IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/canjag/v71y2023i3-4p355-373.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Reducing land fragmentation to curb cropland abandonment: Evidence from rural China

Author

Listed:
  • Linyi Zheng
  • Liufang Su
  • Songqing Jin

Abstract

Reducing land fragmentation can theoretically curb cropland abandonment, thus ensuring food security. However, few studies have quantified this relationship using large‐scale survey data at the household level. This study adopts a two‐way fixed‐effects (TWFE) model to examine the effect of land fragmentation on cropland abandonment using nationally representative panel data from the China Rural Household Panel Survey (CRHPS). The panel data set contains 15,138 households across 29 provinces in 2017 and 2019. We find that land fragmentation has a significant and positive relationship with cropland abandonment. The mechanism analysis reveals that this relationship is due to high labor costs and difficulties in renting out the fragmented land. The heterogeneity analysis indicates that farmers with poor human capital and those living in non‐plain areas are at a higher risk of abandoning their cropland due to land fragmentation. Furthermore, the association between land fragmentation and cropland abandonment tends to vary across different land rent‐in scenarios. For instance, an increase in the number of plots in the case of land rent‐in is not necessarily associated with cropland abandonment. These findings are conducive to correcting the underestimation of the role of land fragmentation in cropland abandonment, and their implications may be extended to various countries. La réduction de la fragmentation des terres peut théoriquement freiner l'abandon des terres cultivées, assurant ainsi la sécurité alimentaire. Cependant, peu d'études ont quantifié cette relation à l'aide de données d'enquêtes à grande échelle au niveau des ménages. Cette étude adopte un modèle bidirectionnel à effets fixes (TWFE) pour examiner l'effet de la fragmentation des terres sur l'abandon des terres cultivées à l'aide de données de panel représentatives au niveau national de l'enquête par panel auprès des ménages ruraux en Chine (CRHPS). L'ensemble de données de panel contient 15 138 ménages dans 29 provinces en 2017 et 2019. Nous constatons que la fragmentation des terres a une relation significative et positive avec l'abandon des terres cultivées. L'analyse des mécanismes révèle que cette relation est due aux coûts de main‐d'œuvre élevés et aux difficultés de location des terres morcelées. L'analyse de l'hétérogénéité indique que les agriculteurs ayant un faible capital humain et ceux ne vivant pas dans des zones de plaines courent un risque plus élevé d'abandonner leurs terres cultivées en raison de la fragmentation des terres. En outre, l'association entre la fragmentation des terres et l'abandon des terres cultivées a tendance à varier selon les différents scénarios de rente foncière. Par exemple, une augmentation du nombre de parcelles en cas de fermage n'est pas nécessairement associée à l'abandon des terres cultivées. Ces résultats sont propices à corriger la sous‐estimation du rôle de la fragmentation des terres dans l'abandon des terres cultivées, et leurs implications peuvent être étendues à divers pays.

