Study On Arable Land Wasting Behavior In Mountainous Area And Related Influencing Factors

With the rapid development of urbanization and industrialization,China has seen a sharp decline in agricultural acreage due to the dramatic increase of the scale of land for construction and the adjustment in agricultural structure.Resource shortage of cultivated land has become a key factor which restricts China's economic development.In this context,how to make full use of the limited cultivated land resources and avoid abandoning cultivated land is a real issue which draws attention from all walks of life.The study object in this paper are 192 farmers from Linan,Yongkang,Kaihua and Longquan in Zhejiang province.Based on the farmer's land use behavior theory,this paper applies Heckman Two-Step method to analyse the factors affect farmers' behavior of abandoning cultivated land and,identify the actual factors that lead to farmers' behavior of abandoning cultivated land,and therefore provides theoretical reference for government departments to develop effective policies for cultivated land protection.According to the analysis,this paper finds that:(1)There is a severe phenomenon of abandoning cultivated land in mountain areas,and there exists significant differences between different regions.Thus,a differentiated policy can be implemented to increase the comparative effectiveness of the agricultural economy.(2)The regional difference of abandoning cultivated land is mainly caused by difference of government's support and the development of the local economy.Therefore,the rural infrastructure construction needs to be strengthened and leading agricultural enterprises need to be supported.(3)Economic factors are an important driving force which leads to cultivated land abandoning.So the economic benefits of cultivated land for farmers should be practically improved,and farmers should be attracted to make full use of cultivated land resources.(4)The agricultural acreage and cultivated land quality are the endogenous causes of abandoning cultivated land.Therefore,the land circulation system should be improved,and the scale management of cultivated land should be promoted.Meanwhile,ensuring the effective training implementation and promoting the quality of cultivated land are also important.(5)Farm labor force shortage and aging are the direct causes of abandoning cultivated land.Thus,greater beneficial support should be given to farmers and more young people should be attracted to engage in agricultural development.