Study On The Planting Scale And Performance For Potato Household Under The View Of Topographic Factors

At present,China’s agricultural development has entered an important stage of transformation and upgrading,which farmers should be still taken as an important subject and play their key role for a long time The development of various forms of moderate scale management pattern is an indispensable way for the construction of modern farming in China,which however,the varied and complicated topography and the mountainous geography environment has restricted the development of appropriate scale operation for farmers.Therefore,based on the theories and methods of geography and agricultural economics,we defined the spatial coupling pattern of potato production and topography in China.Also,we systematically analyzed the technical efficiency of potato production and its influencing factors of different scales in hilly region,and discussed the impact of land scale on farmers’ incomefor the further clarification of the factors that may impact on willingness of farmers to change potato planting scale.Finally,we put forward countermeasures and suggestions of potato production for the small farmers and the development of potato industry in China.The innovation of this paper lies on the combination of the methods or theories of geography and agricultural economics,and the presentation of the spatial distribution of potato-planting in China.Based on this,we also revealed the influences of topographic factors on the distribution of main areas of potato production in China.The main conclusions are as follows:1.In China,the spatial distribution of potato production pattern was coupled with the topographic elements,which nearly 80% of potato main producing counties were distributed in hilly and mountainous areas with poor natural conditions.The main potato producing counties showed obvious spatial distribution characteristics of "one belt,one region",and overlapped with the agro-pastoral transition zone in north or south China.The major potato production areas were often distributed in areas with the uncoordinated water and land resources,which is characterized by much land while less water,or much water while less land.The topography worked from both natural processes and social environment,which therefore impacted on the spatial distribution,yield and quality of potato at the macro-perspective,as well as affected choice intention of the potato planting scales of the farmers at the micro-perspective.Thus,topographic factor has an important impact on the potato production in China.2.There were significant differences in potato planting scale between mountainous areas and plain areas in China.The land fragmentation was serious.The technical efficiency of potato production of farmers in hilly and mountainous areas was low,among which the technical efficiency of medium-sized farmers was significantly higher than that of small-scale or large-scale farmers.Factors such as land endowment,labor endowment,characteristics of farmers’ production and management on potatos,and farmers’ cognitive level had different influences on the efficiency of potato production technology in mountainous areas of China.There was a negative correlation between land scale and production technical efficiency.The average area of land plot,the number of labor force,the degree of potato specialization,participation in potato professional cooperatives,and the level of potato production cognition had positive effects on the production technical efficiency of farmers.In the perspective of regional differences,the efficiency of Huidong was obviously higher than that of Wuxi,which was related to the level of regional economic development and its proximity to the markets.3.Doing part-time jobs were common for potato farmers in mountainous areas of China,and the income inequality index of farmers was high.The total household income of large-scale peasant households was significantly higher than that of small-scale and medium-scale peasant households.With the increase of scale,farmers’ agricultural income increases gradually and non-agricultural income has decreased gradually.The gini coefficient of total income of potato farmers in mountainous areas of China was high.Farm income inequality was stronger than household income inequality.The indexes of farmers’ non-agricultural income inequality in mountainous areas were all lower than household income and agricultural income,while those in plain areas are just the opposite.4.Land scale,human capital,environmental policies and regional differences all significantly affected the household income of potato growers.The scale of land had a positive impact on the total income of peasant households.For every 1 mu of cultivated land area increased,the total income of peasant households increased by 0.9%,and the household agricultural income increased by 2.3%.Education had a positive impact on farmers’ income.If the education level of farmers increases by one unit,the level of family income could increase by 11.1%,and agricultural income would increase by 7.2%.The number of labor force had an obvious effect on the increase of household income.Every additional labor force increased the total income of peasant households by 42%.Participation in agricultural technical training significantly impacted on income.As for environmental policy variables,distance to the markets and participation in agricultural cooperatives had positive effects on farmers’ income.5.In a macro-perspective,the potato planting area and yield in China increased significantly from 2005 to 2015.Half of the provinces contributed the more patato yield on per unit area,and the other half provinces contributed the increased area of potato production.In the micro-perspective of farmers,more than half of the farmers in mountainous areas are willing to reduce the scale of potato planting.The number of labor force,the familiarity about variety characteristics,door-to-door acquisition,the distance to villages and towns,and occurrence of potato disaster all had positive impacts on the willingness of farmers to reduce the scale,while the land transfer had a negative correlation with the willingness to reduce the scale.