Research On Aging Effecting On Planting Production

Along with the Chinese social and economic development, strict implementation of family planning policies, the birth rate is declining continually, meanwhile, the average life expectancy of the population is extending. Until2010, the aging population over the age of60have accounted for13.26percent of Chinese total population. Massive young rural labor to urban migration lends to that the rural population aging is more severe than urban. Significant rural population structure change has brought significant changes in the age structure of the agricultural labor force; the average age of the agricultural labor force presents the incremental aging trend. Many scholars are very worried about this phenomenon, they think that the aging population on the one hand has declined in physiological function, their own physical strength can not be competent for heavy agricultural labor, on the other hand the low educational level, rigid ideology, can not be conducive to the promotion and adoption of new agricultural technologies, so this will affect Chinese grain production, even lead to food security.However, studies have shown that small scale farmers in our country were external constrained by the conditions of agricultural production and market conditions and showed the same decision-making form, namely similarity between farmer planting decision-making and people around. Field production of smaller scale land need not individual farmers with particularly high decision-making capacity, small farmers’ conformity decision-making will be a rational choice. In the recent years, the agricultural production machinery in our country has obtained the considerable development; agricultural production mechanization is a substitute for operator physical work which makes agricultural production decrease labor input gradually.As the agricultural production mode changing, many production processes in the agriculture has achieved mechanization, actual agricultural production exists certain degree of the same form of decision-making, which makes that the agricultural production has not strict demands on the labor force’s physical strength and manpower capital.Is the physical decline of the aging labor force and low manpower capital the agricultural production conditional factors? Due to the different degrees of planting crops machinery integrated operation, there is different imitable degree of crops production technology, thus, the degree of aging labor force influencing on different crops could be differences. Around these problems, the paper gives theoretical analysis and empirical investigation to agricultural production behavior of elderly farmers and young farmers, and discusses the collective decision-making level and mechanical substitution of labor of deferent farmers in the agricultural performance. The research content and conclusions of this paper are as follows:Content1:Aging effects on farmers’planting decision-making.The section research investigates the differences between elderly farmers and young farmers in crop planting decision-makings. If there are differences between them, which shows modern agricultural production mechanization and the same agricultural production decision-making can not offset the role of aging labor force with low manpower capital in farmers’planting decision-making. If there is non difference, which shows modern agricultural production mechanization and the same agricultural production decision-making can offset the role of aging labor force with low manpower capital in farmers’planting decision-making, aging is not influencing on famers’planting decision-making.The content validation is divided into two sub-contents to verify:Sub-content1, Aging effects on farmers’planting area decision-making.This section is divided by crop machinery comprehensive work capacity, crop in the high machinery comprehensive work capacity, through the comparison of the differences in the farmers’planting area decision-making between elderly farmers and young farmers, to illustrate whether aging influencing on farmers’planting area decision-making. The result of research shows that, in the high degree of mechanization of field crops, such as wheat, corn and soybean, there is non difference in the farmers’planting area decision-making between elderly farmers and young farmers. While crops in the low degree of mechanization or some large labor intensity link without mechanization, such as rice and cotton, there are differences in the farmers’ planting area decision-making between elderly farmers and young farmers, aged farmers would tend to reduce this kind of crop planting area.And other variables effect on farmers’ crop planting proportion which match our expectations:agricultural products’ own price have a positive effect on the agricultural planting proportion decision-makings, while the input factor price have a negative effect on the crop acreage proportion, the total area of arable land have a negative effect on food crops acreage area proportion, the number of agricultural labor have a positive effect on the proportion of food crops planted. The incomes from non-agriculture rising, on the one hand can improve the ability of families to cope with risk, to increase planted area of more high-risk economic crops, on the other hand, will increase the opportunity cost of leisure to increase cultivating labor-saving crops. Non-agriculture labor force of a certain proportion of crop sowing depends on the combined effect of these two mechanisms.Sub-content2, Aged farmers