Labor Endowment, Cultivated Land Fragmentation, and Ecological Farming Adoption Strategies among Farmers in Jiangxi Province, China

Jie Zhang, Meiqiu Chen, Chang Huang and Zhaohao Lai
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Jie Zhang: Research Center on Rural Land Resources Use and Protection, Jiangxi Agricultural University, 1101 Zhiming Road, Nanchang 330045, China
Meiqiu Chen: Research Center on Rural Land Resources Use and Protection, Jiangxi Agricultural University, 1101 Zhiming Road, Nanchang 330045, China
Chang Huang: Research Center on Rural Land Resources Use and Protection, Jiangxi Agricultural University, 1101 Zhiming Road, Nanchang 330045, China
Zhaohao Lai: Research Center on Rural Land Resources Use and Protection, Jiangxi Agricultural University, 1101 Zhiming Road, Nanchang 330045, China

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 5, 1-17

Abstract: A deeper understanding of the factors that influence the ecological farming adoption strategies of farmers can help in developing effective adaptation measures to mitigate the degradation of cultivated land quality and ecological degradation. This study used a stratified random sampling technique to select 1488 households in Jiangxi Province, while the double-hurdle model was used to analyze the influence of labor endowments (LEs) and cultivated land fragmentation (CLF) on ecological farming decision-making. The results indicate that LEs and CLF play important roles in farmers’ decision-making with regard to ecological farming. To be more specific, the total household population and CLF have negative effects on adoption willingness, while the number of laborers has a positive effect. For the degree of adoption, the total household population has a negative effect, while the number of laborers and part-time employment have positive effects. In addition, farmers’ ecological farming behavior is also influenced by factors such as education, agricultural income, cooperatives, and agricultural subsidies. Overall, farmers have a high willingness to adopt ecological farming, but the degree of actual adoption is low. This is not conducive to the promotion of ecological farming techniques and the sustainable development of agriculture in China. The study proposes that the government should further improve financial investment and provide relevant technical services. In addition, a temporary work platform should be set up for farmers to encourage them to find other work during the agricultural low season.

Keywords: ecological farming; labor endowment; cultivated land fragmentation; double-hurdle model; farmers; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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