Suggested Citation

  • Linyi Zheng & Liufang Su & Songqing Jin, 2023. "Reducing land fragmentation to curb cropland abandonment: Evidence from rural China," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 71(3-4), pages 355-373, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:canjag:v:71:y:2023:i:3-4:p:355-373
    DOI: 10.1111/cjag.12335
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/cjag.12335
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/cjag.12335?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wang, Xiaobing & Yamauchi, Futoshi & Huang, Jikun & Rozelle, Scott, 2020. "What constrains mechanization in Chinese agriculture? Role of farm size and fragmentation," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    2. Patrick S. Ward & Gerald E. Shively, 2015. "Migration and Land Rental as Responses to Income Shocks in Rural China," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(4), pages 511-543, October.
    3. Klaus Deininger & Daniel Monchuk & Hari K Nagarajan & Sudhir K Singh, 2017. "Does Land Fragmentation Increase the Cost of Cultivation? Evidence from India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(1), pages 82-98, January.
    4. Jin, Songqing & Deininger, Klaus, 2009. "Land rental markets in the process of rural structural transformation: Productivity and equity impacts from China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 629-646, December.
    5. Kentaro Kawasaki, 2010. "The costs and benefits of land fragmentation of rice farms in Japan ," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 54(4), pages 509-526, October.
    6. Patrick Meyfroidt & Florian Schierhorn & Alexander Vladimirovich Prishchepov & Daniel Muller & Tobias Kuemmerle, 2016. "Drivers, Constraints and Trade-Offs Associated with Recultivating Abandoned Cropland in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan," Spatial Economics=Prostranstvennaya Ekonomika, Economic Research Institute, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences (Khabarovsk, Russia), issue 2, pages 55-103.
    7. Jiang Du & Miao Zeng & Zhengjuan Xie & Shikun Wang, 2019. "Power of Agricultural Credit in Farmland Abandonment: Evidence from Rural China," Land, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-14, December.
    8. Xu, Dingde & Deng, Xin & Huang, Kai & Liu, Yi & Yong, Zhuolin & Liu, Shaoquan, 2019. "Relationships between labor migration and cropland abandonment in rural China from the perspective of village types," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    9. Lu, Hua & Xie, Hualin & He, Yafen & Wu, Zhilong & Zhang, Xinmin, 2018. "Assessing the impacts of land fragmentation and plot size on yields and costs: A translog production model and cost function approach," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 81-88.
    10. Ping Xue & Xinru Han & Yongchun Wang & Xiudong Wang, 2022. "Can Agricultural Machinery Harvesting Services Reduce Cropland Abandonment? Evidence from Rural China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-15, June.
    11. Schneider, Laura & Geoghegan, Jacqueline, 2006. "Land Abandonment in an Agricultural Frontier After a Plant Invasion: The Case of Bracken Fern in Southern Yucatán, Mexico," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 35(1), pages 167-177, April.
    12. Juraj Lieskovský & Dana Lieskovská, 2021. "Cropland Abandonment in Slovakia: Analysis and Comparison of Different Data Sources," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-15, March.
    13. Deininger, Klaus & Savastano, Sara & Carletto, Calogero, 2012. "Land Fragmentation, Cropland Abandonment, and Land Market Operation in Albania," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(10), pages 2108-2122.
    14. Hu, Xinyan & Su, Keyu & Chen, Wenhui & Yao, Siqi & Zhang, Lu, 2021. "Examining the impact of land consolidation titling policy on farmers’ fertiliser use: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    15. Wang, Hui & Riedinger, Jeffrey & Jin, Songqing, 2015. "Land documents, tenure security and land rental development: Panel evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 220-235.
    16. Guang Wan & Enjiang Cheng, 2001. "Effects of land fragmentation and returns to scale in the Chinese farming sector," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(2), pages 183-194.
    17. Zhang, Qi & Song, Conghe & Chen, Xiaodong, 2018. "Effects of China’s payment for ecosystem services programs on cropland abandonment: A case study in Tiantangzhai Township, Anhui, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 239-248.
    18. Veljanoska, Stefanija, 2018. "Can Land Fragmentation Reduce the Exposure of Rural Households to Weather Variability?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 42-51.
    19. Kawasaki, Kentaro, 2010. "The costs and benefits of land fragmentation of rice farms in Japan," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 54(4), pages 1-18.
