Influence Of Land Transfer On Collective Action Of Small-scale Irrigation Facilities

"Agriculture,rural areas and farmers" has always been the core of China’s development,and the fate of agriculture lies in water irrigation projects,which are the "basic of the foundation" of agricultural development.While the state has invested heavily in irrigation facilities,there is limited funding for small-scale rural irrigation facilities,and villagers can effectively solve the problem of the ’last mile’ of public water supply in the countryside through collective action on small-scale irrigation facilities organised on their own initiative.However,the lack of per capita arable land resource endowment,fragmentation of arable land and other land problems restrict the formation of cooperation among farmers.Land transfer has the function of realizing large-scale operation and improving land utilization rate,and increasing the motivation of farmers to participate in collective action through land transfer is a basic idea to solve the dilemma of rural collective action.How does land transfer affect the formation of collective action?What is the impact on cooperative supply of small-scale irrigation facilities for farmers?The answers to the above questions are the key to explore the collective action of small water conservancy facilities.Based on the perspective of land transfer,and based on a systematic review of relevant studies at home and abroad,this paper uses data from 853 households in Gansu Province,Shaanxi Province and Ningxia Autonomous Region,and sets up a number of outcome variables to characterise collective action,using quantitative analysis methods such as factor analysis and multiple linear regression to examine the effect of land transfer on collective action for small-scale irrigation facilities.Some policy suggestions are put forward to promote farmers’ participation in collective action,such as promoting land transfer,doing publicity work well,cultivating "middle class" farmers,innovating cost sharing and benefit distribution methods.The main conclusions of this paper are as follows:（1）The farmers’ collective actions can be divided into four dimensions:action cognition,action input,action evaluation and action participation.In terms of collective action cognition,the action cognition index of farmers in Gansu province and Ningxia Autonomous Region is higher than the average level of the sample,indicating that farmers in these two regions have a relatively full understanding of organization content,rules,systems and other information,while the action cognition index of farmers in Shaanxi Province is lower than the average level.In terms of collective action input,only the action input index of farmers in Gansu province is higher than the average level of the sample,indicating that compared with farmers in Shaanxi and Ningxia,farmers in Gansu Province are more willing to invest and work in collective action organizations,and participate in organizing meetings and training more frequently.In terms of collective action evaluation,the action evaluation index of farmers in Gansu province is higher than that in Shaanxi and Ningxia,and above the average level,indicating that farmers in Gansu Province are satisfied with the effect of collective action on improving rural environment,increasing farmers’ income and improving villagers’ relationship.In collective action to participate in,farmers participate in collective action degree index in Gansu province is located in the base line,and the index of Shaanxi and Ningxia farmers participation below the base line,explain the level of farmer participation in collective action only in Gansu province sample is higher than the average level,and between the three provinces,lowest in Shaanxi province farmer participation in collective action.（2）Through the empirical analysis of the impact of land transfer on collective action cognition,action input,action evaluation and action participation of small-scale irrigation facilities,the results showed that,the area of land transfer has a significant positive impact on farmers’ cognition of collective action,that is,the larger the area of land transfer,the more comprehensive farmers’ understanding of collective action information.On the contrary,the larger the land transfer area,the more shallow the understanding of collective action information.The duration of land transfer has a significant positive impact on farmers’collective action input.The longer the duration of land transfer,the more farmers’ collective action input.The longer the time for farmers to move out of land,the less they invest in collective action.The impact of land transfer area and transfer period on farmers’ collective action evaluation is not significant.There is a positive correlation between the land transfer area and the transfer period and farmers’ participation in collective action.The more the land transfer,the longer the transfer period,the higher the degree of farmers’ participation in collective action.The more the peasant households transfer land,the longer the transfer period,the lower their enthusiasm to participate in collective action.