Farm size and greenhouse gas emission: Do large farms in China produce more emissions?

Zhe Zhao, Fan Zhang, Yiqiong Du, Xin Xuan, Ying Cai and Gui Jin
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Zhe Zhao: School of Economics, Liaoning University, Shenyang, P. R. China
Fan Zhang: Key Laboratory of Land Surface Pattern and Simulation, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China
Yiqiong Du: Institute of Loess Plateau, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, P. R. China
Xin Xuan: School of Land Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, P. R. China
Ying Cai: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P. R. China
Gui Jin: School of Economics and Management, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, P. R. China

Agricultural Economics, 2024, vol. 70, issue 3, 112-124

Abstract: Farms are key to agricultural advancement and carbon emission reduction. Understanding the influence of farm size on emissions is vital for eco-friendly farming. Our study used an econometric model with instrumental variable adjustments to examine the effect of farm size on greenhouse gas emissions, revealing an inverted U-shaped relationship. The findings revealed that emissions increased with farm size until a peak and then decreased. We identified an optimal farm size range (0.45 km 2 to 0.58 km 2 ) for lower emissions, where the farm size maintaining the lowest greenhouse gas emissions per unit area was 0.58 km 2 , while the lowest greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per capita occured at a farm size of 0.69 km 2 . Reducing emissions intensity per unit area is easier than reducing GHG emissions per person. Policymakers should prioritise promoting the expansion to moderately sized farms as a means of achieving emission reduction targets rather than solely increasing the number of farms. Overall, these insights offer policymakers novel approaches for ecological farm planning and the transition toward a low-carbon agriculture sector.

Keywords: econometric model; agricultural area; greenhouse emission; optimum scale (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:70:y:2024:i:3:id:307-2023-agricecon

DOI: 10.17221/307/2023-AGRICECON

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