The Influence Of Rural Labor Structure On Cropland Abandonment

In recent years,with the rapid growth of national economy and urbanization,China witnessed a rapid increase in the scale and speed of labor transfer.A large number of rural labor forces have transferred from the primary industry to the secondary and tertiary industries.The non-agricultural transfer of rural labor force in China is a highly selective process.Many younger farmers with better physical strength and comprehensive quality leave the countryside for the cities and towns,while the left behind rural labor force is mainly composed of the elderly,women and children,resulting in great changes in the structure of rural labor force.The decrease of the quantity and quality of rural labor,the most important factor of agricultural production,and changes in its structure will directly lead to the change of agricultural land use,among which the most prominent phenomenon is cropland abandonment.Although the government has implemented a series of preferential policies to reduce the burden of farmers and promote their enthusiasm,cropland abandonment has not been effectively alleviated and the area of cropland abandonment has increased.In addition,most of the cropland abandonment in China is in the mountainous and hilly areas,where the transfer of rural labor force is intense and the structure of the left behind rural labor force has changed greatly.Moreover,topographical disadvantages in this area lead to poor farming conditions.Consequently,this area has become prominent in cropland abandonment.At present,the research on the structure of rural labor force in China is mainly focused on its impact on agricultural production,agricultural technology efficiency,food security and family income.There are few researches about its impact on cropland abandonment,especially the cropland abandonment problems in mountain areas in recent years.In the area of cropland abandonment,existing researches cover the connotation,driving factors and the influence of cropland abandonment,among which the driving factors of abandonment are the focus of present researches.Experts believe that the decrease of rural labor force is the direct driving factor of cropland abandonment.However,most of the studies on the impact of labor force transfer on cropland abandonment are conducted from the aspects of the number of labor force transfer,the increase of opportunity cost of farming and so on.There are few systematic and comprehensive analyses of the impact of rural labor force structure on cropland abandonment after the transfer.Besides,cropland abandonment in rural areas is not only a problem in the utilization of cropland resources,but also an economic and social problem,which is related to the food security of our country.Therefore,the study of the impact of rural labor structure on cropland abandonment will help to put forward relevant countermeasures to adjust the distribution of labor resources,alleviate the phenomenon of cropland abandonment and enhance the effective use of cropland.Wuling mountain area is one of the 14 concentrated and contiguous poverty-stricken areas in China.The local economy is underdeveloped and a large number of rural labor forces have left,resulting in great changes in the structure of left behind labor force and aggravating the problem of cropland abandonment.Based on the 563 household survey data in Youyang,Wulong and Yanhe counties in Wuling mountain area,this paper analyzes the structure of rural left behind labor force and the current situation of cropland abandonment,and summarizes the basic characteristics of rural labor force and land use in mountain areas.After that,based on relevant research literature and the field survey data,five variables are selected as the dependent variables,namely,whether the cropland is abandoned,the area of cropland abandonment,the area of paddy field abandonment,the area of dry land abandonment and the cropland abandonment rate,and a total of 16 variables are selected as independent variables from the following four aspects: the structure characteristics of family labor force,the characteristics of family income,the characteristics of family farmland and the regional characteristics.Multicollinearity test are carried out for the independent variables.On this basis,the Logistic binary regression analysis model and the Tobit regression analysis model are constructed to study the impact of rural labor structure on cropland abandonment.Based on the descriptive statistical results and regression model analysis,this paper reached the following research conclusions:(1)The structure of rural labor force in the study area shows the phenomena of “aging”,“feminization”,“low quality” and “concurrent business”.Statistics show that the proportion of people aged 65 and above in agricultural labor force is 20.71%,which is far more than 7%.The proportion of women is 49.27%;the education level of labor force in the study area is low,with their average year of schooling being only 5.36 years.Nearly 70% of them have only received education of junior high school or below.The health structure of agricultural labor force in the study area is also not ideal,with only 32.85% of them being in excellent health condition;and their overall vocational skill is very limited,with only a small number of them received skills training.The phenomenon of concurrent business is widespread among farmers,with 74.60% of them having concurrent business.(2)The problem of cropland abandonment in the study area is serious.In total,241 households have abandoned cropland,accounting for 42.81% of the total.In addition,the total area of abandoned cropland among the investigated farmers is 725.27 mu(3.01 mu per household)and the rate of cropland abandonment is 22.51%,with most of the abandoned land being dry land,especially slope land and land of poor quality.The time span of abandoned cropland is very long,with the earliest abandoned in 1982.(3)The structure of rural labor force has a significant impact on cropland abandonment.The aging of agricultural labor force will aggravate cropland abandonment and its impact on paddy field abandonment is greater than that on dry land abandonment;the low quality of agricultural labor force and concurrent business will also aggravate the abandonment of cropland,especially paddy field abandonment;the impact of concurrent business on dry land abandonment is positive but fails to pass the significant test,and the same is true of the impact of the feminization of agricultural labor force on the cropland abandonment.(4)The increase of farmers' farming income and transferring the cropland can effectively alleviate the abandonment.The characteristics of the cropland itself,farmers' behavior of land transferring and regional characteristics will all have a significant impact on cropland abandonment.Based on the results of questionnaire survey analysis,this paper puts forward the following policy suggestions to alleviate the problem of cropland abandonment in the study area:(1)improve the level of agricultural mechanization in mountain areas,accelerate the promotion of agricultural technology training and guidance;(2)promote the cultivation of appropriate economic crops,broaden the marketing channels of agricultural products;(3)strengthen and improve the construction of productive infrastructure in rural areas in mountain areas;(4)increase land circulation and promote large-scale management of cropland.