ADJUSTMENT OF HOUSEHOLD AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION STRUCTURE AND ITS IMPACT ON INCOME IN JILIN PROVINCE OF CHINA

Transcription

1 ADJUSTMENT OF HOUSEHOLD AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION STRUCTURE AND ITS IMPACT ON INCOME IN JILIN PROVINCE OF CHINA Wenxin LIU 1, Xiuli HE 1, 1 Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun China Corresponding author: Wenxin LIU liuwx@iga.ac.cn Abstract: Since 2015, China has implemented the strategy of agricultural supply-side structural reform, which directly or indirectly promotes the adjustment of agricultural production structure, but there is still a lack of systematic research on the effect of this reform strategy from the micro level of farmers. Jilin Province is an important grain producing area in China, which is greatly influenced by the adjustment of national agricultural policy. Based on the survey data of 633 rural households in Jilin Province from 2015 to 2016, this paper analyzed the adjustment process and trend of household production structure from the micro-scale, and quantified its impact on rural household income. The results showed that the internal structure of grain crops, the structure of grain and economic crops, and the structure of planting and breeding were all adjusted for the rural households, having an impact on the income of farmers: the area of many kinds of grain crops was reduced synchronously; the area of economic crops was increased; the scale of family farming was enlarged. Under the condition of not considering the subsidy income, the adjustment of the structure of grain and economic crops and the structure of planting and breeding (namely increasing the proportion of economic crops and enlarging the scale of family breeding) is an effective way to improve the income of rural households. Key words: Adjustment of agricultural production structure, Income of farmers, Planting structure, Jilin Province of China INTRODUCTION As the basis of China's national economy, the development of agriculture is closely related to the changes in the operation of the national economy, and the fluctuation, growth or stagnation of the agricultural economy cannot be separated from the operation of the national economy. In recent years, in addition to the attention of agricultural geographers to agricultural structure adjustment, there are more and more relevant studies in the fields of economics, management and other humanities and social sciences. The research results on the evolution of agricultural structure, the regional structure of agriculture, the effect of agricultural structure adjustment, the dynamic mechanism and the restrictive factors are quite abundant, which are shown in the following aspects: (i) The evolution of agricultural structure and regional differences. Many scholar (Chen, 2018; Duan, 2003; Zhang, 2000) have studied the evolution stage of China's agricultural structure since the reform and opening-up. Combining the development of agriculture with the growth of the national economy and the guiding policy of the state, they have divided the evolution stage of the agricultural structure, and evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively the characteristics of the agricultural production structure, product structure, regional distribution and so on (Jiang, 2008; Li, 2002; Lian, 2008). (ii) The effect of agricultural structure adjustment. Since 2000, the research on the effect of agricultural structure adjustment has gradually increased, with emphasis on the 140

