Impacts of Agricultural Capitalization on Regional Paddy Field Change: A Production-Factor Substitution Perspective

Xinyi Li,Xiaoqing Song,Xiong Wang

doi:10.3390/ijerph18041729

Abstract

Paddy fields are significant in ensuring food security and improving the agricultural ecological environment. In economic terms, paddy field use is affected by input costs and crop market price. There is insufficient understanding of factor input costs caused by agricultural production-factor substitution, driving paddy field change. This study uses a panel regression model to analyze the influence of agricultural production-factor substitution on paddy field use from 1990 to 2016. The case area is Hubei province, China. The results show that the overall growth trend in paddy fields is unequivocal in China’s grain production areas. The improvement in agricultural production conditions, including irrigation and land quality, has a positive effect on the area proportion of paddy fields. With socioeconomic developments, the relationship between the substitution of nitrogen fertilizer for farmland and the area proportion of paddy field is inverted-U shaped, while the effect of the substitution of machinery for labor is U-shaped. The main conclusion is that the process of agricultural production-factor substitution, intended to maximize labor and land productivity, will increase the area proportion of paddy field. Public policies should focus on improving the level of agricultural mechanization and crop diversity to protect food security and sustainable agricultural intensification.

Highlights

At the end of the 1990s, the global market demand for cash crops increased sharply, and the planting area of cash crops, such as, vegetables expanded rapidly
To explore the nonlinear characteristics of the substitution of agricultural production factors tion factors on paddy field change, we introduced the quadratic term of AMAE
The number of cities where the area occupied by paddy fields is increasing over time is significantly higher than the number of cities where it is decreasing, accounting for number of cities where the area occupied by paddy fields is increasing over time is significantly higher than the number of cities where it is decreasing, accounting for more than

Summary

Introduction

At the end of the 1990s, the global market demand for cash crops increased sharply, and the planting area of cash crops, such as, vegetables expanded rapidly. Many paddy fields were converted into dry land. This was the main form of internal change in global farmland use [1,2]. The ecosystem service functions of paddy fields are significantly better than those of dry land in terms of climate regulation, flood storage, pollution removal, water loss prevention, biodiversity conservation, etc. When paddy fields are converted into dry land, the change in the planting structure of farmland causes increased fertilizer and pesticide use, planting intensity, and agricultural water consumption. These factors have a negative influence on the regional ecological environment [6,7,8]. To protect food security and improve farmland ecosystems, it is important to understand the evolution and driving mechanisms of paddy field change

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion