Exploring a Moderate Operation Scale in China's Grain Production: A Perspective on the Costs of Machinery Services

doi:10.3390/su11082213

	Exploring a Moderate Operation Scale in China's Grain Production: A Perspective on the Costs of Machinery Services
	Xu, Yu 1,2; Xin, Liangjie 1; Li, Xiubin 1; Tan, Minghong 1; Wang, Yahui 3
刊名	SUSTAINABILITY
	2019-04-02
卷号	11 期号:8 页码:17
关键词	moderate operation scale farm size mechanization cost grain production China
ISSN号	2071-1050
DOI	10.3390/su11082213
通讯作者	Li, Xiubin(lixb@igsnrr.ac.cn)
英文摘要	Due to the indivisibility of agricultural machinery in production, limited farm sizes have reduced mechanization efficiency and increased the cost of grain production in China. As a result, the development of a moderate-scale farming system has been proposed by academic communities and policy makers. However, it is still hotly debated how to determine a moderate farm scale. We offer a new perspective on the costs of machinery services. This manuscript employs the threshold model and uses the nationally representative data from the 2015 China Rural Household Panel Survey (CRHPS) to investigate the role of farm size expansion relative to per area machinery services expenditures (PAMSE). The empirical results reveal that there is a nonlinear relation between the farm size and PAMSE. Specifically, farm size expansion can reduce the PAMSE by improving mechanization efficiency in all cases, while the magnitude of cost-saving is progressively reduced in the process of farm scale expansion. In particular, a 1 mu (1 mu = 1/15 ha) increase in the farm scale could only lead to a 0.3% decrease in the PAMSE when the farm size exceeded 50 mu, which indicates that 50 mu is a minimum efficient farm scale to achieve most economies of scale. Therefore, we suggest that persistent efforts should be devoted to improving farmland circulation efficiency and developing scale farms. More importantly, governmental supporting policies, such as agricultural subsidies, need to attach more importance to these large farms.
资助项目	National Natural Science Foundation of China[41571095] ; Key Deployment Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences
WOS关键词	LAND FRAGMENTATION ; AGRICULTURAL MECHANIZATION ; FARM MECHANIZATION ; FUTURE ; LABOR ; SIZE ; WAGES ; INNOVATION ; ADOPTION ; IMPACTS
WOS研究方向	Science & Technology - Other Topics ; Environmental Sciences & Ecology
语种	英语
出版者	MDPI
WOS记录号	WOS:000467752200026
资助机构	National Natural Science Foundation of China ; Key Deployment Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences
内容类型	期刊论文
源URL	[http://ir.igsnrr.ac.cn/handle/311030/59392]
专题	中国科学院地理科学与资源研究所
通讯作者	Li, Xiubin
作者单位	1.Chinese Acad Sci, Key Lab Land Surface Pattern & Simulat, Inst Geog Sci & Nat Resources Res, Beijing 100101, Peoples R China 2.Univ Chinese Acad Sci, Beijing 100049, Peoples R China 3.Southwest Univ, Sch Geog Sci, Chongqing 400715, Peoples R China
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Xu, Yu,Xin, Liangjie,Li, Xiubin,et al. Exploring a Moderate Operation Scale in China's Grain Production: A Perspective on the Costs of Machinery Services[J]. SUSTAINABILITY,2019,11(8):17.
APA	Xu, Yu,Xin, Liangjie,Li, Xiubin,Tan, Minghong,&Wang, Yahui.(2019).Exploring a Moderate Operation Scale in China's Grain Production: A Perspective on the Costs of Machinery Services.SUSTAINABILITY,11(8),17.
MLA	Xu, Yu,et al."Exploring a Moderate Operation Scale in China's Grain Production: A Perspective on the Costs of Machinery Services".SUSTAINABILITY 11.8(2019):17.