectives in Shaanxi Province and analyze the regional differences. Under the two objectives, the appropriate management scale of the Loess Plateau was the largest in the three regions, followed by Qinba Mountains and Guanzhong Plain. Farmland area and quality were the main influencing factors for the appropriate management scale of farmland under the goal of maximizing the farmland yield, while the nonagricultural employment rate and farmland transfer rate were the main influencing factors under the goal of maximizing farmers’ profits. It is easy for Shaanxi Province to increase farmers’ profits, but more land needed to be transferred to increase farmland yield. These results suggest that in order to balance the goal of increasing yield and profit, the transfer of rural surplus labor should be promoted, and the nonagricultural employment rate should be improved. In Loess Plateau, restoring the ecological environment and enhancing the farmland quality. In Guanzhong Plain, avoiding urban land encroachment on farmland. In Qinba Mountains, developing farming techniques and moderately increasing the intensity of farmland exploit.

Highlights

Appropriate management scale of farmland can be defined as a form of farmland management to obtain the best social and economic benefits by adjusting the scale of farmland or the way of farmland utilization [1,2]
Exploring the appropriate management scale of farmland under different objectives made the farmland management better adapt to the development requirements of market economy, which was of great significance to coordinate the production and profit goals, and eased the contradiction between the government and farmers [3]
The modified Cobb-Douglas production function was linearized and the appropriate management scale of farmland in Shaanxi Province was estimated under the goal of maximizing land production and farmers’ profit (Equation (10))

Summary

Introduction

Appropriate management scale of farmland can be defined as a form of farmland management to obtain the best social and economic benefits by adjusting the scale of farmland or the way of farmland utilization [1,2]. Managing on an appropriate scale can achieve two goals. Exploring the appropriate management scale of farmland under different objectives made the farmland management better adapt to the development requirements of market economy, which was of great significance to coordinate the production and profit goals, and eased the contradiction between the government and farmers [3]. Managing on an appropriate scale was the way to realize agricultural modernization [4]. In 1987, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) put forward for the first time that different forms of appropriate management scale of farmland should be adopted in rural areas. In 2018, the China Central Conference on Rural Work decided to establish a policy for farmers, which can directly benefit farmers and guide them to consciously improve productivity

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion