What are the Determinants of Large‐scale Farming in China?

The Chinese Government has increased its focus on expanding farm scale to promote agricultural development since 2010. A series of favorable polices has been adopted to support large‐scale farming. Using a multivariate probit model and 2015 and 2016 rural household survey data, the present paper examines the factors that influence small farmers' decision to become large‐scale farmers. The empirical regression results suggest that the decision to become a large‐scale farmer is significantly influenced by household human capital, cooperative membership, marketing channels, land‐transfer contracts and government policies. However, the influence of these factors differs with respect to becoming large‐scale grain and non‐grain farmers. These results imply that policy tools should target these factors and the appropriate group of small‐scale farmers. Generally, both central and local governments should promote large‐scale farming by enhancing rural households' human capital, improving marketing channels and providing agricultural social services, as well as encouraging returning migrant workers to engage in large‐scale farming.     

Household Property Rights Formation in Rural China: Farmers' Preference,Transaction Cost and the Efficiency Hypothesis

This paper examines the effects of farmers' preference, transaction cost and household productivity on land reallocation in rural China. Empirical results from a sample of 2102 households show that farmers' preference has no effect on land reallocation. The transaction cost has negative effects on partial‐scale land reallocation but has no effect on full‐scale land reallocation. Interestingly, highly productive and unproductive households receive more partial‐scale land reallocation than households with a median level of productivity, supporting the efficiency hypothesis (Brandt et al., 2004).     

Farmers' Variety Attribute Preferences: Implications for Breeding Priority Setting and Agricultural Extension Policy in Ethiopia*

Abstract: Technological progress in Ethiopian agriculture is the slowest by any standard, with rather very poor capacity to address the nation's problems of low agricultural productivity, poverty, and resource degradation. This paper argues and attributes the low level of technology adoption and impact to the discrepancy between the farmers' needs and the attributes of technologies generated. The empirical evidences have been generated based on the analyses of coffee farmers' variety attribute preferences, taking coffee seedlings as production technologies. Attribute preferences of smallholder farmers are governed by their contextual household characteristics, institutional, and socioeconomic factors. According to the results, risk vulnerable farmers prefer seeds adaptable to their local conditions and varieties with stable yield attribute. On the contrary, farmers in more accessible areas and/or those who are less concerned in securing subsistence income levels opt for income maximizing attributes, namely, yield and marketability. The study results have also shown the mechanisms of how farmers' attribute preferences change with development‐oriented interventions. The paper demonstrates why and how policy‐makers should formulate context specific technology development and agricultural extension strategies.     

Where have all the brides gone? Son preference and marriage in India over the twentieth century

Marriage is universal for women in India, but the marriage rate for men varies across regions, where the region is a proxy for shared cultural norms. A preference for sons results in a biased sex ratio towards men and creates a shortage of brides in the marriage market. Using the Indian census of 1931, the article finds that son preference was a regional phenomenon and led to a low marriage rate for men. Using caste‐level information, the article finds no evidence that men from the upper castes enjoyed an advantage in the marriage market as the theoretical literature predicts. The regional differences in gender bias and marriage market outcomes have persisted over the twentieth century and indicate the persistence of cultural values. The long‐run changes show that the marriage squeeze has reduced the surplus of men in all regions; however, the regional differences in son preference and marriage outcomes were still the same in 2001.     

北京市农民增收途径与典型案例分析

以北京市为研究对象,结合数据分析北京市农民收入现状。结果表明：2015—2021年,北京市乡村常住人口收入逐渐可观,但是乡村空心化、乡村居民家庭恩格尔系数不稳定、乡村居民收入增幅不明显等问题仍然存在。为实现农民增收,应发展都市型现代农业、完善农村劳动力就业体系、提升社会保障水平、推进教育城乡一体化、促进科技成果转化落地、发展完善农民培训、优化农产品流通体系、打造特色产业。     

What India Can Learn from China and Vice Versa

A partial convergence of the Indian and Chinese growth models is likely. Judging from China's experience, sustaining India's impressive economic performance of recent years will require a significant further opening of its economy (externally and internally), higher savings and investments, especially in physical infrastructure and social services, and stronger labor absorption in the modern sectors. The base of India's current economic boom - software, IT-related services and high-end manufacturing - is narrow compared to China's. Poor performance in agriculture is responsible for still significant poverty in many parts of rural India. Bilateral India-China ties, including trade and investment, are increasing rapidly and could help to bring about the structural economic changes India needs. Through its exports to China, India is becoming linked to global supply chains centered on China. The notion that India-China relations are, or are bound to become, fundamentally antagonistic, held by many in the USA, is mistaken and potentially dangerous.     

农民图书信息需求动机分析——基于三亚市的调查

新型农民是现代农业和新农村建设的主力军,培养具有高素质、有文化的新型农民对现代农业发展事业至关重要。以三亚市农民为调查对象，首先调查三亚市农民对图书信息需求的现状，在这基础上，运用问卷调查、定量与定性相结合等方法分析研究农民对图书信息的需求动机，并利用IBM SPSS19.0软件对需求类型部分的数据进行分析整理。得出结论：三亚市农民需求动机包括解决生产生活实际问题、丰富个人社会文化生活和提高个人日常生活质量等三个维度。     

Analysis of Farmers' Preferences for Development Intervention Programs: A Case Study of Subsistence Farmers from East Ethiopian Highlands

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to better understand farmers' perception of the relevance of different development intervention programs. Farmers' subjective ranking of agricultural problems and their preference for development intervention are elicited using a stated preference method. The factors influencing these preferences are determined using a random utility model. The study is based on a survey conducted in the Hunde‐Lafto area of the East Ethiopian Highlands. Individual interviews were conducted with 145 randomly selected farm households using semi‐structured questionnaires. The study suggests that drought, soil erosion and shortage of cultivable land are high priority agricultural production problems for farmers. Low market prices for farm products and high prices of purchased inputs also came out as major problems for the majority of farmers. Farmers' preferences for development intervention fall into four major categories: market, irrigation, resettlement, and soil and water conservation. Multinomial logit analysis of the factors influencing these preferences revealed that farmer's specific socio‐economic circumstances and subjective ranking of agricultural problems play a major role. It is also shown that preferences for some interventions are complementary and need to be addressed simultaneously. Recognition and understanding of these factors, affecting the acceptability of development policies for micro level implementation, will have a significant contribution to improve macro level policy formulation.     

Demographic change and its impact on farmers' field production decisions

Following the general trend in demographic change, and enhanced by the large-scale and continuous rural-urban migration, the rural labor force remaining in farming is quickly reducing and aging. This is likely to have significant impact on the labor-intensive agriculture. However, the fast growing of machinery service has provided farmers an opportunity to out-source field work that demands heavy labor inputs. Therefore, the demographic change and development of machinery service may jointly influence farmers' production decision in terms of crop choice and inputs. Household data of Fixed Point Rural Survey (FPRS) are used to examine the potential change in farmers' decisions on crop mix and input uses. It is found out that, under current situations, aging may impact agriculture through changing crop mix, and the choice is largely determined by access to service of farm machine; which, in turn, is likely to be determined by topography.     

北京农户对农村生态环境治理的认知差异研究

治理北京农村生态环境能改善农村人居环境,建设美丽宜居乡村.基于北京市3个村的问卷数据,从北京农户的个人因素、社会网络因素和家庭经营因素共14个指标入手,运用Logistic回归分析方法进行研究.结果显示,不同农户的性别、年龄、从事的职业、受教育程度、政治面貌、是否为村委干部、家庭年收入、家庭食品支出占总收入的比重和家庭劳动力所占比重对北京农村生态环境治理的认知具有显著影响.     

社会认同、环境认知与农户绿色生产行为

基于江西省微观农户调查数据，用有序Probit模型考察社会认同对农户绿色生产行为采纳的影响，检验环境认知在二者间的中介效应及异质性分析。结果表明：社会认同对农户绿色生产行为采纳程度有显著正向影响；环境认知在社会认同对农户绿色生产行为采纳程度具有部分中介效应；异质性分析发现，环境认知对老年组和男性农户具有显著影响，而对非老年组和女性农户未起到显著影响。社会认同对老年组农户更具有显著影响。据此提出培育农户环境认知、激发农户主体意识、加强政策引导宣传等建议。     

农户参与订单农业行为及其影响因素研究——以山西省乡宁县为例

基于山西省乡宁县农户的调研资料和数据,对该地区农户参与订单农业行为及主要影响因素进行研究。结果表明:第一,该地区农户对订单农业认可度较高且农业经营经验丰富,但农户家庭农业劳动力普遍缺乏,以小规模农业经营为主。第二,农户参与订单农业行为受多重因素影响,其中订单企业是否提供技术指导、是否进行农产品质量控制以及是否保证农产品销路起正向作用;而农户户主年龄、文化程度以及家庭劳动力比重起负向作用。最后结合研究结果提出建议,以期对乡宁县订单农业蓬勃发展有所帮助。     

农民专业合作社对农户生产效益的影响——基于湖南葡萄种植行业的调研分析

以湖南长沙、岳阳、娄底、怀化、常德70家葡萄园农户的生产资料作为研究样本,对农民专业合作社与农户生产效益的关系进行研究,结果显示：农民专业合作社社员与非社员农户之间存在生产效益的差异,非社员在葡萄销售价格、每亩资金成本、每亩收入、每亩净收入这四个生产效益指标上都低于社员,体现出加入专业合作社的优越性。为鼓励更多农户入社,建议增加农民专业合作社示范点,并且增加对农民专业合作社特色农产品的扶持,使农业增产、农民增收,推动我国农业现代化进程。     

Assessing the Impact of Agricultural Technology Adoption on Farmers' Well‐being Using Propensity‐Score Matching Analysis in Rural China

The present paper assesses the impact of improved upland rice technology on farmers' well‐being. The study uses propensity‐score matching to address the problem of ‘self‐selection,’ because technology adoption is not randomly assigned. It applies this procedure to household survey data collected in Yunnan, China in 2000, 2002 and 2004. The findings indicate that improved upland rice technology has a robust and positive effect on farmers' well‐being, as measured by income levels and the incidence of poverty. The effect of technology on well‐being shows a diminishing impact on producers' incomes. This implies that newer innovations are continuously needed to replace older technologies that have reached their saturation points.     

Caste Stratification and Wealth Inequality in India

We analyze the relationship between wealth inequality and caste divisions in India using nationally representative surveys on household wealth conducted during 1991–92 and 2002–03. According to our findings, the groups in India that are generally considered disadvantaged (known as Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes) have, as one would expect, substantially lower wealth than the “forward” caste groups, while the Other Backward Classes and non-Hindus occupy positions in the middle. Using the ANOGI decomposition technique, we estimate that between-caste inequality accounted for about 13% of overall wealth inequality in 2002–03. The stratification parameters indicate that the forward caste Hindus overlap little with the other caste groups, while the latter have significantly higher degrees of overlap with one another and with the overall population. Using this method, we are also able to comment on the emergence and strengthening of a “creamy layer,” or relatively well-off group, among the disadvantaged groups, especially the Scheduled Tribes.     

PRODUCTION RISK AND ADVANTAGES OF MIXED FARMING IN THE PAKISTAN PUNJAB

This paper proposes an empirical model of profit variability at the individual farm level and applies it to Pakistan's agriculture. Results show that the addition of idiosyncratic yield shocks and adjustment for input costs lead to a much larger variability of net profits than implied by the variability of average gross revenues–Pakistan's irrigated agriculture is associated with higher profit variability compared with semiarid India. It is also demonstrated that the correlation between green fodder profit and milk profit at the farm level is substantially negative. This negative correlation implies that it is advantageous, in terms of risk diversification, to combine fodder and milk production in one enterprise, which is commonly observed in the mixed farming systems in Pakistan's Punjab.     

Reproducing Difference? Schooling,Jobs, and Empowerment in Uttar Pradesh,India

This article examines the role of school education in reproducing caste and class inequalities in rural Bijnor district, Uttar Pradesh, India. Drawing on Bourdieu’s work, the article shows that a rural elite has used its superior wealth, connections, and social status to ensure that their sons receive privileged access to schooling credentials and government employment. The greater availability of formal educational opportunities allied to the political rise of lower castes has allowed a small group of Dalits to raise their social standing, but has failed to alter historical relationships of dependence and exploitation.     

Cooperative patronage: The National Smallholder Farmers' Association of Malawi in Kasungu District

This paper estimates the determinants of farmers' decisions to join a rural producer organisation, the National Smallholder Farmers' Association of Malawi (NASFAM), in Kasungu District. Data for the study were collected in June and August 2003 using household-level questionnaires and stratified random sampling, where strata were membership status and gender. Probit analysis of 250 farmers shows that off-farm sources of income, distance of the farmer's household from Kasungu District centre, age of the farmer, tobacco farming, education, household level land holding and gender determined the decision to join NASFAM. These results suggest that farmers should be informed of the potential benefits of participating in rural development efforts, and that rural communication and information infrastructure should be improved so as to reduce the costs of information access and transactions in general, if participation in organisations such as NASFAM is to be enhanced.     

西藏农牧区公共服务满意度评价和优化配置策略研究 ——基于乡村振兴战略视角

农牧民对公共服务的满意度评价是评估农牧区公共服务供给效率、提升公共服务水平的基础。以乡村振兴为研究视角,以西藏农牧区公共服务满意度评价为研究对象,通过146份问卷调查资料,对农牧民在安居工程、教育、医疗、就业、社会保障、基础设施建设和文体等7类公共服务的满意度进行分析,评估农牧区公共服务供给现状和需求满意度水平。结果表明,农牧民对公共服务一级指标和二级指标不同类型和不同项目之间的公共服务满意度有较大的差异,其中,农牧民对教育和安居工程类公共服务的满意度评价较高,对社会保障、基础设施建设类公共服务的满意度评价处于中等水平,对文体、就业和医疗类公共服务的满意度评价较低。据此,提出以人为本、阶梯式供给、利益表达和绩效评价等优化配置政策的创新思路。     

Effects of farm credit access on agricultural commercialization in Ghana: Empirical evidence from the northern Savannah ecological zone

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how farmers' access to credit affects agricultural commercialization in the northern Savannah ecological zone of Ghana. The study uses data from the Ghana Feed the Future baseline survey involving a total sample of 2,962 farm households. The study employs endogenous switching regression for ordered outcomes to account for endogeneity and self‐selection bias in the decision to access credit. The results from the estimations revealed that education, age, nonfarm business equipment, multiple crop production, and group membership are the variables influencing farmers' access to credit. Agricultural commercialization is determined by gender, age, marital status, household size, farm size, nonfarm business equipment, means of transport, group membership, assets index, multiple crop production, and location. In terms of causal effect, the results show that credit access stimulates higher commercialization. Thus policies that enhance farmers' access to credit are more likely to be successful in getting them to commercialize.