The Impact Of Farm Size And Its Driving Forces

Farm size plays a critical role in agricultural sustainability.This may have far-reaching consequences for the economic and environmental performance of agricultural production.For example,increasing farm size can promote using machinery and other advanced technologies;popularizing agricultural knowledge and policy landing with low transaction costs;reducing the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and alleviating non-point source pollution.However,the extent to which farm size affects agricultural development and its underlying mechanisms are unclear,while being essential for effective policy development,especially for countries like China where the agricultural sector is still largely dominated by smallholder farms.In this paper,I analyze the current understanding of how farm size affects agricultural sustainability using China's crop farming as an example from economic,environment and social aspects.At the same time,the macroeconomic data and micro-researched data about faun size of 192 cities in 2002,2008 and 2013,106 different types of countries such as the United States and Israel in 1960-2000 have been collected.Using Least Square Regression model and Panel Data Regression model explore the factors and its mechanism that restrict farm size increasing in China,which is the basis of feasible policy recommendations.I found that increasing farm size has a positive impact on farmer's net profit,as well as economic,technical and labor efficiency with mean coefficients 0.005,0.02 and 2.25,respectively.Nevertheless,the relationships between farm size and overall productivity,total factor productivity and allocative efficiency are still not well understood and therefore require more research.At the same time,large-scale farms have higher environmental benefits,which is reflected in the increase in farm size accompanied by a significant decline in the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides per unit area,a reduction in carbon footprint and an increase in soil organic matter.In view of the multiple benefits brought about by large-scale farming,Chinese government has begun to promote large-scale farming since entering the 21st century.However,the progress of this project has been slow so far.The reasons behind this are mainly summarized in the following aspects.First,under the system of China's Household Contract Responsibility system,the arable land area per rural population of a region significantly constrains farm size increasing.Furthermore,I find that farm size will rise with the increase of per capita GDP and urbanization level under normal circumstances.In China,farm size can be significantly driven by the increase of urbanization irate too.However,the relationship between per capita GDP and farm size is not statistically significant.This is mainly due to the fact that under the restriction of the Chinese Hukou system,a large number of rural laborers cannot effectively flow into cities,which hinders the circulation of agricultural land and the increase in farm size.On the other hand,a sound land transfer system and the protection of land property rights have a positive effect on farm size increasing.On the contrary,subsidies concerning about agriculture will increase farmers'dependence on agricultural land and inhibit land circulation and farm size increasing.Finally,the level of scientific and technological development,planting type and other factors will also affect the average farm size in a region to a certain extent.Therefore,based on our analysis,I believe that increasing farm size is a key path to develop Chinese agricultural modernization and sustainability and ensure food security.Measures to improve farm size in China can start with the reform of the Hukou system,cooperated with the establishment of the land transfer system,the protection of the land property rights and the adj ustment of agricultural subsidies,and work together to promote the large-scale farming and improve Chinese agricultural performance.