What Are the Effects of Participation in Production Outsourcing? Evidence from Chinese Apple Farmers

Can Agricultural Socialized Services Promote the Reduction in Chemical Fertilizer? Analysis Based on the Moderating Effect of Farm Size

On the basis of the data of 855 farmer households in the 2020 China Land Economic Survey, this paper uses an extended regression model to empirically study the impact of agricultural socialized services on the reduction in chemical fertilizer and the moderating effect of farm size in the above impact path. The results show that adoption of agricultural socialized services by farmers can significantly promote reduction in chemical fertilizer. The moderating effect test shows that the farm size is instrumental in strengthening the effect of promoting agricultural socialized services on the reduction in chemical fertilizer. The effect of technology-intensive services on fertilizer reduction was more pronounced than that of labor-intensive services. Agricultural socialized services have a greater effect on the reduction in chemical fertilizer for farmers with a higher degree of part-time employment, but farm size can significantly enhance the fertilizer reduction effect generated by the adoption of agricultural socialized services by farmers with a lower degree of part-time employment. Therefore, we recommend further developing agricultural socialized services, strengthening the supply of agricultural green production services, and playing the role of agricultural socialized services in chemical fertilizer reduction. We also posit that encouraging large-scale farmers to adopt agricultural socialized services would further promote fertilizer reduction.

Divergence between Willingness and Behavior of Farmers to Purchase Socialized Agricultural Services: From a Heterogeneity Perspective of Land Scale

The low-level dilemma of farmers’ Socialized Agricultural Services (SAS) purchases is a realistic problem facing the construction of socialized service systems in China’s major grain-producing areas. Existing research lacks the necessary attention on the decision-making mechanism of farmers’ purchases of SAS, resulting in a large gap between theoretical research and real-world problems. Based on the data of 638 households in China’s main grain-producing areas, this paper empirically analyzes the influence mechanism of heterogeneous land scale on deviation between farmers’ willingness and behavior to purchase SAS, and discusses the heterogeneity of the influence mechanism under different production links. The findings indicate that the degree of divergence between farmers’ willingness to purchase SAS and their behavior is large. (1) There is a significant threshold effect of land scale on the degree of divergence between farmers’ willingness and behavior to purchase SAS, and the threshold value is ten mu. The increase in land scale will significantly enlarge the divergence between small-scale farmers’ purchase willingness and behavior. However, it will significantly reduce the divergence between large-scale farmers’ purchase willingness and behavior. (2) From the demand side, household income and health will significantly reduce the divergence among farmers of different business sizes. Family burden and land fragmentation are essential factors affecting the degree of divergence of small-scale farmers, while education and the value of their own machinery significantly affect the degree of divergence of large-scale farmers. From the supply side, whether there are local suppliers and their matching degree with farmers significantly reduces the divergence among farmers of different business scales. However, small-scale farmers are more sensitive to the price and quality of agricultural services, while large-scale farmers have higher requirements for the degree of regulation of supplying agents. (3) There is heterogeneity in the influence mechanisms of divergence between farmers’ willingness to purchase SAS and their behavior under different product segments. In addition, our findings highlight how to realize the transformation from declarative preference to explicit preference in promoting farmers’ purchases of SAS.

Competitiveness and sustainable development of Chinableapple industry

Agriculture faces a contradiction between sustainable resource utilization and maintaining market competitiveness. As a major agricultural product, the sustainability and competitiveness of the apple industry have become important topics. This study analyzes the competitiveness of China’s apple industry and the factors affecting it. Using 2004 and 2018 data for eight Chinese provinces, principal component analysis and spatial autocorrelation are used to examine competitiveness in terms of five aspects: market, production, technology, organization, and environment. The results indicate that Shandong, Shaanxi, and Gansu were the most competitive during the study period while Hebei, Henan, and Ningxia lagged behind. Regional differences are obvious, with Shandong in particular showing a clear competitive advantage. Although no spatial agglomeration is observed in China’s apple industry, with ongoing industrial development, local spatial correlations in the five aspects of competitiveness in the eight provinces have been increasing and gradually stabilizing. This study’s findings suggest that improved scientific production, reasonable capital investment, and an established industrial chain are needed to promote local agriculture, economic development, and the central role of the apple industry.

An empirical study on spatial-temporal dynamics and influencing factors of apple production in China

In the context of supply-side structural reform, revealing the characteristics of spatial–temporal dynamics and influencing factors of China’s apple production layout is of great significance to ensure apple supply and demand balance and timely adjustment of industrial policies and regional layout strategies. Based on national and provincial apple production data from 1978 to 2016, this study used the apple production concentration index to analyse the evolution characteristics of regional apple production patterns in China. A theoretical analysis framework was established and a spatial econometric model was used to quantitatively explore the influencing factors of China’s apple production layout. The results showed that, first, since the reform and opening-up policy, a general trend of fluctuating growth was found for apple production in China. The centre of apple production layout moved in the southwest direction, with the shift from the Bohai Bay region to the Loess Plateau region. Second, apple production had a significant spatial correlation, while the degree of spatial agglomeration gradually decreased. Third, these changes were significantly influenced by apple comparative income, infrastructure, policies, and climatic conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to continue optimizing and adjusting the apple spatial layout to enhance the technological progress and economic effect of the apple industry and to ensure the stability and balance of regional supply and demand.

