EconPapers    
Economics at your fingertips  
 

Does livestock manure recycling among acquaintance networks decouple crop and livestock production? Evidence from rural China

Ying Wang, Guanghui Jiang and Jisheng Min
Additional contact information
Ying Wang: College of Economics, Hefei University, Hefei, P.R. China
Guanghui Jiang: College of Finance, Anhui University of Finance and Economics, Bengbu, P.R. China
Jisheng Min: College of Economics and Management, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, P.R. China

Agricultural Economics, 2025, vol. 71, issue 9, 512-525

Abstract: Livestock manure serves as a vital source of organic fertiliser, with efficient utilisation being crucial for sustainable agricultural development. However, with the development of specialised high-input agriculture, livestock manure recycling (LMR) is currently inefficient and leading to the imbalance between surplus manure and croplands. This study theoretically and empirically investigates whether LMR among acquaintance networks influence the crop-livestock integration (CLI) production. Based on survey data of swine farmers in rural China, the estimates indicate that LMR among acquaintance networks enhances the degree of CLI but may result in over-application of manure. Conversely, LMR with outside villagers or organisations is more likely to reduce the degree of CLI, possibly leading to under-application of manure. The motivation behind farmers' LMR plays a crucial role. Furthermore, the study indicates that formal institution can break the constraints of acquaintance networks on LMR and restructure the crop-livestock relationship beyond the household level. Our findings emphasise that LMR within rural China's acquaintance networks are in a transition phase, exhibiting both relational and market orientation characteristics. It is currently essential to maintain the balance between crop and livestock production, advance the development of LMR social services when designing LMR policies, and to leverage the complementary roles of informal and formal institutions.

Keywords: crop-livestock integration; formal institution; rural networks; swine farmers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/219/2024-AGRICECON.html (text/html)
http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/219/2024-AGRICECON.pdf (application/pdf)
free of charge

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:71:y:2025:i:9:id:219-2024-agricecon

DOI: 10.17221/219/2024-AGRICECON

Access Statistics for this article

Agricultural Economics is currently edited by Ing. Zdeňka Náglová Ph.D.

More articles in Agricultural Economics from Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Ivo Andrle ().

 
Page updated 2025-09-26
Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:71:y:2025:i:9:id:219-2024-agricecon