Zoning And Operational Mechanism Of Arable Land Protection Economic Compensation In China

In recent years,rapid economic development has led to a strong demand of arable land,the contradiction between"arable land protections"and"economic development"has increasingly intensified.In order to ensure the safety of arable land,Chinese government firmly implements the world’s most rigorous arable land protection policy.However,it weighs heavily on restraint and light on incentive,resulting in a reduction in arable land resources.The positive externalities of cultivated land protection make the duties and obligations of regional cultivated land protection become ambiguity,the interests of farmland protection subjects are seriously damaged,the enthusiasm of cultivated land protection is reduced,and the cultivated land resources are difficult to be effectively protected,which seriously threatens China’s food security.And the continuous northward movement of arable land has aggravated the inconsistent of regional cultivated land resources.The provinces with rich arable land resources have undertaken excessive arable land protection tasks with heavy financial burden,they have also lost the development opportunities of non-agricultural industries with relatively high economic returns simultaneously,which resulted in a great loss in regional interests and the unbalanced distribution of regional arable land and economic growth.Therefore,constructing economic compensation mechanisms for cultivated land protection,determining the zoning of arable land,the subject of arable land protection,compensation standards,and the amount of compensation in the surplus(deficit)area of arable land,which can stimulate the enthusiasm of arable land protection and ensure food security,and realizing the co-ordination of cultivated land protection and socio-economic development.Based on externality theory,public goods theory,opportunity cost theory,sustainable development theory,polycentric governance theory,and the analysis of provincial consistency of cultivated land protection and economic growth,this paper divided the whole country into the deficit area,balance area and surplus area of cultivated land based on the views of food security and the balance of regional cultivated land quantity and quality,and calculated the scale of cultivated land protection.Then,using the opportunity cost method to measure the compensation standard of cultivated land protection,and according to the amount of cultivated land and different per-capita grain demand,measured the surplus(or deficit)amount and compensation quantity of arable land protection.Based on a survey conducted in Henan,this paper analyzed the key issues of constructing cultivated land protection economic compensation system in main grain-producing areas,such as acceptance and payment subjects,compensation object,compensation standard,compensation method,etc.Finally,the research conclusions and corresponding suggestions were put forward.The results showed that,(1)based on the view of food security,the country’s provincial-level administrative regions had divided into 8 provinces of surplus area,11provinces of balance area and 12 provinces of deficit area.(2)Based on multi-center governance theory,constructing a“central-provincial-county”three-level economic compensation operating mechanism for cultivated land protection from operational procedures and operational mechanisms.(3)In 2015,the average value standard of the regional compensation was 2.90×10~4 yuan/hm~2 by using the opportunity cost method,among which the deficit area is highest,then the surplus area,and the balance area is the lowest.(4)Analyze the key elements of the economic compensation mechanism for cultivated land protection based on farmer households’perspectives(include compensation subject,object,standard,method,etc.).(5)China’s arable land distribution and regional economic development are inconsistent,so there is a need of inter-regional conservation of cultivated land coordination from 2009 to 2015.(6)Improving laws and regulations,implementing different cultivated land protection policies,establishing the specialized agencies,and increasing publicity should be put forward to guarantee the implementation of the economic compensation mechanism for cultivated protection smoothly.