Professional Farmers Research Articles

Outsourcing of Agricultural Machinery Operation Services and the Sustainability of Farmland Transfer Market: Promoting or Inhibiting?

The agricultural machinery operation services (AMOS) market and the farmland transfer market are regarded by policymakers as complementary goals for promoting agricultural development in China. Nonetheless, the farmland transfer market in China is confronted with the threat of sustainable development. The relationship between AMOS and farmland transfer is not always complementary. To analyze the relationship between the AMOS market and the sustainability of the farmland transfer market, methods such as conditional mixed process, the Heckman two-step method, and the Sobel test were employed to explore the influence of AMOS on farmland transfer and its underlying mechanisms. The empirical results show the following: (i) AMOS inhibits farmland transfer-out but promotes farmland transfer-in, which will intensify the market competition of farmland transfer. This result remains valid after correcting for the potential endogenous bias and selective bias and is consistent across different variables and samples. This conclusion suggests that AMOS has emerged as a factor restricting the sustainable development of the farmland transfer market in China. (ii) The heterogeneity analysis results indicate that AMOS has a greater inhibitory effect on the farmland transfer-out of small-scale farmers, part-time farmers, and elderly farmers, and a greater incentive effect on the farmland transfer-in of large-scale farmers, professional farmers, and non-elderly farmers. (iii) Labor allocation and agricultural capital allocation are the potential mechanisms for AMOS to affect farmland transfer. AMOS indirectly inhibits farmland transfer-out and promotes farmland transfer-in by farmland operation ability of labor force and benefits of farmland operation. These results imply that there is a complementary relationship and substitution relationship between the AMOS market and the farmland transfer market. The substitution relationship may sometimes frustrate policies aimed at stimulating the farmland transfer market. The Chinese government is required to be wary of the potential menace that AMOS brings to the sustainability of China’s farmland transfer market.

Analysis Of City Government And Farming Community Partnership In Food Security Policy: Urban Farming Program

The urban farming program is the city government policy to overcome the food security problem for the community's welfare. The study aims to discuss the partnership between the city government and the urban farming community in an urban farming program. It utilizes agricultural land and urban garden as the place for urban agroecological transformation as part of urban food security policy through the partnership capacity theoretical approach from Mathers, et al. This analytic descriptive study uses the case survey method, and data collection is obtained from the unstructured in-depth interview, focus group discussion, and observation in Jeruk urban village in Lakarsantri district in Surabaya. The findings show the success of the partnership between the department of food security and agriculture in Surabaya and Sri Sedono farmer group in the management of the integrated agricultural center. Urban farming program is influenced by mutual consensus which is beneficial to increase crop productivity. However, the result also indicates that the skill base factor is not optimal because of the limited personnel in PPL. Furthermore, the farmers are concerned about adopting new plant varieties. We suggest that the urban farming program can be sustainable and needs to increase the number of personnel in PPL. In addition, it is necessary to increase the entrepreneurial spirit of farmers so that they have innovation values to adopt new crop varieties, and the discipline through the increase of intensity assistance from PPL towards independent, skilled, and professional farmers.

Do planning practices hinder on-farm diversification in peri-urban Mediterranean France?

At the crossroads of spatial planning and agriculture, this article explores how planning practices impact on-farm diversification strategies in peri-urban Mediterranean France. It focuses on farm building permit applications, statistically analyzing a database of 860 buildings applied for and interviewing local authorities and farmers’ representatives. Results show the large proportion of applications related to reterritorialization of food systems, development of recreational activities, and production of green energy. These on-farm diversification trends highlight the transformation of peri-urban areas from a natural or agricultural landscape into a multifunctional landscape, posing several planning challenges. Planners don’t know how to assess whether a new building is really essential for farming, or to find the right trade-offs to support farming dynamics while limiting soil sealing. Their assessment criteria generally favor large, full-time, and economically viable farms. Comparing two provinces’ planning practices, we observe significant differences in interpretation of national law, with incoherent or unharmonized criteria applied especially when assessing professional farming activities, new dwellings, and solar energy projects. We also highlight two potential obstacles to farmers’ generational renewal and agroecological or food transitions: i) lack of transparency regarding the rules and the decision-making processes behind building permit assessment, and ii) the frequent rejection of applications for multi-purpose premises and lightweight, mobile, or dismantlable structures. Such results point to the role of planners in transforming peri-urban landscapes and the need for more consistent regulation of new farm buildings, supporting and not hindering farm adaptation strategies and the multifunctionality of peri-urban areas.

