Research On The Threshold Of The Impact Of Farm Machinery Input On The Growth Of Vegetable Total Factor Productivity

In recent years,the level of machinery in the vegetable industry has been improving,and the growth of vegetable production machinery inputs has affected the total factor productivity growth.As one of the key indicators to measure the economic growth of vegetable industry,the growth of total factor productivity of vegetables helps to promote the income of vegetable farmers,optimize the resource allocation of vegetable industry,and promote the transformation of rural economy,so as to achieve rural revitalization.At the same time,the vegetable industry has accelerated its transformation and upgrading,and the process of vegetable mechanization has also accelerated.They drive the growth of mechanical inputs,which affects total factor productivity growth in many ways,from resource allocation to technological progress.And the land as the most basic input elements of vegetable production,to a certain extent,affect the vegetable machinery inputs.Land size affects producers’ investments in agricultural machinery and services.If the land size of vegetable farmers is too small,it is not conducive to the promotion of agricultural machinery to vegetable farmers,and it becomes both difficult and expensive for vegetable farmers to realize mechanical operations.Therefore,this paper uses land size as a threshold variable to investigate the effect of machinery inputs on total factor productivity growth of vegetables.At the same time,the heterogeneity of climatic conditions and vegetable categories in different vegetable production regions leads to differences in the empirical results,so this paper analyzes the research results by region.In this paper,after sorting and analyzing researches on the impact of agricultural machinery inputs on productivity,factors influencing the development of agricultural machinery,as well as economic growth theory,the mechanism of land scale affecting agricultural mechanization,and the mechanism of machinery inputs affecting total factor productivity,we found that studies exploring the constraints of land scale on machinery inputs affecting vegetable total factor productivity growth are relatively rare.Based on the research data,this paper firstly measures total factor productivity growth of vegetables from2009 to 2017 in China as well as the six major vegetable production areas by using the DEA-Malmquist index method,and then further decomposes the total factor productivity index to analyze the sources of vegetable total factor productivity growth in each production area,and makes a description of vegetable total factor productivity growth and its decomposition in six major vegetable production areas by region and by path.Then this paper constructs a threshold model and conducts empirical analysis from both panel threshold and cross-sectional threshold to explore whether the impact of machinery power inputs on total factor productivity growth of vegetables in six major vegetable production areas is constrained by land size.The following main research findings are obtained:(1)Total factor productivity of vegetables in China shows an overall growth trend,and there is regional heterogeneity in the growth of total factor productivity in the six vegetable producing regions.(2)There is regional heterogeneity in the total factor productivity growth of the six major vegetable producing regions,and different producing regions can choose their total factor productivity improvement paths according to their specific conditions.(3)Except for the Loess Plateau summer-autumn vegetable area,the effects of machinery inputs on total factor productivity planting in all vegetable production areas are limited by the land size threshold,and the differences between the panel threshold and the cross-sectional threshold are not significant.(4)In most vegetable production areas,machinery inputs inhibit total factor productivity growth before crossing the land size threshold,and the impact coefficient of machinery power inputs increases after crossing the land size threshold.It is not advisable to blindly carry out mechanical inputs when the land size is too small,while when the land size crosses the threshold,the contribution of mechanical power inputs to total factor productivity growth is enhanced or the inhibitory effect is slightly diminished.(5)The results of specific threshold effects differ among major vegetable production areas.The details are as follows: it is clear that machinery inputs contribute to total factor productivity growth after crossing the land size threshold in the winter-spring vegetable area in hot regions of South China and southwest China,Huanghuaihai and Bohai Rim facility vegetable area,and the northern high latitude summer-autumn vegetable area.Machinery power inputs in winter-spring vegetable area in the Yangtze River Basin consistently inhibit total factor productivity growth,and the inhibitory effect becomes stronger after crossing the land size threshold.The Loess Plateau summer-autumn vegetable area and the summer-autumn vegetable area in Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau are more suitable for expanding land scale.The promotion of machinery power inputs on total factor productivity growth is enhanced and the inhibiting effect is slightly weakened after crossing the threshold of land scale.According to these findings,the following recommendations are made:(1)Develop production area differentiation policies to promote total factor productivity of vegetables from different paths.(2)Actively promote land transfer in the vegetable industry and expand the scale of vegetable farmers’ land according to local conditions.(3)Promote the mechanization of vegetable industry by region,and targeted to increase machinery inputs by scale.