    20. Prishchepov, Alexander V. & Radeloff, Volker C. & Baumann, Matthias & Kuemmerle, Tobias & Müller, Daniel, 2012. "Effects of institutional changes on land use: Agricultural land abandonment during the transition from state-command to market-driven economies in post-Soviet Eastern Europe," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 7(2), pages 1-13.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shukun Wang & Dengwang Li & Tingting Li & Changquan Liu, 2021. "Land Use Transitions and Farm Performance in China: A Perspective of Land Fragmentation," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-22, July.
    2. Yishao Shi & Qianqian Yang & Liangliang Zhou & Shouzheng Shi, 2022. "Can Moderate Agricultural Scale Operations Be Developed against the Background of Plot Fragmentation and Land Dispersion? Evidence from the Suburbs of Shanghai," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-22, July.
    3. Wang, Yahui & Li, Xiubin & Lu, Dan & Yan, Jianzhong, 2020. "Evaluating the impact of land fragmentation on the cost of agricultural operation in the southwest mountainous areas of China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    4. Jia, Lili, 2012. "Land fragmentation and off-farm labor supply in China," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), volume 66, number 66.
    5. Zang, Liangzhen & Araral, Eduardo & Wang, Yahua, 2019. "Effects of land fragmentation on the governance of the commons: Theory and evidence from 284 villages and 17 provinces in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 518-527.
    6. Xu, Weiyi & Jin, Xiaobin & Liu, Jing & Zhou, Yinkang, 2021. "Analysis of influencing factors of cultivated land fragmentation based on hierarchical linear model: A case study of Jiangsu Province, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    7. Daniel Ayalew Ali & Klaus Deininger & Loraine Ronchi, 2019. "Costs and Benefits of Land Fragmentation: Evidence from Rwanda," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 33(3), pages 750-771.
    8. Klaus Deininger & Daniel Monchuk & Hari K Nagarajan & Sudhir K Singh, 2017. "Does Land Fragmentation Increase the Cost of Cultivation? Evidence from India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(1), pages 82-98, January.
    9. Rao, Xudong, 2014. "Land Fragmentation with Double Bonuses -- The Case of Tanzanian Agriculture," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 169436, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    10. Yu, Peiheng & Fennell, Shailaja & Chen, Yiyun & Liu, Hui & Xu, Lu & Pan, Jiawei & Bai, Shaoyun & Gu, Shixiang, 2022. "Positive impacts of farmland fragmentation on agricultural production efficiency in Qilu Lake watershed: Implications for appropriate scale management," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    11. Lei Xu & Shixiang Chen & Shuliu Tian, 2022. "The Mechanism of Land Registration Program on Land Transfer in Rural China: Considering the Effects of Livelihood Security and Agricultural Management Incentives," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-25, August.
    12. Janus, Jaroslaw & Markuszewska, Iwona, 2019. "Forty years later: Assessment of the long-lasting effectiveness of land consolidation projects," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 22-31.
    13. Lu, Hua & Xie, Hualin & He, Yafen & Wu, Zhilong & Zhang, Xinmin, 2018. "Assessing the impacts of land fragmentation and plot size on yields and costs: A translog production model and cost function approach," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 81-88.
    14. Xingyuan Xiao & Luxiang Shang & Yaqun Liu, 2022. "Comparative Study on Farmland Circulation between Plains and Mountainous Areas in an Arid Region: A Case Study of Zhangye City in Northwest China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-15, April.
    15. Do, Manh Hung & Nguyen, Trung Thanh & Grote, Ulrike, 2023. "Land consolidation, rice production, and agricultural transformation: Evidence from household panel data for Vietnam," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 157-173.
    16. Latruffe, Laure & Piet, Laurent, 2013. "Does land fragmentation affect farm performance? A case study from Brittany, France," Working Papers 207854, Institut National de la recherche Agronomique (INRA), Departement Sciences Sociales, Agriculture et Alimentation, Espace et Environnement (SAE2).
    17. Latruffe, Laure & Piet, Laurent, 2013. "Does land fragmentation affect farm performance? A case study from Brittany," Factor Markets Working Papers 151, Centre for European Policy Studies.
    18. Jarmila LAZIKOVA & Lubica RUMANOVSKA & Ivan TAKAC & Zuzana LAZIKOVA, 2017. "Land fragmentation and efforts to prevent it in Slovak legislation," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 63(12), pages 559-568.
    19. Zhang, Jian & Mishra, Ashok K. & Ma, Xianlei, 2023. "Mechanism of Chinese farmers’ land rental participation: The role of invisible markets and public intervention," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    20. Kai Huang & Xin Deng & Yi Liu & Zhuolin Yong & Dingde Xu, 2020. "Does off-Farm Migration of Female Laborers Inhibit Land Transfer? Evidence from Sichuan Province, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-14, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:canjag:v:71:y:2023:i:3-4:p:355-373. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/caefmea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.