Unpacking the agricultural innovation and diffusion for modernizing the smallholders in rural China: From the perspective of agricultural innovation system and its governance

Innovation is perceived as a crucial tool for addressing the serious global challenges faced by the agriculture sector. This paper focuses on a new local public agricultural innovation project in the context of rural China, and intends to capture the embodied agricultural innovation and dissemination network for modernizing the smallholders. Through integrating the concepts of Agricultural Innovation System and Agricultural Innovation Governance, we develop a comprehensive framework for understanding the partnerships between agri-technicians and small farmers within the network structured by innovation governance practices. In-depth interview and network analysis methods were used to scrutinize the linkages among actors engaged with the agricultural innovation programme in case area and detect the achievements in enabling smallholders to upgrade technical trajectories in production and fostering modern farmers at the local levels. Our empirical analysis suggests that the single-center and multi-level network produced in the agricultural innovation practices, which is distinctive to the previous simplistic linear model for technology transfer, demonstrates obvious effectiveness in diffusing the new knowledge both vertically and horizontally, and that the grassroots sub-network generates the interaction space between agronomic experts and farmers for building mutual trust and co-producing technologies suitable for local conditions. Through allocating financial resources and supervising the public agricultural innovation projects, the provincial government indirectly dominates the directionality of local agricultural innovation for enabling smallholders to learn emerging technologies and cultivating the new generation of professional farmers. Nevertheless, the current agricultural innovation practice in case area has not completely avoided the social selection bias due to the clear marginalization of some vulnerable smallholders, and the duration of innovation projects imposed negative influence on the persistent collaborations between agri-technicians and smallholders in places. It is argued that for meeting the national agenda of agricultural modernization and common prosperity in rural area, how to reform the management measures of public innovation projects and enable the vulnerable farmers to equally engage with the innovation activities and share the interests brought by new technologies are the urgent challenges need to be addressed in the future.

KEPEDULIAN SOSIAL MASYARAKAT PERBATASAN DALAM MEMPERTAHANKAN KETAHANAN EKONOMI (KASUS DI TEMAJUK, PALOH, SAMBAS KALIMANTAN BARAT)

Local wisdom of social care is the culture of helping one another to build food resilience in the Malay community in the border of Temajuk district of Sambas. For the Malay community to be a professional farmer, abundant food resources can survive without dependence on others. This research uses qualitative discrepancy methods by demonstrating food sustainability in a cultural perspective. The results of the study explained that social concerns have helped a former Indonesian labour force citizen who returned to his hometown to stop living in Serawak Malaysia so that he did not have a fixed job and decided to become a farmer. Social care is a form of support of the Malay people to others against each other voluntarily, through the approach of social capital such as economic resilience assistance through the provision of productive land and trade networks with neighbouring countries, thus creating resiliency with the community at the Temajuk border.

Methodology for conducting farmer training

The article attempts to design a methodology for training professional farmers in smart agriculture as an overview and digital tools. The set of the study is to outline and analyze the new techniques of agricultural process management. The findings of the study and research can help create a methodology for training farmers in the country and the country on digitization and smart agriculture.

Social Media, Knowledge Management, and Learning in Farmer Innovation

This study aims to address the research gap by investigating how social media influences the innovation ability of new professional farmers, with a specific focus on technological perspectives. Grounded in embeddedness theory and taking into account the roles of knowledge management and learning orientation, the research aims to unveil the dynamics shaping farmer innovation within the context of social media engagement. Employing a structural equation model and utilizing survey data from 336 farmers, the empirical research concludes that social media embedding significantly and positively impacts the innovation ability of new professional farmers. Knowledge management acts as a partial intermediary between network media embedding and the innovation ability of new professional farmers, and a complete intermediary between network community embedding and their innovation ability. Learning orientation positively moderates the relationship between network media embedding, network community embedding, and knowledge management. The study seeks to contribute to the comprehension of how social media can foster innovation among farmers, thereby promoting high-quality and sustainable development in agriculture. In light of this, recommendations are suggested for the government to encourage social media usage, for farmers to enhance their media literacy, strengthen knowledge management, and cultivate a learning-oriented mindset. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2024-05-02-06 Full Text: PDF

