Boosting off-farm employment is an active strategy for developing countries to achieve economic growth and reduce income inequality. The internet has become an effective information tool for agricultural production and off-farm employment. This study uses the conditional mixed regression method and data gathered from ten Chinese provinces in 2021 and 2022. It investigates whether internet use promotes rural household laborers’ off-farm employment quantity and quality. The results show that internet use significantly enhances the off-farm employment quantity and quality among rural households. Specifically, compared with rural households that do not use the internet, those that use the internet increase the likelihood of the decision to participate and the intensity of participation in off-farm employment of rural households by 17.5 and 11.6 %age points, respectively. Furthermore, off-farm employment days and wages increase by 23.9% and 7.7%, respectively. It positively affects off-farm employment through an agricultural mechanization mechanism. Additionally, the effects are more pronounced among rural households that have more off-farm employment days, receive lower off-farm employment wages, are large-scale, and without dependency burden.

PurposeChina's grain subsidy policy was implemented nearly 20 years ago, and there have since been several changes in the subsidy content and methods. This study examines the impact of direct payment subsidies (DPS) on the economic effects of grain production for farmers.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses an instrumental variable fixed effect model to analyze the impact of DPS on the economic effects of grain production, based on data from the China Survey for Agricultural and Rural Economy from 2013 to 2020.FindingsThe results indicate that DPS significantly enhance the economic effects of grain production for growers. The elasticity value of DPS and grain output, and DPS and technical efficiency (TE) of grain production are 0.636 and 0.073, respectively. These impacts exhibit significant heterogeneity across different age, income and planting scale. DPS also efficiently improve the structure of input factors to boost the economic effects of grain production. Our results indicate that these effects became more pronounced after agricultural policy reform, especially for large-scale farmers.Originality/valueThis study measures the economic effects of grain production in two ways: grain output and TE. DPS has increased farmers' enthusiasm for grain input and improved the structure of factor inputs, thereby promoting the economic effects of food production. The research results also confirm the positive effectiveness of China's grain subsidy policy.

Agricultural mechanization services (AMS) are a key strategy for farmers to achieve mechanized production. However, farmers' access to these services is impeded by information gaps and high search costs. This study investigates the impact of internet usage on AMS accessed by farmers, based on 8,299 observations gathered from 12 Chinese provinces. The results indicate that farmers who use the internet have a 24.4% higher probability of accessing AMS than those who do not. Moreover, heterogeneity tests revealed that internet usage significantly promotes AMS access among middle- and high-education groups, younger groups, middle-scale farmers, middle- and high-income groups, and the eastern and western regions. Additionally, internet usage promotes farmers' access to AMS by expanding their information channels and strengthening their social networks.

基于2013-2018年12402份农户调研数据,运用Ⅳ-Probit模型,探究了经营规模分化视角下土地转入对农户农业生产性服务供给的影响.研究结果表明:土地转入显著促进了农户的农业生产性服务供给;农户的农业生产性服务供给选择存在经营规模临界值,仅当经营规模达到临界值后农户才会提供服务;异质性分析结果表明土地转入与经营规模仅在无合作社提供服务的村庄、平原地形村庄对农户服务供给具有显著影响.因此,在我国农业生产性服务发展进程中,应重视农户的农业生产性服务供给潜力,为其发展提供政策扶持;继续引导农村土地流转,合理配置农村土地资源;注重不同地区资源禀赋特征,因地制宜制定农业生产性服务发展政策.

China is facing a rapidly aging population, and the proportion of the working-age population (WAP) is showing a decreasing trend. In this study, we use a two-stage budgeting quadratic almost-ideal demand system framework to estimate the distribution of food demand elasticity under different proportions of the WAP in rural China. The results show that the income elasticities of rural residents’ demand for fruits and vegetables, animal products, oils and fats, and grains were 0.73, 0.65, 0.55, and 0.48, respectively. Additionally, the income elasticity of rural residents tended to increase as the household proportion of the WAP decreased. These results can provide a deeper understanding of the food consumption patterns of rural residents in China, and could be used in general or partial equilibrium models to forecast food supply and demand.

Ending hunger, achieving food security, and promoting sustainable agriculture are the main targets of sustainable development goals. It is well known that cropland resources are the most essential factor in achieving sustainable development goals. However, China has been facing the problem of a continuous reduction in cropland resources. Reducing the abandonment of cropland has become an important way to curb the reduction in cropland resources. Can agricultural machinery harvesting services reduce cropland abandonment in rural China? To answer this scientific question, this study employs the Survey for Agriculture and Village Economy data from 8345 samples of 12 provinces in rural China. The extended regression models (i.e., the extended probit regression model and the extended interval regression model) are used to empirically analyze the relationship between agricultural machinery harvesting services accessed by farmers and cropland abandonment. The results are as follows. Agricultural machinery harvesting services accessed by farmers significantly reduced the probability of cropland abandonment and the proportion of the area of abandoned cropland in farmers’ contracted cropland area decreased by 18.5% and 20.3%, respectively. Moreover, the heterogeneity analysis results showed that farmers’ access to agricultural machinery harvesting services significantly reduced cropland abandonment in small-scale groups, without elderly households, with nonagricultural income groups, and in the eastern region. This study also provides some policy implications for policymakers to reduce cropland abandonment in rural China.

