Trend and types of the scale farming operation in China
Zuhui Huang, Shaosheng Jin, and etc.
China Academy for Rural Development (CARD) of Zhejiang University, China
For the topic of Agro-holdings and other types of mega-farming operations in developed and
emerging economies, the pre-conference workshop of the International Conference of
Agricultural Economists (ICAE), on August 7-8, 2015, Milan, Italian
Motivation Agriculture in China is often characterized as a small-scale farming. In recent years, however, it has witnessed the widespread of increased scale (or large-scale) of farming operation.
large-scale operation of
vegetables and fruits
What is the nature of scale farming operation? How do Chinese farmers
carry out the scale of farming operation? What is the future trend?
large-scale operation of cereals
Objective
To discuss the meaning of the moderate scale of farming operation.
To analyze three types of the scale farming operations in China, by
cases as follows:
(1) the scale farming based on land;
(2) the scale farming based on the professional service;
(3) the scale farming based on the stereo-agriculture by changing
farming system.
To explore the trends of the scale farming operation in China.
5
CONTENTS
1. Situation of the size structure of farming
operation in China
2. Meaning and types of the scale
farming operation
3. Three types of the scale farming
operation in China
4. Conclusion and trend of the scale
farming operation in China
CONTENTS
1. Situation of the size structure of farming operation in China
-- taking the crop farming as an example
Ultra small size：
Regions Hectares
China
(220 million farm household) 0.6
Japan 1.4
South Korea 1.2
the United States 195.2
Western European countries 18 to 69
Average land for each farm household in relevant countries
Ultra small size：
Ultra small size：
Table 1 Average cultivated land of rural family by regions China (2008)
Data source: "China Environmental Statistics Yearbook" and the statistical yearbook of relevant regions 2009.
Regions/Provinces Average cultivated land of rural households (mu*)
Heilongjiang 40.18 Inner Mongolia 33.10
Jilin 23.11 Ningxia 21.54
Xinjiang 21.25
Gansu 18.03 Tibet 15.27
Yunnan 12.87
Hainan 12.36 Shanxi 11.99
Liaoning 11.59
Guizhou 11.01
Anhui 9.56
Shanxi 9.42
Hebei 8.94 Hubei 8.92
** National average 8.74
Tianjin 8.49 Shandong 8.22
Henan 8.10 Jiangsu 7.51 Qinghai 7.41
Jiangxi 7.05
Guangxi 6.01 Hunan 6.01
Shanghai 5.36 Fujian 4.40
Sichuan 3.99 Chongqing 3.77
Guangdong 3.30
Zhejiang 2.28
Beijing 0.69
Differences
between regions of China
15 mu=1ha.
Figure 1: The average cultivated land of Chinese rural households by provinces in 2008 (unit: mu)
Data source: "China Environmental Statistics Yearbook" and the statistical yearbook of relevant regions 2009.
2. Meaning and types of the scale farming operation
Meaning of the scale farming operation
The phenomenon of various scales in agriculture based on the farm
household should be paid more attention, and the moderate scale should be
pursued.
In a sense, the moderate scale of agriculture base on farm household is
determined by the concept of the comparative advantage or the opportunity
cost in stead of the technology.
It could be said therefore that the moderate scale of agricultural operation is
a dynamic concept, and given technology, it will get increasing with the
income growth engaged in the non agricultural sector.
It should be also noted that there are multiple forms of agricultural scale
operation, and the land scale operation is just one of them according to the
concept of the moderate scale of agriculture.
Agricultural product types in terms of relevant input factors
Land-intensive product: such as grain and other bulk
agricultural product
Capital-intensive product: such as the processed
agricultural product and greenhouse agricultural product
Labor-intensive product: mainly refer to vegetable, fruit,
tea, and aquaculture product
Land-intensive products in
Agriculture
Capital-intensive products In Agriculture
Capital-intensive products
in agriculture
Labor-intensive products
in agriculture
Decisive factors of the scale operation for different agricultural products
Land-intensive product relation of the land and the capital
Capital-intensive product relation of the fixed cost and
variable cost
Labor-intensive product relation of labor and capital
3. Three types of the scale farming operation in China
The first type: the scale operation of land
(1) Scale operation of the land based on the transfer of the land use right
Table 2: Operating size and revenue from sample households in 2012 (unit: RMB)
Net revenue
Below 50
Mu
% of total
revenue
50-100
Mu
% of total
revenue
100-200
Mu
%of total
revenue
Over 200
Mu
%of total
revenue
planting 24772.50 71.89 22339.13 63.82 71773.80 97.85 626640.80 99.09
Livestock 7506.52 21.78 12502.20 35.72 1575.63 2.15 5768.25 0.91
Aquaculture 2166.66 6.29 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Forestry 11.90 0.03 160.16 0.46 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Total 34457.58 100.00 35001.49 100.00 73349.43 100.00 632409.05 100.00
Two features
The revenue and the grain planting is closely related with the expansion of the
planting scale (see table 2)
The relation of the operating scale and the yield level per capita: at the beginning, it
was up, and then began to fall with the expansion of the planting scale (see table 3).