Study on influencing factors of college students entering new professional farmers from the perspective of rural revitalization

The cultivation of new professional farmers is conducive to the development of agricultural production and the promotion of rural revitalization. The key to realize rural revitalization lies in the cultivation of talents. College students have information quality and strong learning ability. Guiding college students to work as new professional farmers is of great significance to ease the employment pressure of college students and activate the vitality of rural areas. However, in the process of guiding college students into the new professional farmers, there are many difficulties, such as low vocational attraction, lack of integration of production and education, imperfect cultivation system, and incomplete college employment guidance courses. In order to improve the problems encountered by college students entering the new professional farmers, help can be given in media publicity, government policies, improvement of training methods, and strengthening employment guidance in colleges and universities.

Training of New Professional Farmers in Rural Revitalization: A Reexamination based on Supply and Demand

The rural revitalization strategy is a crucial initiative aimed at promoting the modernization of rural areas, with the cultivation of new professional farmers emerging as a key component in its implementation. This paper conducts an in-depth analysis of the training of new professional farmers from the perspectives of both supply and demand. Addressing issues related to cultivation policies, key players, and training content during the cultivation process, the paper proposes a series of strategies in areas such as top-level design, classification management, cultivation models, content innovation, and supervision mechanisms. In terms of top-level design, the paper emphasizes the importance of defining strategic goals and pathways for cultivation to ensure alignment with the rural revitalization strategy. The strategy combining classification management with precision cultivation aims to implement differentiated training plans that better cater to the specific needs of different regions and rural areas. Reforms in cultivation models and content are advocated to align with the trends in modern agricultural development. Additionally, the establishment of a comprehensive supervision mechanism is recommended to ensure the fairness and transparency of cultivation efforts.

The Economic Sustainability of Industrial Potato Production Within Entrepreneurial Strategies

The study was driven by rising global potato consumption, the potato sector's economic impact, and the need for ecologically sustainable growing methods. The objective of the study was to identify entrepreneurial activity and the spirit in the context of entrepreneurship to achieve economic sustainability via the cultivation of industrial potatoes. Furthermore, it accurately recognized the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats this agribusiness in Sulaimani Governorate, Kurdistan Region of Iraq is confronting. This study classifies the farmer as an entrepreneur based on his alignment with various entrepreneurial activities, such as product diversification, hiring professional farmers, implementing an irrigation system, owning resources, conducting research and development, adding value to products, engaging in inter-sector interactions, and creating employment opportunities. Additionally, the farmer demonstrates entrepreneurial spirit through activities such as agro-climatic zoning, risk analysis, developing marketing strategies, having a vision, taking advantage of opportunities, encouraging others, employing critical thinking, and displaying resilience. In this study also the SWOT analysis was used. the primary strength identified was the improvement of the economy, whilst the biggest opportunity for the farmer included the establishment of a Lays chips plant by Green Iraq Company. Lastly, the major threats encompassed the lack of financial services and political instability.

Social Network Analysis of Farmers after the Private Cooperatives’ “Intervention” in a Rural Area of China—A Case Study of the XiangX Cooperative in Shandong Province

In China, private-owned cooperatives are becoming increasingly involved in agricultural production. In order to find the key characteristics of smallholders’ social networks after the appearance of cooperatives and better organize different farmland operators, this study completed a field survey of 114 smallholders who adopted farmland trusteeship service of a private-owned cooperative in China and applied the social network analysis to reveal the following results. (1) Compared to the theoretical ideal value, smallholders’ social networks showed low network density, efficiency, and little relevancy. (2) In the social network of mechanical-sharing, neighbor, kinship, and labor-sharing relationships, some isolated nodes existed, but no isolated nodes are found in the synthetic network. (3) The mechanical-sharing relationship among smallholders was stronger than the other relationships. (4) Machinery owners, farmers whose plots are on the geometric center and experienced older farmers showed higher centralities in the network, but village cadres did not. (5) The centralities and QAP correlation coefficients among different networks inside the cooperative were lower than that inside a single village. As a result, this paper confirmed that the ability of cooperatives to organize farmers’ social networks is not ideal. Farmers’ trust of farmland to a cross-village cooperatives does not help them to form a larger social network than their villages. In the future, the answer to the question of “who will farm the land” will still lie with the professional farmers and highly autonomous cooperatives.