The COVID-19 pandemic introduced risks and challenges to global food and nutrition security. In this paper, we examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the nutritional intake of China’s rural residents using panel data and a fixed effects model. The data were collected in 2019 and 2020 and covered nine provinces and 2631 households in rural China. The results reveal that an increase of 100 confirmed cases in a county resulted in a 1.30% (p < 0.01), 1.42% (p < 0.01), 1.65% (p < 0.01), and 1.15% (p < 0.01) decrease in per capita intake of dietary energy, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, respectively. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant and negative effect on dietary macronutrient intake in the low-income group at the 5% level of significance. Our study indicates that the potential insufficient nutrition situation, nutritional imbalance, and dietary imbalance of low-income rural residents should be addressed appropriately.

Smallholder farms have played an essential role in agricultural production and food security. In order to increase farm size, the Chinese government announced a reform of the grain subsidy program in 2015. Under the reform, 20% of the aggregate input subsidy, as well as the pilot subsidy to large-scale farmers and the incremental part of the agricultural support and protection subsidy budget, were used to support increasing farm size. This study evaluated the impact of China’s grain subsidy reform on the land use of smallholder farms to investigate whether the reform achieved its goal. Based on 2063 samples obtained from the 2013–2015 Survey for Agriculture and Village Economy data in Huang-Huai-Hai Plain, we conducted a difference-in-difference model to solve the problem of missing counterfactual states in policy evaluation. Farms from Henan and Shandong were assigned to the treatment group, and farms from Hebei were assigned to the control group. The results revealed that the average treatment effect on the treated of the impact of the grain subsidy reform on the wheat-sown area was −25% (0.10 ha). Furthermore, there was heterogeneity in regard to the subsidy reform effects in different sown-area groups. The reform had the most significant impact on the smallest farmers. We also found that China’s grain subsidy reform had a significant and positive effect on the amount of outflow land area, while the impact of subsidy reform on land tenure was insignificant. Our findings suggest that while encouraging large-scale farms, it is necessary to take into account farmers’ small-scale operations and gradually promote the transformation of small-scale operations to large-scale operations. The Chinese government should strengthen the supervision of land use to achieve the goal of ensuring food security.

小麦作为三大主粮之一,在保障粮食安全和稳定国家经济发展中具有重要的作用.立足于国内,从小麦面积和产量波动、生产区域分布、品种演变、小麦品质以及供需形势等几个方面分析了我国小麦产业发展情况,并结合美国、澳大利亚、法国等发达国家小麦产业发展特点,概括总结国外小麦产业发展的先进经验.结果 表明:我国小麦供给总量基本充足、小麦优势产区基本形成、小麦品种由稳产为主逐步向高产优质多抗转变、小麦需求向优质专用小麦转变.但存在小麦种植面积小而散、多品种混种普遍、产品结构不合理、产业体系和社会化服务体系不完善等问题.借鉴发达国家的经验,我国小麦产业在今后发展中应加强基础建设,引导形成集中连片种植,落实优质小麦"专种、专收、专储、专用",以需求为导向引导规范种植、健全农业社会化服务体系.

Over the past 4 decades, China has experienced a nutritional transition and has developed the largest population of internet users. In this study, we evaluated the impacts of internet access on the nutritional intake in Chinese rural residents. An IV-Probit-based propensity score matching method was used to determine the impact of internet access on nutritional intake. The data were collected from 10,042 rural households in six Chinese provinces. The results reveal that rural residents with internet access have significantly higher energy, protein, and fat intake than those without. Chinese rural residents with internet access consumed 1.35% (28.62 kcal), 5.02% (2.61 g), and 4.33% (3.30 g) more energy, protein, and fat, respectively. There was heterogeneity in regard to the intake of energy, protein, and fat among those in different income groups. Moreover, non-staple food consumption is the main channel through which internet access affects nutritional intake. The results demonstrate that the local population uses the internet to improve their nutritional status. Further studies are required to investigate the impact of internet use on food consumed away from home and micronutrient intake.

基于1990～2017年省级平衡面板数据,采用全局Moran's I、局部Moran's I指数分析肉羊生产空间相关性,并构建空间滞后面板模型对中国肉羊生产空间集聚的影响因素进行实证分析.结果表明,我国肉羊生产存在显著的正向空间相关性,邻省间也存在一定空间相关性,且高高集聚区主要为我国肉羊生产优势省,低低集聚区主要为我国肉羊生产相对弱势省;空间因素、羊肉单产、农林牧渔从业人员数量、肉羊产业内比较优势、粮食总产量、2003与2008年政策虚拟变量均显著正向影响肉羊生产空间集聚,其中农林牧渔从业人员数量、肉羊产业内比较优势及粮食总产量对肉羊生产空间集聚影响较为显著.为促进肉羊生产向优势产区集聚,应注重肉羊生产空间因素,因地制宜制定产业政策;减少非农就业对肉羊生产集聚影响,提高肉羊生产比较效益;充分发挥粮食主产省资源优势,倡导种养结合发展模式.