Table 3: Grain yield by different varieties from sample households in 2012 ( kg/Mu )
Average Early rice Middle-sea
son rice Late rice
Spring
wheat
Winter
wheat Soybean
All sample 404.27 520.70 499.24 555.55 400.00 408.44 163.96
Below 50 Mu 380.65 482.47 487.66 515.77 401.19 355.41 159.85
50-100 Mu 410.58 528.93 509.61 555.36 397.56 430.33 172.01
100-200 Mu 419.16 545.26 489.31 601.56 404.76 419.79 148.14
Over 200 Mu 386.43 501.61 483.12 545.24 402.18 367.45 157.29
(2) Scale operation of the land based on the shares-cooperative of land
The case of the Renfa cooperative
Regard the land that farmers transferred as the share, and promise at
least 350 yuan per mu (one share);
Regard the land that farmers transferred as the investment as well;
In the end of 2013, farmers obtained 900 yuan per mu, and only 300
yuan per mu compared with the past.
Mechanized agricultural operation in the Renfa cooperative
Farmers in the Renfa-Coop are happy to
get the year-end earnings dividends
The second type: the scale operation based on the professional service
There are mainly two forms of professional service in agriculture of China
The technical service mainly for the labor intensive product.
The mechanical service mainly for the land intensive product.
To take Shandong Province in China as an example
There are more than 58% of the rural labor forces to go out to work,
and about 1/3 of villages the rate of migrant labor is over 70%.
Then they developed various of service-cooperatives and set up a
complete service chain in agriculture.
Mechanical service-cooperative
Agricultural products direct-to-the supermarkets by the cooperative’s service
The third type: the scale operation based on the stereo-agriculture
by changing farming system
To take Zhejiang Province of China as an example
Farming types Farming patterns Farming forms
1, Combination of planting
and-breeding
Paddy-Chicken rotation mode
Chicken +potato—paddy rice → chicken
Chicken + broad bean —paddy rice →chicken
Chicken + barley — paddy rice → chicken
chicken—paddy rice → chicken
Mode of combination of yearly cropping-poultry farming
Duck raising in winter fallow field—paddy rice + duck — duck
Planting grass and raising duck—paddy rice + duck
Cane shoot-laying duck rotation mode Cane shoot + laying duck
Grain-poultry-potato efficient mode wheat—japonica rice + duck Potato —japonica rice + duck
Grain-poultry-vegetable efficient mode Mustard—paddy rice + duck — paddy rice + duck
Paddy rice + duck — paddy rice + duck
2, Combination of grain and
cash crops
Mushroom—paddy rice mode Black fungus—paddy rice + duck
Black fungus — paddy rice
Mushroom-cash crop mode Taro — paddy rice
Bamboo shoots — paddy rice Rabbit-grain farming mode Rabbit: ryegrass —fresh soybean —fresh corn
3, Combination of grain and
fodder or animal husbandry Sheep fodder-grain mode
Sheep: ryegrass/silkworm breeding and mulberry growing /ryegrass
Sheep: ryegrass — rosinweed — paddy rice
Sheep: ryegrass — rosinweed — ryegrass
4, Compound management
of forest land
Bamboo shoots-chicken co-cultivation mode bamboo & bamboo shoot + chicken
Mode of bamboo & bamboo shoot interplanted with glabra
bamboo & bamboo shoot interplanted with glabra
5, Aquatic eco- breeding
Clam eco-breeding mode Clam: silver carp, crucian and black carp
Clam: silver carp and crucian
River crab eco-breeding mode Crab: freshwater shrimp silver carp and soft-shelled turtle
Crab: freshwater shrimp silver carp and mandarin fish
Seawater pond breeding mode Prawn: black sea bream and scallop
Table 4: Farming system in Zhejiang Province
Combination of planting-breeding
Combination of grain and cash crop:
Black fungus and paddy rice
Combination of grain-fodder and animal husbandry
Compound management of forest land
Aquatic eco- breeding
4. Conclusions and trend of the scale farming operation in China
The size of farming based on household will get increasing but still
relatively smaller.
The lager size in terms of the professional service might be one
approach to enhance the competitiveness of Chinese agriculture.
It is also crucial that the climate condition and the resource
endowment of the relevant region to influence on the scale type of
farming operation except for the features of product.
Thank you for your attention!