Viability, Government Support and the Service Function of Farmer Professional Cooperatives—Evidence from 487 Cooperatives in 13 Cities in Heilongjiang, China

As the main body that unites farmers internally and connects with markets externally, professional farmer cooperatives are playing an increasingly important role around the world. In order to investigate the significant factors influencing this subject in agricultural socialization services, 487 cooperatives in Heilongjiang Province were selected for investigation. The field survey found that many of the better-developed cooperatives have a certain degree of inadequacy in the performance of their service functions. This paper proposes that viability and government support are important factors influencing the realization of the service function of farmer professional cooperatives. Based on the empirical analysis of sample survey data and econometric models, it was demonstrated that the experience of the chairman, the number of board members, the distribution of members, the scale of land operation, profitability, and the institutional arrangement of the cooperatives are an important embodiment of the viability of the cooperatives. These factors significantly influence the service function of cooperatives in different sections, including pre-production, mid-production, and post-production. Moreover, obtaining external support from the government is necessary for cooperatives at their primary stage of development, especially regarding relevant training, which can facilitate the realization of the service functions of cooperatives in all aspects.

The Impact of Agricultural Extension Services on Farm Output: A Worldwide Viewpoint

In order to increase farm productivity and sustainability on a worldwide scale, agricultural extension services are essential in bridging the gap between research and actual farming. This study examined agricultural extension services and their effects on farm productivity. Data were collected using a questionnaire from 382 professional farmers. The results show that agricultural workshops and training positively affect farm productivity, access to government demonstration farms positively influences farm productivity, and media-based agricultural programs have a positive effect on farm productivity. Workshops and training in agriculture may have a very favorable impact on farm output. It’s important to remember that the success of agricultural workshops and training might vary depending on a number of variables, including the training's quality, the information's applicability to local circumstances, the farmers' readiness to embrace new techniques, and the post-training assistance offered. In order to increase and facilitate access to knowledge, suitable production methods, and better inputs, the findings highlight the need to strengthen farmers' organizations and last-mile agricultural input providers. Farmers must have access to knowledge about marketing and other support services that are essential for agricultural growth in order to enhance global development in order to achieve greater farm productivity.

中国新型职业农民培育研究

In recent years, the Party Central Committee has attached great importance to the cultivation of new type of professional farmers and issued several documents. In order to further consolidate the achievements of poverty alleviation and promote rural revitalization, it is urgent to cultivate a new type of professional farmer team that knows production, has technology and can manage. By using the field investigation method, Guanzhai Township, Qiubei County, Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province, was selected as a field site to investigate the implementation status of the “Shared Rice Field” project and the cultivation status of new type of professional farmers. It was found that the skills of local professional farmers mainly consisted of propaganda skills, marketing skills, enterprise management skills, farming management skills and planting skills, and formed a cultivation path for school-enterprise cooperation. In the future, the local government can improve the cultivation path of new type of professional farmers under the “shared rice field” model in Guanzhai Township, Qiubei County from the aspect of broadening training channels.

