Research On The Difference Of Agricultural Water Price On Water-saving Behavior Of Farmers With Different Planting Scales

As a large agricultural country,China has a history of irrigation for thousands of years,but it is also a drought and water shortage country.The shortage of water resources will not only hinder China’s agricultural development,but also directly affect food production and quality issues,and further affect the country’s food production security.In view of the multiple pressures of insufficient water supply,frequent drought and insufficient awareness of farmers’ water conservation,the government has introduced a comprehensive reform policy on agricultural water price in combination with the current situation of agricultural water use,which requires ensuring that farmers improve their awareness of water conservation in the process of reducing water charges and increasing agricultural production and farmers’ income.As a commodity,the supply and demand relationship of water resources directly affects the irrigation water consumption of farmers,and the leverage of water prices should be brought into full play to the greatest extent.The comprehensive reform policy of agricultural water price makes clear requirements for formulating a scientific and reasonable agricultural irrigation water price system,that is,agricultural water supply costs are achieved on the premise of not increasing the irrigation water pressure of farmers and reducing the crop yield and quality,and the purpose is to make farmers maintain the awareness of water saving and realize the efficient utilization of water resources.Therefore,it is of great significance to study the water-saving behavior of farmers under the different pricing levels of agricultural water prices.Shijin Irrigation Area,as the largest large irrigation area in Hebei Province with agricultural irrigation,considering power generation and urban ecological water supply,was designated as a pilot area of agricultural water price comprehensive reform as early as 2008.Its irrigation scope is one of the most water shortage arid areas in Hebei Province.Therefore,this paper takes Shijin Irrigation Area as a research area to investigate whether the agricultural water price level in the current region plays its leverage role,that is,whether the different pricing levels of agricultural water price will have a significant impact on the water-saving behavior of farmers.Through research and interviews,it was found that for some small farmers,when the agricultural water price is at a relatively high level,less water-saving behavior is adopted due to their small planting scale,maintaining self-sufficient production objectives and low dependence on land.However,for larger-scale farmers,considering the large planting area and agricultural income as the main source of income,they are more willing to try more water-saving actions that can directly or indirectly reduce irrigation water consumption.Therefore,the research conclusion that some existing documents believe that the current price of agricultural irrigation water is difficult to leverage in some arid areas and cannot have a significant impact on the water-saving behavior of farmers is considered due to the heterogeneity of farmers.This article analyzes the difference between direct and indirect water saving behaviors of farmers with different planting scales under different water pricing levels in Shijin Irrigation District under the background of the comprehensive reform of agricultural water prices,and reflects whether agricultural water prices can significantly exert their leverage.In this way,policy recommendations to enhance farmers’ awareness of water resources conservation,promote farmers’ water conservation for irrigation,and further advance the comprehensive reform process of agricultural water prices are put forward in a targeted manner.The main research conclusions and policy recommendations of this article are as follows:(1)Farmers are not sufficiently aware of the need to conserve water resources and the comprehensive reform policy of agricultural water prices.Judging from the survey data,although the sample farmers as a whole believe that there is a certain necessity to save water resources,they do not know much about the policy content of the comprehensive agricultural water price reform.This is for the farmers to actively cooperate with the water price reform and accelerate the advancement of agriculture.The process of comprehensive water price reform has a certain degree of hindrance.Therefore,the relevant government departments should innovate the publicity form of the comprehensive reform of agricultural water price,strengthen its publicity,convey the purpose of the comprehensive reform of agricultural water price in actually reducing farmers ’ water fee expenditure for farmers and reducing the burden on farmers to each farmer,further improve the efficiency of agricultural water use,and promote the efficient utilization of water resources.At the same time,we will effectively promote local advanced and applicable agricultural water-saving irrigation technologies,optimize and adjust the agricultural planting structure,reduce water expenses and increase production and income.(2)The high level of agricultural water prices has a significant negative impact on the direct irrigation water consumption per mu of farmers.The higher the agricultural water price pricing level,farmers in order to prevent water price costs further impact planting operation profit,under the premise of ensuring crop yield and quality,farmers will appropriately reduce its irrigation direct water consumption,and compared with small scale farmers because of planting scale,production objectives,planting experience,land value cognition of different,make the per mu of irrigation water consumption drop larger.Therefore,a sound agricultural irrigation water price system that reflects the cost of water supply and does not add to the burden of farmers’ water expenses,and scientifically and reasonably formulate agricultural irrigation water prices have become the key to promoting the comprehensive reform of agricultural water prices.In the process of setting agricultural water prices,it is necessary to give full play to the role of farmers’ water user associations,and continue to pay attention to the impact of agricultural water price reforms on farmers’ irrigation water fee burdens,so as to prevent farmers from damaging their interests in the water price reform.At the same time,it is necessary to promote high-efficiency water-saving agriculture,provide reasonable incentives and excessive penalties to farmers who save water,fully mobilize farmers’ enthusiasm for saving irrigation water,and increase farmers’ awareness of sustainable use of water resources.(3)The higher level of agricultural water price will not have a significant impact on the adjustment of the planting structure of farmers.When the agricultural water price pricing level is high,without distinguishing the types of farmers,farmers will not make significant adjustments in the current planting structure.However,in the model with farmer type and agricultural water price interaction term as the core variable,the interaction term is significantly negative,indicating that scale households are more sensitive to the rising cost of water price,which will reduce the proportion of high water consumption crops in the total planting area in time,and tend to plant crops with low water consumption and more profitable crops.In view of the fact that the sample farmers in the survey area have less land transfer experience,the local government should improve the land transfer system as soon as possible,coordinate with the construction of farmland efficient water-saving facilities and other projects to further promote the land transfer progress of the Shijin Irrigation District.At the same time,the active promotion of large-scale contracting and land transfer is conducive to the accurate measurement of irrigation water,facilitates the collection of water fees by fee collectors,and further realizes the policy effect of comprehensive reform of agricultural water prices.(4)The higher level of agricultural water price will not have a significant impact on whether farmers adopt water-saving irrigation technology.This may be due to the high application cost of water-saving irrigation technology,and the adoption of water-saving technology is a long-term investment recycling behavior,farmers may pay more attention to the immediate interests,and are unlikely to make a long-term cost-benefit comparison.However,in the interaction term model of agricultural water price and farmer type,the interaction term coefficient is significantly positive,that is,small households are more willing to adopt water-saving irrigation technology when the water price cost is high.Therefore,the government should vigorously implement the charging mode of agricultural water price measurement,increase sustainable financial investment,further improve the metering facilities of irrigation water,improve the mechanism of agricultural water fee collection,give full play to the role of farmers ’ water users association,and realize the standardized operation and management of the organization.At the same time,relevant departments should organize relevant training courses on water-saving irrigation technology to introduce water-saving irrigation technology suitable for their respective regions and cost-effective for farmers,improve farmers ’ awareness of water saving,and promote the efficient use of water resources.