The Effect Of The Small-scale Farming System On China's Agricultural Modernization And The Countermeasures

The reform of the household responsibility system has led to a fragmented pattern of agricultural operations in China.Traditional property rights theory believes that as long as rights are clearly defined,no matter who they belong to,the operation of the market will bring about the same effect.However,the reality of China's agricultural development is contrary to traditional theory.After the rights of farmland are clearly defined,the integration of farmland property rights still faces obstacles,and the pattern of small farmers has been solidified for a long time.Existing studies have not yet formed a consistent explanation for why China's agriculture has long been trapped in the pattern of small farmers.This article focuses on this issue,from the perspective of the system,summarizes China's agricultural system as a“small-scale farming system”,and for the first time systematically explains the mechanism of the small farmer system,that is,farmers always have the right to contract land under the small farmer system.The integration of land can only rely on the management right derived from the land contract right.Since the management right derives from the contract right,there must be a time limit.When the term of the contract right expires,it must be restored to the land contract right.Therefore,the property right structure after the integration of agricultural land is not finality and there is an institutional motivation to revert to the right to contract,which in turn leads to the consolidation of the pattern of small farmers in China.Due to the existence of the small-scale farming system and its mechanism of action,it is not only the scattered and fragmented farmland property rights that restricts the development of China's agricultural modernization,but the dynamic mechanism that causes the farmland property rights to return to the dispersed and fragmented initial state of empowerment is the restriction.The “sticking point” of China's agricultural modernization development lies.This article then further analyzes the obstacle mechanism of the Small-scale Farming System to the development of China's agricultural modernization from the functioning mechanism of the small-scale farming system,and points out that the nonfinal nature of the integration of agricultural land under the small-scale farming system will bring uncertainty to market transactions,thereby “hedging” the market mechanism.The power to integrate farmland,and the non-final nature of farmland integration will also result in the non-permanent effect of transaction costs paid for the integration of farmland and the difficulty in effectively accumulating agricultural efficiency due to farmland integration.In order to verify the obstacle mechanism of the small-scale farming system to the development of agricultural modernization in China,this paper discusses the impact of the small peasant system on China's agricultural management system and agricultural production efficiency.Regarding the management system,due to the existence of the small farmer system and its mechanism of action,the new type of agricultural management entities always face difficulties such as high transaction costs,high operating costs,and weak land tenure stability,regardless of their organizational form.In terms of agricultural efficiency,this paper uses China's interprovincial panel data from 2004 to 2018 to conduct an empirical analysis of the relationship between the small-scale farming system and China's agricultural production efficiency.The empirical results show that both the characterization and the essence of the small-scale farming system has a significant negative impact on the efficiency of agricultural production.The analysis in this article shows that the small-scale farming system has a comprehensive and profound impact on the development of China's agricultural modernization.If the mechanism of the small-scale farming system is not blocked,the development of China's agricultural modernization will always be constrained.Considering that Western agricultural developed countries(except the New World countries)have also experienced the process of transforming smallholder farmers in the process of transforming traditional agriculture into modern agriculture,and in the practice of agricultural modernization development in various parts of China,they are constantly trying a variety of ways to deal with the small-scale farming system.Therefore,this article sorts out the international experience of transforming the pattern of smallholder farmers and the domestic practice of dealing with the small-scale farming system,in order to find references and lessons from them.Judging from the process of reforming the pattern of small farmers in the major agricultural developed countries of France,Germany,the Netherlands,and Japan,through fiscal and financial policies to stimulate and guide the expansion of farms,we will do a good job in resettling farmers withdrawing from agriculture and introducing policies to limit agricultural decentralization.Laws and regulations are common practices that have been tested and validated in practice.In addition,it is also the consensus of all countries to set up special intermediary agencies to promote the integration of agricultural land property rights and reduce the transaction cost of agricultural land property rights integration.At the same time,it cannot be neglected that the final integration of farmland property rights under land private ownership is a key factor for the remarkable effect of the above-mentioned countries in transforming the pattern of small farmers.Judging from the domestic practice of dealing with the small-scale farming system,although the practice models vary from place to place,it is difficult to break the fragmented and fragmented structure of property rights through the spontaneous transfer of agricultural land.Therefore,in most localities,village collective organizations(village committees)are responsible for the integration and concentration of agricultural land elements.However,the village collective organization(village committee)as a farmland integration agency also faces shortcomings and difficulties: First,the village collective organization(village committee)is restricted by its capacity and can only play an intermediary role in the process of farmland integration.Compared with the agricultural land intermediary agencies that undertake corresponding functions in agricultural developed countries,their functions are too weak to carry more expectations.Secondly,the village collective organization(village committee)itself is not a direct beneficiary of the effect of the integration of agricultural land property rights,and its driving force for the integration of agricultural land may not come from the market mechanism.This distortion of the allocation of rights and obligations may induce the collective organization of the village community.(Village Committee)Anomie of behavior.Thirdly,most of the village collective organizations(village committees)do not have independent property and responsibility capabilities,and cannot be held responsible for the market risks that their actions may face during the process of agricultural land integration.Farmers become the main transfer targets of related risks and are easy to pass on to the society.Bring instability.Finally,the village collective organization(village committee)cannot solve the non-final problem of the integration of farmland property rights under the small-scale farming system.Based on the above analysis,this article puts forward suggestions on the basis of the international experience of the agricultural developed countries in transforming the pattern of smallholders and the domestic practice of responding to the small-scale farming system according to the mechanism of the small-scale farming system.The idea of this countermeasure is to block the mechanism of the small-scale farming system through the supply of new systems.The overall system is conceived as the establishment of an independent agricultural land management agency to act as a land transfer intermediary.Focusing on this overall system conception,this article discusses how to maintain the stability of farmland property rights under this system,how to ensure farmers' subjectivity(including farmers' willingness to transfer land and farmers' demand for arable land,etc.),how to achieve land supply at a low cost,and how to ensure it both parties in the market transaction have carried out specific system design through agricultural land management institutions to participate in the transaction of agricultural land elements.Finally,this article examines the effect of the system design based on the value and basic principles formulated at the beginning of the system design and discusses the necessary risks and preventive measures that may be faced by the establishment of land management institutions.