| In recent years,the scale of rural land circulation in China has been expanding continuously.At the same time,the soil quality of cultivated land in China also showed the problem that middle-yield and low-yield farmlands take in a great proportion,large area of farmland have been degradating and the soil organic matter content of farmland was decreasing.The decline of land quality has become a big risk which will restrict agricultural production and the sustainable development of agriculture in China.At the same time,the influence of land transfer on soil fertility has also been widely concerned.Some studies showed that land transfer may lead to the decline in soil fertility.Under the circumstance of massive land transfer,if land transfer is leading to a decline in soil fertility,it will have a very negative impact on China's food security and sustainable development of agriculture.Will the land transfer lead to a decline in soil fertility on earth? Obviously,it is of great significance to evaluate the influence of current land circulation on the soil fertility objectively.In this paper,by using the farm level data and plot soil fertility data of the 2015 survey in four provinces(Heilongjiang,Henan,Zhejiang and Sichuan)and compared with the data from 2007's “soil test and formulated fertilization”,we analyzed the change of soil fertility.Then the influence of the land transfer on rented lands' soil fertility was studied by taking soil organic content as an example.Finally,combining with the 1040 households' data and the corresponding 1079 plots' data,from the perspective of organic fertilizer and straw returning technology application we further explored the internal mechanism of the land transfer affecting soil fertility: the impact of land transfer on the soil conservation investment for grain farmers,so as to provide a scientific basis for protecting and promoting China's soil quality,promoting the sustainable utilization of farmland resources and guiding a rational circulation of farmland.The results showed that the soil organic matter content of samples in four provinces not only did not decrease,but improved.Besides,to the rented land,the impact which land transfer had on soil fertility was not negative,but positive.Specificly,at family level,the fertility difference between the two plots(own land and rented land)of the same household will be narrowed as scale operating time goes on(an annual reduction of 0.21g/kg).The larger the scale is,the smaller the difference would be(by each increase of 1 mu,the difference will have a reduction of 0.003g/kg).Appoint a long tenancy(more than 4 years)and manage a big scale are both beneficial to prevent farmers from treating their own land and rented land separately,so that the soil fertility of transferred land is effectively protected and even promoted.In terms of the land protection investment,the probability for farmers to apply organic fertilizer or straw returning technology on rented land was not significantly lower than that their own land.The above results show that land transfer has not cause the deterioration of farmland fertility in the sample provinces in the last ten years.Long tenancy and scale management is conducive to the improvement of soil fertility.Also,scale farmers will not discriminate against the rented land on soil fertility protection.Accordingly,this paper puts forward some policy recommendations,such as encouraging farmers to appoint a long tenancy in land transfer,developing the leading role of scale farmers,motivating the investment for soil fertility promotion,advancing the moderate scale management in the light of local conditions and so on.If we can effectively incentive farmers' investment to promote soil fertility to get long-term high yields,the large-scale farmland circulation will not only help to realize the modernization of agriculture,but also contribute to the realization of the long-term efficient utilization of China's cultivated land resources,the food security and the sustainable development of agriculture. |
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