2 regional effect, economic effect and the effect of increasing farmers' income (Liu and Wu, 2014; Liu and Lu, 2003; Wang, 2013). (iii) Motivation mechanism and restrictive factors. The occurrence and development of agricultural structure adjustment are influenced by the internal and external motivation mechanism, including the equilibrium mechanism of production and demand, the interest equilibrium mechanism, the industry coordination and equilibrium mechanism, the regional coordinated development mechanism, the social interest coordination and sustainable development mechanism (Wang, Wu and Yan, 2012). Some scholars take Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Fujian and less developed rural areas as the type of area to carry out empirical research. Due to the differences of economic system, agricultural production and management system and resources and environment conditions, the research on agricultural structure adjustment and its spatial pattern change in foreign academic circles mainly focuses on four aspects: study on agricultural industrial structure and farm structure (Henderson, 2014; Hou, 2005; Riveiro et al., 2008; Syrquin and Chenery, 1989); factors affecting agricultural structure adjustment (Armbruster, and Ahearn, 2014; Klopot, 2014; Varma, 2013); study on agricultural regionalization and distribution (Guo, 1990; Nelson and Geoghegan, 2002); diversity of theoretical perspectives and methods. In recent years, China has issued a series of agricultural adjustment policies in order to optimize the agricultural structure, increase farmers' income and enhance China's agricultural competitiveness. In 2015, the Ministry of Agriculture issued the Guidance on Further Adjusting and Optimizing the Agricultural Structure, with the goal of stabilizing grain output and grain production capacity, promoting agricultural efficiency and increasing farmers' incomes, improving the overall quality of agriculture and increasing farmers' incomes continuously and rapidly by readjusting and optimizing the agricultural structure. In the same year, the Ministry of Agriculture issued the Guidance on Corn Structure Adjustment in the " Sickle Bend" Area to alleviate structural contradictions by reducing 50 million mu of maize and to build a modern agricultural industry system. In 2016, China carried out the reform of maize collection and storage system, adjusted the policy of temporary maize storage in the three provinces of Northeast China and Inner Mongolia to a new mechanism of "market-oriented purchase" and "subsidization", so that the maize price decreased by about 30%, which pushed rural households to adjust the planting scale and structure from bottom to top. In 2017, Document NO.1 of the Central Government intended to push forward the structural reform of agricultural supply-side and optimize the industrial structure and regional distribution of products. Rural households are the microscopic business entity of agricultural production, and the adjustment of agricultural production structure based on farmers' families is a realistic reflection of responding to policy change from bottom to top. The existing studies are mostly based on the historical data to carry out evaluation and correlation analysis on the provincial scale agricultural structural adjustment and regional adjustment effects, and to sum up the comparative advantage of agricultural structural adjustment and adjustment effect matching degree, but the results of micro-perspective research are relatively few. Relying on the survey data of rural households in Jilin Province from 2015 to 2016, in the context of the change of policy environment, this paper analyzed the relationship between the adjustment of agricultural production structure and the change of rural households' income on the micro-scale, and quantified the influence of the adjustment of rural households' production structure on the household income, so as to provide scientific reference for China to promote the structural reform of agricultural supply side and improve farmers' income. 141

3 MATERIALS AND METHODS The survey data of rural households is the basis of the analysis of this paper. In , relevant information collection was carried out for rural households in Jilin Province through random survey. The research regions cover 19 villages under the jurisdiction of 9 prefectures in Jilin Province (Table 1). About 900 rural households were involved, and a total of 633 valid questionnaires were obtained for the same rural households in two periods after removing the incomplete key data about rural households and the data about the rural households with large-sum incomes from land requisition. Table 1. Research regions City level County level Village name Changchun Nong an Minqiang Dehui Funing Jiutai Lianhua Yushu Yanhe Jilin Changyi Qiaotun Huadian Xiangyang Jiaohe Shitouhe Yongji Baimafu Siping Yitong Tanzi Gongzhuling Xiangyangpo Lishu Pingling Liaoyuan Dongliao Qianping Tonghua Ji an Dadianzi Meihekou Jingxing Baishan Jingyu Chengshan Fusong Huangjiawaizi Songyuan Fuyu Shandaoheng Baicheng Tongyu Xinfeng Yanbian Longjing Taiping The questionnaire includes the contents reflecting the adjustment of farmers' agricultural production structure and the changes of their income. The purpose of the questionnaire is to construct a continuous database of time series and to realize the comparability of the data on time scale among rural households. By comparing the changes of the internal sown area of grain crops, the sown area of grain crops and economic crops, and the changes of aquaculture structure in the past two years, this paper analyzes the impact of the adjustment of agricultural production structure on household income. 142

