The Influence Of Land Fragmentation On Farmers’ Green Production Behaviours

With the improvement of comprehensive production capacity,China’s agriculture is also facing serious problems of resource destruction and environmental pollution,so the transformation of the extensive development and green development of agriculture have risen to national action.However,despite the introduction of policies and measures by governments to promote green production technologies,the results are still unsatisfactory.In the context of big country with small-scale farming,the participation of farmers in green production will determine the results of green development of agriculture directly.At present,small-scale fragmented farming is the basic feature of agricultural production in China.As an important external factor constraint,land fragmentation profoundly affects farmers’ decisions and behaviors in agricultural production and management,investment and consumption,etc.Therefore,the study of farmers’ green production behaviors should also be placed under the background of land fragmentation.The study of land fragmentation can explore the influencing factors and mechanisms of farmers’ green production behaviors,which is of great significance to further improve the policies and measures for the promotion and application of green production technologies and green development of agriculture.Therefore,this paper focuses on the influence of land fragmentation on farmers’ green production behaviors.Based on the theory of transaction cost,scale economy,specialization and division of labor,this paper built a theoretical analysis framework,and then made a detailed description of characteristics of farmers’ individual and family management,land fragmentation,and participation in green production by using 962 household survey data in Hubei Province;Finally,the Oprobit model is used to empirically analyze the effect of land fragmentation on farmers’ green production behaviors,and the robustness test and heterogeneity analysis are fully carried out.The moderating effect of convenience of agricultural socialized services is discussed.The conclusions are as follows:(1)Land fragmentation is very usual,and there is a significant gap among regions.The average number of plots per household is 9.86,the average distance from the farthest plot is 1060.52 meters,and the average proportion of irregularly shaped plots is 44.41%.Regionally,the current situation of land fragmentation in Jingzhou is better,while that in Xiaogan and Huanggang is worse.(2)Farmers’ participation in green production is insufficient,and there is a significant gap between the adoption rates of each technology and different regions.The majority of farmers adopt one or two green production technologies;in terms of different regions,the green production level of farmers in Jingzhou and Xiaogan is higher,while that of farmers in Huanggang is lower;Specifically,the adoption rate of straw returning technology is the highest,followed by subsoiling and integrated control of diseases,insects and weeds,and the adoption rate of organic fertilizer and soil testing formula fertilization technology is the lowest.(3)Land fragmentation has a significant negative influence on farmers’ green production behaviors.Specifically,the number of plots and the proportion of irregularly shaped plots have a significant negative influence on farmers’ green production behaviors,and the distance from the farthest plot has a negative but not significant effect.(4)The convenience of agricultural socialized services plays a significant mediating role between land fragmentation and farmers’ green production behaviors.The negative influence of land fragmentation will be weakened when the farmers’ plots have good traffic conditions and crops are contiguous planted with the surrounding farmers.(5)The influence of land fragmentation on farmers’ green production behaviors differs among different types of characteristics.Land fragmentation has a significant negative influence on small-scale farmers’ green production behaviors,but moderate land fragmentation can promote large-scale farmers to adopt green production technologies.The negative influence of land fragmentation on the green production behaviors of farmers with a higher degree of part-time work and lower capital stock is more prominent.Based on the conclusions,in order to encourage farmers to participate in green production and promote the green development of agriculture,this paper argues that,first of all,more measures should be taken to improve the current situation of land fragmentation and promote the popularization and application of green production technologies.Secondly,rural infrastructure construction and maintenance mechanisms such as tractor ploughing road should be perfected.Finally,we should develop cooperative management modes such as continuous planting of crops and combined farming to improve the degree of production organization.