Acta Agriculturae Zhejiangensis ›› 2023, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (5): 1211-1222.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1004-1524.2023.05.25

• Agricultural Economy and Development • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Does labor force aging and cultivated land fragmentation increase rice production cost?: based on microscopic investigation in southeast Hubei Province, China

ZHANG Chaozheng1(), ZHANG Xupeng2, CHEN Danling3,*()   

  1. 1. College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, Shaanxi, China
    2. School of Public Administration, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
    3. College of Public Administration, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
  • Received:2022-05-23 Online:2023-05-25 Published:2023-06-01

Abstract:

Based on the survey data collected from 755 rice farmers in southeast Hubei Province, China, the impacts of labor force aging and cultivated land fragmentation on rice production cost were examined by using multiple linear regression model. The results indicate that the labor force aging significantly increases the total cost per unit output during rice production. Specifically, labor force aging obviously increases the cost of fertilizers, pesticides and labor, but significantly reduces the cost of seeds and hinders the use of machinery. Cultivated land fragmentation evidently increases the total cost per unit output. Specifically, cultivated land fragmentation obviously increases the cost of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and labor, but significantly restricts the input of machinery. The effects of labor force aging and cultivated land fragmentation on the total cost and its sub-costs of rice production are restricted by geomorphic types. By replacing explained and explanatory variables, the robustness tests results confirm that the main estimation results are considerably robust. Under the dual background of labor force aging and cultivated land fragmentation, reducing the cost of rice production is of particular practical significance in agricultural supply-side structure reform. Therefore, it is suggested to improve the availability of agricultural machinery services, promote the process of appropriate scale operation of cultivated land, and increase the coupling degree of cultivated land consolidation and transfer.

Key words: labor force aging, cultivated land fragmentation, rice production, production cost, geomorphic type

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