| China’s agriculture has great power, and one of its basic characteristics is the shortage of agricultural resources, which has decided we should make full use of natural resources during the process of transformation from traditional agriculture to modern agriculture in the stage. On the one hand, we should make economical use of resources. On the other hand, we should promote agriculture energy saving actively. Though developing the recycling agricultural economy, realizing the agricultural production material’s reduction, reuse and resource utilization, and reducing the consumption of agricultural resources, ultimately improving the efficiency of resource useage.Crop straw is one of the main agricultural bioenergy, which is just as the coin. If incinerate or abandon the straw, it will cause serious environmental pollution and threat to residents’life and property safety.In the opposite, if take advantage of them, it can achieve efficient transformation of substances in agricultural production systems and energy cycling high efficiently, and become an important way to develop recycling economy and low carbon economy. Therefore, the straw is one of the biomass resources, which is beneficial while used and harmful while abandoned or incinerated, and the comprehensive utilization of straw is the important extension of the national strategy in utilization of renewable resource.The government and scholars have concerned about the straw problem for a long time. In the initial, the government focused on the iniciration of straw. In1999,the Environmental Protection Administration pressed the management measures on the iniciration and comprehensive utilization of straw, which is aimed at preventing straw burning pollution, protecting the ecological environment, protection of residents’health and safeguarding public safety. Later on, during the actual carrying out of prohibiting iciniration in all parts of the country, people have gradually realized that the iciniration of straw couldn’t sovle the problem, and the straw problem wasn’t just the problem of environmental pollution, but also waste of resources, so prohibiting the icinaration should be combined with comprehensive utilization, and seeking for the way out for straw is the fundamental solution. As a result, the comprehensive utilization of straw was raised to the height of agricultural energy conservation, efficient use of resources, and developing recycling economy. There were many policies about the comprehensive utilization of straw in the country, and then straw pollution and utilization have made great progress. However, there are still some problems, such as the phenomenon of icinaration in the open is difficult to put into the end, the low degree of commercialization of straw, and the low level of straw industrialization.Farmers is one of the important actors in the process of comprehensive ulitization of straw, and their collecting and using of straw is the precondition of the smooth realization of straw’scommercialization. However, the exsiting research on straw is mainly focused on the estimation of straw resources’amount in the national or regional, or comprehensive utilization techonology of straw, or the economical, social and ecological assements of straw utilization, or the discription of the comprehensive utilization status, problem and suggestions. In addition, although a few literatures research on farmers’willness and behavior based on the behavioral economics theory, they are mainly about farmers’ incineration wiliness and behavior of straw in the context of prohibiting straw incineration, and few studies on farmers’ utilization of straw.In fact, the government banned farmers burning straw in the open, and encouraged comprehensive utilization, but the incineration and abandonment is still normal. It is also founded that the utilization by rural householders is limited in Jiangsu Province, and the way is traditional and primary, such as direct fuel for life, which is obviously not conductive to the rapid development of straw industrialization. This paper studies the rural householders’ behavioral decision on straw utilization, which takes developing cycling economy as the starting point, and the goal is to provide foundation for policy-making to speed up the straw comprehensive utilization, and realize the straw commercialization, as well as farmer’s income improving. The full text is devided into eight parts, and the main contents and conclusions are stated as follows:Part1:the comparative analysis of the theoretical costs and benefits of rural householders’different straw utilization in different regions in Jiangsu Province.Based on the assumption of rational economic man, each rural househoulder behaves to maximize their own utility according to their own values, and the expected costs and benefits are the basis for farmers to make choices.Only when the expected benefits outweigh the costs, farmers will have the willingness to engage in the conduct. Based on estimating the straw recources in Jiangsu Province, describing the current situation of straw utilization and the exsiting problems, this part makes comparative analysis of costs and benefits rural householders’different straw utilization in southern Jiangsu, northern Jiangsu, and the middle part, which aims to explore causes and reality obstacles of rural householders’behavior.The results show that rural householders can get the highest net income by taking straw as a fuel for life in Jiangsu Province, followed by straw biogas. In the northern and middle districts of Jiangsu Province, the net income of straw return is lower than sale of rice straw by farmers’ own tractors, and almost equal to sale of wheat straw, while in the southern districts of Jiangsu Province, the net income of straw return is higher than sale of straw due to higher labor costs, which are compared to the former districts. It is terrible that costs of selling straw would be much higher than benefits if rural householders hire tractors to the straw purchase station at15kilometers. In addition, financial constraints, technical constraints, mechanical constraints, and market constraints restrict farmers utilizing straw in Jiangsu Province, which is also the crux of incineration and abandonment of straw still wide spread.Part2:the empirical analysis of rural householders’behavioral decision on straw return in Jiangsu Province.The straw return is an important application of the development of circular agricultural economy. The section first analizes the effect of straw return on crops production based on Matching methord, then analizes the influencing factors of rural householders’ williningness to pay for straw return with COX model, and estimates farmers’willingness to pay for straw return in Jiangsu Province.The results show that the implementation of straw return has improved wheat yields, but the extent is limited, and there have been no significant effect on rice yield. The factors most closely connected with rural householders’willingness to pay for straw return are the family income, farmers’ attitudes to straw return and straw incineration, the development of local straw industry, the straw return equipment supporting, as well as age, educational level, family cultivated area, while the government policy isn’t the important influence factor, because the role of government has failed to effectively play, the intensity of publicity on straw return and prohibiting straw incineration is not strong enough. Finally, according to the COX proportional hazards model, the paper estimates rural householders’ willingness to pay for straw return, and the estimate is about16yuan/mu. In the current market condition, the government should take about9to14yuan/mu as financial subsidies for each rural householder to promote straw return. Part3:the empirical analysis of rural householders’behavioral decision on sale of straw in Jiangsu Province.This section first describes the rural householders’attitudes, willingness and behavior of straw disposal, according to the micro data from the survey, and then make empirical analysis on the influencing factors of farmers’sale of straw in Jiangsu Province.In addition, the paper explores the practical reasons that hinder farmers’ selling willingness into behavior, in the perspective of differences between farmers’ selling willingness and behavior choice.The results show that the rural householders are active in selling straw in Jiangsu Province, about82percent of farmers have the willingness to sell straw. However, only26.9percent of farmers sell straw in fact. The factors such as head of householder’s age, family labor, the structure of family income, the marketing condition of straw selling, government policies, and others’ decision-making have a significant influence on farmers’ decision-making.In addition to the low availability of laobor, low farming income to total revenue, the worse convenience of selling straw, low intensity of government policy, which lead to the farmers’selling wiliingness failed to come into practical behavior, the cultivated area is also a key factor. The larger the cultivated area is, the more labor cost the farmers should pay for collecting and transporting straw, and farmers have to be busy rush in the crop harvest season, ultimately the farmers would choose to abandon the sale of straw. |
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