The agronomist to trust as my advisor: a Greek case study

ABSTRACT Purpose Given the absence of (structured) advisory services in Greece and the CAP requirements, we aim at exploring which would be the characteristics of agronomists whom farmers might trust as advisors. Design/Methodology/Approach The field research addressed professional farmers who are in contact with agronomist(s)-as-advisors. Based on an aide memoire, 51 farmers were interviewed following a snowball technique in each of the 5 municipalities of Ioannina Prefecture, North-Western Greece, which comprised our research area. Findings The antecedents of trust (ability, benevolence and integrity) were systematically addressed and analysed thus leading to the identifications of the characteristics of an agronomist-as-advisor that shape the farmer’s determination to trust him/her. Additionally, mediators related to the antecedents were identified. Practical Implications This piece of work allows for a better understanding of the degree farmers trust various actors-as-advisors and thus of their role(s) in farmers’ micro-AKIS. Theoretical Implications This piece of work is a contribution towards as well as an effort to trigger a more systematic and nuanced approach on the topic of trust in advisory relationships through farmer-centric research. Originality/Value Τhe paper points to the characteristic of actors, notably agronomists, with whom farmers would prefer to build advisory relationships.

Big hands holding small hands: The role of new agricultural operating entities in farmland abandonment

It is crucial to address farmland abandonment to achieve Zero Hunger according to the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. However, quantitative research on this topic is relatively lacking. Based on a large sample of panel data from the Chinese Family Database, this study applies a panel Tobit model to examine the relationship between new agricultural operating entities (NAOEs) and farmland abandonment. The results show that NAOEs—professional operators, family farms, and agricultural cooperatives—are negatively and significantly associated with the ratio of abandoned farmland areas. This effect is achieved through channels such as promoting land leasing, providing technical guidance, and facilitating the sale of agricultural products. Additionally, NAOEs benefit more from China’s central and western regions, mountainous areas, villages with better land tenure security, and households with poorer human resource endowments. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers to ensure food security and promote sustainable development by cultivating various large-scale farming entities.

Adoption mode of agricultural machinery and food productivity: evidence from China

Many researchers argue that the adoption of agricultural mechanization services (AMSs) is an important way for smallholder farmers in China to engage in modern agricultural production. However, the impact of the adoption mode of agricultural machinery on food productivity remains under-analyzed. We investigate the links between the adoption mode of agricultural machinery and food productivity using data on 795 grain farmers collected from the North China Plain. The results indicate that, compared with service outsourcing (SO), self-purchase (SP) improves the technical efficiency of farms; however, it reduces the input efficiency of agricultural machinery. The channel of the effect is that, although SO can reduce the redundancy of agricultural machinery's input, the opportunistic behavior of AMS suppliers and labor supervision problems lead to a decline in agricultural machinery's operation quality. The impact of the adoption mode of agricultural machinery on food productivity is asymmetrical among different types of farmers. Large-scale and professional farmers benefit more from SP, whereas small-scale and part-time farmers benefit more from SO. The AMS is not perfect, and the Chinese government should pay close attention to the loss of technical efficiency in agricultural production caused by the opportunistic behavior of AMS suppliers. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust the agricultural machinery subsidy policy and reduce the transaction cost of AMS.

Research on the Cultivation of New-Type Professional Farmers under the Background of Population Aging

Research on the Cultivation of New-Type Professional Farmers under the Background of Population Aging

Transforming Traditional Farmers into Professionals: An Introduction to Human Resource Management in Rural

This research is focused on outlining experiences in rural human resource management through the introduction of a new professional farmer training process. The aim is to provide insights and references for developing countries in implementing farmer training and improving their human resource structure. The research methodology explores the literature combined with an inductive approach to describe and analyse experiences and lessons learned during training programmes to strengthen human resource capacity in the agricultural sector. The results of this study emphasise the importance of new professional farmer training in rural human resource management, with the Indonesian government prioritising the entire training process. The Indonesian government has taken strategic steps in farmer training, which include identifying appropriate training targets, selecting influential investment entities, developing practical training models, and designing supportive policies. These initiatives have significantly improved the quality and structure of rural human resources. The uniqueness of this research lies in its selection of topics that are less widely covered in the literature, especially regarding the training process and the new professional farmer model. This research is also important in enhancing the skills of rural individuals, increasing farmers' income, strengthening the role of agriculture, and supporting economic growth in rural areas. Furthermore, this research makes a significant contribution to the literature by enriching the theory of human capital investment in rural areas.

A Study on Psychological Capital of Cultivating High-quality Professional Farmers in the Background of Rural Revitalization

A Study on Psychological Capital of Cultivating High-quality Professional Farmers in the Background of Rural Revitalization