Development of Family Farms in Inner Mongolia, China

Abstract

As one of the new agricultural business subjects, family farms are the main force behind the development of agriculture and the leader of agricultural modernization in China. At present, the development of family farms in Inner Mongolia is on the rise, but there are still many problems, so it is crucial to evaluate the development of family farms to find out the problems for targeted development. In this paper, first, after double-screening objective data of family farm development evaluation indexes through the combination of the gray correlation degree and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, we constructed an index system for evaluating family farm development including 19 indexes, such as whether to register a business license. Second, based on the index system constructed in the previous step, the index weight vector was measured using the AHP–entropy weight method, which reflects the cognitive experience of experts, while taking into account the objective laws of data. Next, based on the index weight, the scores of 755 family farms were calculated to measure the level of development of family farms, and the ratings were divided into three categories based on the scores using K-mean cluster analysis. The study found that: (1) The weight of the indicator on the rank of the new professional farmer was 0.102, ranking first; the weight of the indicator on whether the children of the person in charge have the intention to engage in farming and animal husbandry was 0.091, ranking second; and the weight of the indicator on the number of basic production facilities and necessary machinery and equipment was 0.088, ranking third. (2) The highest score of 755 family farms in Inner Mongolia was only 50.161 points, and the overall development of family farms was at an average level. Therefore, based on the results of the study, five paths were proposed to enhance the development of family farms.