Abstract
Since the reform and opening up, a large proportion of the Chinese rural labor force has transferred to urban and non-agricultural industries. Rural labor transfer not only changes the allocation of household labor in agricultural and non-agricultural sectors but also affects the utilization of other agricultural production factors. Based on data from 818 households in three counties in northern Jiangsu province, this paper analyzed the impact of labor migration on farmers’ adoption of cultivated land quality protection (CLQP) behaviors. The survey results showed that farmers’ awareness of CLQP was still very weak, and the proportion of farmers adopting measures such as subsoiling, straw application, cover crops and green manures and the complementary use of organic fertilizers was still relatively low. The empirical results showed that perennial out-migration for work can constrain households’ protective inputs into soil conservation, but part-time farming locally can promote households’ inputs. The results also showed that farmer characteristics, farming conditions and external environment also significantly affected the farmers’ adoption of soil conservation practices. According to these conclusions, this paper puts forward the corresponding policy implications.
Highlights
The quantity and quality of cultivated land is closely related to national food security [1]
The results showed that in the surveyed areas, the proportion of cultivated land quality protection (CLQP) measures such as subsoiling, straw application, cover crop and green manure utilization and the complementary use of organic fertilizers was still relatively low
Empirical results showed that perennial out-migration inhibits the input of CLQP by farmers, while local part-time farming promotes the input of CLQP by farmers
Summary
The quantity and quality of cultivated land is closely related to national food security [1]. As a very large country with a population of 1.4 billion people, stabilizing grain production and ensuring food security are of paramount importance to the Chinese national economy and people’s livelihood. In Chinese agricultural production, there are long-term problems such as excessive application of fertilizers, insufficient circulation of organic matter and unreasonable farming methods, which have caused a degradation of cultivated land quality. The traditional agricultural production mode has a negative impact on the environment and ecosystem functions, and the contradiction with the ecological environment is increasingly prominent. Since opening up in 1978, the rapid progress of urbanization and industrialization and urban expansion, which have re-purposed what were formerly high-quality farmlands, have prominently contravened cultivated land quality protection (CLQP) [3]
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