effect on main elements input decision-making.This section researches on crop input decision-making which continues crop planting area decision-making.By comparing concretely elderly farmers and young farmers in crop fertilizer, pesticides, machinery and labor quantity to show whether exist differences. One aspect is embodying in the high manpower capital, the quantity of chemical fertilizer and pesticide using, and decision-making capability in time using and crop species using. The other aspect is embodying in the low manpower capital, the decision-making to quantity of machinery and labor force usage. The result of research shows that, in the current agricultural production conditions, there is non difference in crop elements input between elderly labor force and young labor force. And no matter in the field crop with high degree of mechanization, such as wheat, corn and soybean, or in the field crop with low degree of mechanization or some large labor intensity link without mechanization, such as rice and cotton, aged farmers are not less than young farmers in the main elements input (fertilizer, pesticides, machinery and labor quantity).The results of other control elements are consistent with our expectations:the price of the agricultural product itself has a positive effect on element inputs, while the price of elements has a negative effect on elements use quantity, the action that other elements’ prices takes on elements use quantity depends on whether the two elements is an alternative or complementary relationship. Numbers of Agricultural labor force have positive effects on the amount of elements input investment, such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides, labor and other elements. Meanwhile it has negative effects on the mechanical inputs. Areas of arable land have a negative effect on the element input investment. Non-agricultural labor forces have negative effects on labor quantity, and positive effects on elements input, such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides etc. Content2:Aging effects on the results of crop planting decision-making implementation.The section research investigates the differences between elderly farmers and young farmers in the results of crop planting decision-makings implementation. That is aging labor forces’crop yield per unit whether is significantly different from the young labor forces’. If there is not significantly difference, which shows there is no difference in the results of crop planting decision-making implementation between elderly farmers and young farmers, vice versa. Demonstration to this content is extension of demonstration to crop planting decision-making, crop in the different degree of crop machinery comprehensive work capacity take advantage of production function to empirical test, the result of the test shows, no matter in the high degree of mechanization or low, there is non difference in the yield per unit between two kinds of farmers. However, through the investigation and finding in the interaction of the types of farmers and labor quantity, in the corn and soybean, elderly farmer’s efficiency is lower than young farmer’s.Content3:The degree of farmer collective decision-making and the degree of substitution of machinery for labor in reality.This section finds out how the farmers make planting decision-makings and which production processes in agricultural production takes actions in the reality by in-depth interviews, thus fully examine the level of collective decision-making in agricultural production and the machinery’s substitution of labor. Through the interview, the conclusion can be got that although the farmers locate dispersedly, the household scale is very small, but by the form of a capable organization, informal cooperation, a high homogeneous level of the farmers’ production decision-makings and production technology, the usage level of agricultural "outsourcing" is also high, labor-intensive production processes in the agricultural production has achieved mechanization, the elderly can be fully qualified with the rest production processes which needn’t much labor.Integrating the three research aspects, the following conclusions can be got:In the conditions of high degree of collective decision-making form and easy imitation of agricultural technology, the difference of substitution of machinery for labor, thus, the difference of degree of aging effecting on crop production. From the aspect of aging is not affecting on planting decision-making and the result of planting decision-making implementation in wheat, corn and soybean such these crops to the aspect of aging is affecting on planting decision-making notability in rice and cotton such these crops. It can be further inference, in the conditions of farmers must be independent to production decision-making, fast crop technology updates or without any machinery to replace labor, aging effects on crops will be more obvious.One significant theoretical discovery in this study is:in the condition that there is collective decision-making and mechanical substitution of labor, manpower capital is no longer important in agricultural production, the approach which manpower capital takes actions is replaced. However, in the different of circumstances of collective decision-making-making level and machinery to replace labor level, the effect of manpower capital will be apparent. Aging is a basic national condition which China has to face in the future for a long time; therefore, we need to continue to weaken the ways and level of the effect of manpower capital.