Impact Of Aging Agricultural Labor Force On Garlic Production Behavior

The ageing of agricultural labor force is one of the major problems currently facing most agricultural producing countries in the world.The inter-regional and inter-industrial transfer of young rural labour induced by factors such as the market economy system and regional development policies,the decline in the fertility rate of the rural population and the growth in life expectancy per capital will lead to an uneven distribution of the age structure of China’s labor force.The causes of the ageing of rural labor force are complex,resulting in a continuous growth in the size of the elderly rural population engaged in agricultural production,making "ageing" agriculture one of the typical characteristics of Chinese agricultural production.As a highly efficient cash crop,garlic cultivation is highly dependent on rural labor force.In the process of garlic planting,it faces the problem of changing labour endowment due to changes in the age of the labour force.A quantitative analysis of the impact of ageing workforce on garlic planting behavior will help to guide the cultivation of garlic scientifically,achieve cost reduction in the process of garlic cultivation,improve the quality of planting results and increase the efficiency of planting income,and assist the implementation of China’s rural comprehensive revitalization strategyBased on this,the author focuses on the impact of ageing labor force on garlic planting behavior,taking the garlic planting group and production industry in Lanling County,Shandong Province,which is representative of garlic planting industry,as the main object of investigation and research.Starting from the ageing agricultural labor force,the data from a survey of 694 garlic planting households in Lanling County,Shandong Province,are used to analyse the relationship between labour,capital and land constraints and to analyse garlic planting behaviour.According to the logic of "ageing agricultural labor force-labor,capital and land constraints-garlic planting behavior-adjustment of garlic planting input factors-optimization of garlic planting behavior",the optimisation of garlic cultivation behaviour is achieved by adjusting the allocation of garlic planting input factors.First of all,through combing the literature from the macro and micro perspectives,define the essence and characteristics of agricultural labor ageing,the farmers’ planting behavior and characteristics.Based on neoclassical technology choice theory,factor of production theory,factor scarcity technology innovation theory and farmer’s behaviour theory,the theoretical analysis framework and logical mechanism of the impact of ageing agricultural labour on garlic cultivation behaviour is constructed from three dimensions:individual labour force characteristics,household characteristics and land characteristics,through sorting out the relationship between factor and factor,factor and output,identify the key links and key factors of garlic cultivation behavior,and explore the impact mechanism of agricultural labor ageing on the factor input,land use,technology selection,production efficiency and output of garlic planting.Secondly,based on the theory of land use efficiency,the changes in the endowment of ageing of labor force and the impact of land fragmentation on land use behavior are clarified in the realistic context of the long-term and increasingly serious ageing of labor force in Lanling County.From a non-linear perspective,this paper analyzes the direct effect of the ageing of labor force on land use and the indirect effect conducted through the degree of land fragmentation,and preliminarily judges the relationships between the variables through cross-sectional statistical analysis.On this basis,hierarchical regression analysis is used to conduct empirical test through Tobit regression model and intermediary effect model.This paper explores the impact of agricultural labor ageing on land use efficiency and land use behavior from the perspective of land,and studies the impact of labor ageing on technology selection.Three dimensions of individual labor force characteristics,household characteristics and land characteristics are used to examine the performance of ageing agricultural labor force on garlic planting technology selection,and the regulatory effect model is used to identify the impact of different garlic planting technology selection methods on garlic production.Based on the analysis of the influence of agricultural labor ageing on garlic technology selection and influence,the production efficiency of garlic planting is calculated by DEA model and to empirically test the impact and performance of agricultural labor ageing on garlic output efficiency.The aim is to play a certain role in ensuring the increased output of labor-intensive agricultural producers similar to garlic and coping with the impact of ageing agricultural labor.Further,according to the empirical test results of the ageing of agricultural labor force on garlic planting behavior,the main research conclusions are as follows:(1)The middle-aged and elderly labor force is the main body of garlic production in Lanling County,Shandong Province,with high labour and capital supply constraints,low local household size,high elder age dependency ratio,heavy household burden,serious ageing of garlic growers,low education level of old age farmers,low participation in agricultural technology training,physical poor health and high land fragmentation.(2)Labor intensity positively affects land use efficiency and negatively affects the degree of land fragmentation.The most important contribution to land use efficiency is made by the input of modern production factors with advanced technology,but industry and other agricultural material departments share most of their benefits,resulting in garlic growers’ own production factors determining land use efficiency and ultimately inhibiting the economic incentives of garlic growers.(3)Agricultural mechanization service has a positive regulating effect,which can mitigate the adverse impact of ageing agricultural labor on garlic yields;agricultural technology training does not play a regulatory role.(4)The average production efficiency of garlic planting is low,with the lowest productivity of aged growers aged 60 and above.The inefficient use of capital investment is related to the high but low contribution of capital investment such as fertilizer,pesticides,hired labour and mulch.The age of garlic growers is 61.4 years old as the threshold,showed an inverted "U" shape with increasing and then decreasing productivity.The degree of family ageing negatively impacts on production efficiency,highlighting the high constraints on labor and capital supply.Finally,according to the mechanism of influence of ageing agricultural labor on garlic planting behavior and empirical analysis conclusions,combined with the natural laws and technical requirements in the garlic planting process,policy recommendations are put forward from the macro policy level to optimize garlic planting behaviour and adapt to ageing agricultural labor.The new main body of garlic planting should be compounded,create a new model of combining garlic planting "production,teaching and research",build a suitable model of land integration and circulation,the level of integrated agricultural services of the whole garlic industry chain should be improved,and innovate and standardize the capital integration of garlic production.Further development of the characteristic industry "Cangshan Garlic" in Lanling,Shandong Province,to promote the high-quality development of garlic industry.