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Adjustment of rural households' planting structure and its influence on income From 2015 to 2016, under the influence of related agricultural policies, the rural households' grain crop planting structure was changed, and the area of various crops was reduced synchronously (Table 2). Among them, the sown area of rice, maize and potato crops showed a downward trend, a total of mu, 72.4 mu, 147 mu lower than that of the previous year, respectively. Wheat and soybean showed an increasing trend in sown area, especially soybean, which increased mu over the previous year. This shows that the original soybean planting base and conditions in Jilin Province have regained vitality under the influence of a series of policies of structural reform on the grain supply side. Especially the subsidy for maize and soybean rotation helped to promote farmers to adjust the planting structure actively, and then in the context of regional maize adjustment and reduction guidance and price decline, soybean sown area showed a significant growth trend. Table 2. The area of grain crops planted by rural households and its change (mu) Sown area Wheat Rice Maize Soybean Potato According to the proportion of sown area of main grain crops, the sown area of wheat, rice, maize, soybean and potato in the surveyed households in 2015 accounted for 1.04%, 9.01%, 81.63%, 4.49% and 3.83%, respectively. In 2016, the proportion changed to 1.05%, 7.76%, 82.2%, 5.94% and 3.04%, respectively (Table 3). Among them, the proportion of soybean, maize and wheat increased slightly, the proportion of rice and potato decreased slightly, without significant overall extent of rise and fall. Table 3. The proportion of rural households' grain crop sown area and its change (%) Wheat Rice Maize Soybean Potato Under the circumstance of not considering the subsidy income, the income of rural households' grain cultivation mainly decreased. From 2015 to 2016, the total income of rural households from planting wheat, rice, maize, soybean and potato decreased to yuan from yuan, with an average decrease of yuan per household. 185 rural households' income from grain crops in 2016 was higher than that of the previous year, with a total increase of yuan. In 2016, 432 rural households' income from grain crops was lower than that of the previous year, with a total decrease of yuan. 16 rural households' income changed little in the past two years. Rural households' incomes from crops other than maize, such as rice, soybeans and wheat, have increased. In 2015, the surveyed households' total income of maize planting was yuan, 143

5 accounting for 83.25% of the income of grain crops; the proportion of rice income was 12.24%, while that of soybean, potato and wheat was 2.47%, 1.72% and 0.32%, respectively (Table 4). In 2016, the rural households' income from maize planting dropped significantly, which was the inevitable result of the decline in the planting scale and the purchase price at the same time. In the same year, the income of maize planting decreased to yuan, which accounted for 79.8% of the income of grain crops, and the proportion of rice income rose to 14.29%. The proportion of soybean, potato and wheat income was still small, which was 3.28%, 1.57% and 1.07%, respectively. By comparison, from 2015 to 2016, the proportion of farmers' maize income to grain income dropped by 3.46 percentage points. In addition, except a slight decrease in the proportion of potato income, the proportion of rice, soybean and wheat to the total income of grain crops showed an upward trend, increasing by 2.05, 0.8 and 0.75 percentage points, respectively. Table 4. The changes in the income structure of rural households from different grain crops (%) Wheat Rice Maize Soybean Potato Adjustment of grain and economic crop structure and its impact on income As shown in table 5, from 2015 to 2016, the sown area of economic crops such as vegetables, oilseeds, sugar, tobacco and fruit increased from mu to mu, a total increase of mu. During the same period, the number of economic crop households rose from 247 to 260, and there were 64 rural households with a growing trend in the scale of economic crops. The average operating scale of the households was also improved, from 5.24 mu/household to 6.79 mu/household, the number of rural households with operating scale of over 50 mu increased 2 to 10, and their total operating area increased from mu to mu. The lowering maize prices may be an important reason for the expansion of economic crop operation scale. Table 5. Changes in the operation scale of rural households' economic crops Cash crop sown area (mu) Number of farmers planting cash crops (households) Average household size (mu / household) According to the internal structure of economic crops, the economic crops in Jilin Province are mainly oilseeds, vegetables and fruits, and the total planting area of the three crops accounts for more than half of the total area of economic crops. From 2015 to 2016, the sown area of oilseeds, vegetables and fruits of the surveyed rural households increased from mu, mu and 32 mu to mu, mu and 41.5 mu, respectively, an increase of mu, 22.2 mu and 9.5 mu, respectively. The total growth area of these three crops was 490 mu. In terms of proportion (Table 6), the proportion of sown area of oilseeds to sown area of economic crops showed a significant upward trend, while the proportion of sown area of vegetables and fruits decreased slightly during the same period, basically representing the main direction and future development focus of economic crops in Jilin Province. 144

