Study On Factors Influencing Farmers’ Willingness To Conserve Farmland In Keshan County

Adhering to the red line of 1.8 billion mu of arable land is not only an important basis for national food security,but also an important guarantee for sustainable socio-economic development.However,food security and sustainable socio-economic development require not only a guarantee of arable land in terms of quantity,but also in terms of quality and ecology.However,the quality of arable land in China has been declining due to unreasonable land use over a long period of time,and ecological security is under threat,so it is urgent to strengthen the protection of the "trinity" of arable land.Farmers,as direct users of arable land and owners of contracted land management rights for a certain period of time,should be the natural guardians of arable land.Farmland protection is related to the vital interests of farmers,and farmers’ willingness to participate in farmland protection will affect their level of participation and have an impact on the effectiveness of farmland protection.Therefore,guiding farmers to participate in arable land conservation in a sustainable and effective manner is of great significance in improving food production capacity,realising rural revitalisation and promoting regional economic development.In this context,this paper takes Keshan County,Heilongjiang Province,as an example,to conduct a survey on farmers’ willingness to participate in arable land conservation.Based on the results of the survey,a descriptive analysis was conducted and a binary logistic regression of the selected variables was carried out using SPSS25 software,so as to arrive at the significant factors influencing farmers’ willingness to protect their arable land in Keshan County.The following conclusions were obtained through the study:(1)This paper takes Keshan County,Qiqihar City,Heilongjiang Province as the research area,and selects some farmers in seven townships and eight towns in Keshan County to conduct a questionnaire research on farmers’ willingness to protect their arable land and the influencing factors in Keshan County.479 valid questionnaires were collected,among which the respondents who chose willingness to protect their arable land accounted for 93.1% of the total sample,indicating that farmers in Keshan County are relatively strong in their willingness to protect their arable land.(2)By establishing a binary logistic model to empirically analyse the factors affecting farmers’ arable land conservation in Keshan County,the factors influencing farmers’ willingness to conserve their arable land in Keshan County were divided into four aspects: farmers’ basic characteristics,household characteristics,arable land resource characteristics variables and other external influencing factors.The regression analysis concluded that the following factors positively influenced farmers’ arable land conservation in Keshan County: gender,perception of destroying arable land,length of farming,number of family members,acreage,future plans for farming,whether the arable land was in the Keshan Blackland Demonstration Area,whether the setting up of the Blackland Demonstration Area had a facilitating effect on arable land conservation,and whether the implementation of the arable land subsidy policy had a facilitating effect.Farmers’ age,education level,farming status,number of people involved in farming in the household,total household income,share of farm income in the household,and number of plots of cultivated land were negatively affected.It was also concluded that 11 variables,including gender,education level,household size,number of people involved in farming in the household,total household income,number of cultivated plots,cultivated area,and future plans for farming,had a significant effect on farmers’ participation in farmland conservation.(3)The results of the survey and analysis show that Keshan County should start by increasing farmers’ willingness to participate in arable land conservation and translating that willingness into practical action,formulating practical guidance programmes,implementing arable land conservation techniques tailored to local conditions,and reasonably guiding farmers to participate in arable land conservation;it should also do a good job of publicity and mobilisation,providing technical training and guidance for farmers to implement arable land conservation,and providing policy support for farmers to participate in arable land conservation.