Dynamic Optimization of Fuel and Logistics Costs as a Tool in Pursuing Economic Sustainability of a Farm

Improving the performance and economic sustainability of agricultural producers requires the integration of many dimensions, one of which is logistics. Establishing efficient and cost-effective transportation is a key element of establishing sustainable linkages along food supply chains between farmers, storage and transport companies, and consumers. In this regard, infrastructural constraints to sustainability in agricultural production exacerbate transportation costs and risks, and thus result in lower performance of agricultural producers. As fuel consumption is, first, the most significant cost in agricultural logistics and, second, particularly sensitive to disruptions of transport, loading, and storage infrastructure, management of fuel costs is crucial to assure profit margin of an agricultural enterprise. By transforming the standard economic order quantity (EOQ) model, the authors attempt to build an approach to the optimization of fuel costs. The analysis made in the cases of twelve large crop farms in three territories of Southern Russia allowed the consideration of: (1) fragmentation in storage infrastructure; (2) variations in fuel consumption depending on the vehicle load ratio; (3) the use of their own fleet of vehicles against the outsourcing of transport operations. The authors find that the tactics of optimization of fuel costs vary depending on the location of a farm in relation to grain storage facilities. Particularly, the farms located in areas of high concentration of storage facilities benefit from using their own fleet of vehicles, while those experiencing longer distances of transportation should outsource the performance of logistics operations to third parties. To overcome a site-specific nature, the transformed EOQ model should accommodate country-specific requirements, specifically, the level of fragmentation of transport and storage infrastructure, average distance of transportation from a farm to receival site, and average fuel consumption rates depending on the types of trucks commonly used by farmers. The key recommendation is that sustainability-aimed management of logistics costs should consider combining the operation of trucks by a farm with the outsourcing of transportation operations to address the fragmentation of transport and storage infrastructure.

How Productive Services Affect Apple Production Technical Efficiency: Promote or Inhibit?

Agricultural productive services provide a new entry point to solve the “labor dilemma” and contributes to the sustainable development of the apple industry. In this study, we establish a random frontier model with the Translog production function to analyze the influence of productive services on the technical efficiency of apple production based on a microscopic survey data of 661 apple farmers. The results indicate that the purchasing proportions of productive services are obviously different among the different links of apple production, while those among different regions are not obvious. Overall, productive services have a positive effect on improving the technical efficiency of apple production, but productive services in different links have a different effect; specifically, productive services in the bagging link have a positive effect on the technical efficiency of apple production, productive services in the pest controlling link have a negative effect, and productive services in other links have no significant effect. We suggest that policymakers should promote the orderly development of agricultural productive services, focus on improving the popularity of productive services in bagging links, and improve the quality of productive services in the pest control link.

Household Health and Cropland Abandonment in Rural China: Theoretical Mechanism and Empirical Evidence

Prior studies have fully explored the impacts of rural labor migration on land use forms. In contrast to prior studies, this study focuses on the health status of rural households and its quantitative impacts on cropland abandonment (CA). More specifically, under the guidance of the theoretical mechanism of "household health affects CA by labor supply", this study employs survey data from 8031 households collected in 27 Chinese provinces in 2014 to explore the quantitative impacts of household health on CA. The results are as follows. (1) The higher the level of household health is, the less CA there is. (2) Compared with males, the impact of female health status on CA is more obvious. Thus, the relationship between household health and CA matters, not only because it may help to theoretically enhance the understanding of the importance of health in peasant households, but also because it may help to practically provide references for effective policies of CA from the perspective of rural medical services.

The Farmers’ Channel Selection and Sustainable Analysis under Carbon Tax Policy

This paper examines a farmer’s channel selection in a supply chain led by a retailer, considering carbon emissions and products’ deterioration. Three channels—online channels, retail channels, and dual channels—are proposed. The inventory model of perishable products and the two-stage Stackelberg game model are used to illustrate the operational process. To compare performances of the three channel structures, we further determine the critical points consisting of the profits and the carbon emissions among these channels. The results provide useful insights for supply chain members and the government. Farmers can choose a channel to optimize profit with respect to deterioration rate and product yield, but it might conflict with the aim of least carbon emissions. When the deterioration rate is high, the online channel is not a suitable choice. For the government, the carbon tax contributes to the reduction of carbon emissions, but it also leads to the loss of the farmer’s profit. Additionally, numerical results further illustrate that, from the perspective of the government, transporting and inventory processes are two major sources of emissions, and it is essential to implement carbon tax and exploit low-carbon transportation.