6 Table 6. Changes in the proportion of sown area of main crops to sown area of economic crops (%) Oil crops Vegetable crops Fruit crops The sown area of grain crops, the sown area of economic crops, the income of grain crops and the income of economic crops were calculated comprehensively, to investigate the influence of rural households' planting structure adjustment of grain and economic crops on household income. Firstly, the total area of grain crops and economic crops sown in with rural household as a unit was calculated, and the proportion of sown area of grain crops to sown area of grain and economic crops, as well as the interannual fluctuation ratio, was calculated. Secondly, the sum and interannual variation of the income of grain crops and economic crops with rural household as a unit were calculated. Finally, according to the three states of the proportion of sown area of grain crops to sown area of grain and economic crops (rise; constant; fall), the rural households were divided into three levels, and the corresponding changes in the total income of grain and economic crops were investigated. The results showed that the proportion of sown area of grain crops to total sown area of grain and economic crops increased in 74 surveyed households, and the total household income of grain and economic crops decreased by yuan in the same period. The proportion of sown area of grain crops to total sown area of grain and economic crops remained unchanged in 486 surveyed rural households, and the total household income decreased by yuan during the same period. The proportion of sown area of grain crops to total sown area of grain and economic crops decreased in 73 surveyed rural households, that is, the proportion of sown area of economic crops to total sown area of grain and economic crops increased, and the total household income increased by yuan during the same period. Based on this, it was calculated that the proportion of sown area of grain crops to total sown area of grain and economic crops in the rural households decreased by 8.99 percentage points, and the total income increased by yuan, that is to say, for these rural households, if the proportion of sown area of grain crops to total sown area of grain and economic crops decreases by 1 percentage point compared with the previous year, the total income of grain and economic crops per household can reach yuan. Adjustment of rural households' planting and breeding structure and its influence on income The surveyed rural households' family breeding industry is booming and the scale of breeding is expanding (Table 7). The annual output of all kinds of breeding products increased from 2423 in 2015 to 3023 in 2016 and increased by 600 in By dividing it into pigs, beef cattle, meat goat and poultry for meat, the annual output increased by 136, 14, 397 and 53 in 2016 compared with the previous year, respectively, showing an all-around growth trend. Table 7. Annual output of rural households' breeding products Pig Beef cattle Meat goat Poultry

7 From its internal composition (Table 8), the proportion of pig, beef cattle, meat goat and poultry for meat raised by rural households in 2016 was 42.84%, 3.11%, 23.16%, 30.90%, respectively, and it was mainly based on the breeding of pigs. However, compared with the previous year, the proportion of output of pigs and poultry for meat showed a significant downward trend, with annual decrease of more than 5 percentage points. In addition, the annual change in the proportion of beef cattle output was relatively small. This also shows that besides the significant advantages of pigs and meat and poultry for meat, meat goat is also gradually becoming the focus of the development of family breeding, and is the direction of the adjustment of rural households' breeding structure. Table 8. Annual output proportion and interannual variation of various breeding products of rural households (%) Pig Beef cattle Meat goat Poultry From 2015 to 2016, the breeding income of rural households increased from yuan to yuan, showing an obvious upward trend. The number of breeding rural households with breeding income decreased slightly from 237 to 231 during the same period, accounting for one third of the total number of rural households surveyed, and the breeding income per household increased from yuan to yuan, an increase of yuan. This shows that the rural households, who have entered the family breeding industry by adjusting the structure of family production, expand the scale of breeding. Compared with the significant decline in income of grain crops, the breeding industry can more significantly increase the income of rural households. The breeding income is the main part of the family operating income, and calculating the change in proportion of the breeding income to the family operating income can reflect the effect of adjustment of rural households' production structure. According to the total household operating income of yuan and million yuan in 2015 and 2016, respectively, the proportion of household breeding income to household operating income in was 10.69% and 15.25%, respectively, which increased by 4.56 percentage points. This indicates that some rural households have gradually adjusted the family agricultural production and management structure, and the family farming and breeding structure has changed. Based on this, it can be estimated that if the proportion of household breeding income to household operating income increased by 1 percentage point, it can bring income of yuan per household. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS In view of the current short-term, small-scale rural households' planting structure adjustment, the reduction of maize income was the main factor leading to the decline of farmers' income. During the same period, the rice income also showed a downward trend, and the reduced maize sown area did not change into the rice sown area, indicating that the cost of dryland soil being reclaimed into paddy soil restricted the adjustment strategy of most rural households, while the simultaneous growth of soybean sown area and income suggested that this crop might become an important choice for the adjustment of the planting structure of grain crops at current stage. From the direct impact on the income, the grain crop planting structure was not greatly adjusted and changed, so the 146

8 impact on the income of farmers was more embodied in the trend. By moderately converting maize planting into soybean or rice planting, or maize-soybean rotation, it helped to weaken the direct impact of maize price adjustment on income (Shu, Wu and Xu, 2017). In addition, the production structure adjustment of grain and economic crops can be considered as one of the effective ways to promote the increase of farmers' income. Although the pattern of grain crops in Jilin Province has existed for a long time and will continue, the moderate adjustment of grain sown area for economic crops on the basis of guaranteeing the production of rations can promote the income of rural households (Li et al., 2018), which is also the main purpose of various agricultural documents issued by the state and governments at all levels. The adjustment of agricultural production structure is not only the adjustment of agricultural internal structure, but also the adjustment of time of rural households' participation in agricultural labor with family as a unit, such as shortening the agricultural work time and increasing the employment opportunities (Yao, 2012). According to the survey data, the working and farming structure of rural households in Jilin Province has changed, the number of households with land lease income has increased by leasing land to obtain land rent. At the same time, the effective working time of household labor has been invested in the labor link, in order to obtain the increase of wage income, and then increase the total income of households. Integrating this part of the structural adjustment into the research framework of agricultural production structure adjustment can help to more comprehensively and systematically analyze its impact on the household income of farmers, which is the focus of the next research work. REFERENCES [1]Chen Xiao A Study on the development and ways of agricultural structure adjustment of Xinjiang in recent 20 years, Xinjiang Agricultural Sciences, 45(5): [2]Zhang Hongyu Adjustment of agricultural structure and development of national economy, Management World, (05): [3]Duan Jinxia Strategic adjustment of China's agricultural structure in the context of economic globalization, Capital Normal University. [4]Li Rongsheng Countermeasures for adjustment of agricultural structure and development of industries restrained by resources and environment in Northwest China, Journal of Natural Resources, 17(5): [5]Lian Jie Study on the Adjustment and Strategy of Agricultural Structure in Western China. Lanzhou University. [6]Jiang Zhouwen Adjustment of agricultural structure in Northwest China under water resources constraints, Northwest A&F University. [7]Liu Yansui, Lu Dadao The basic trend and regional effect of agricultural structure adjustment in China, Acta Geographica Sinica, 58(3): [8]Wang Miao Economic Growth Effect of Agricultural Structure Adjustment in Gansu Province, Northwest Normal University. [9]Liu Lihui, Wu Cairong Cointegration analysis of the agricultural-structure-adjustment outcomes and the influences factors, On Economy Problems, (7): [10]Wang Yapeng, Wu Juan, Yan Jianwei Pondering to realize agricultural modernization of China during transition period, Research of Agricultural Modernization, 33(3): [11]Hou Liwei Study on the effect of agricultural structure adjustment in China, China Agricultural University 147

9 [12]Syrquin, M., Chenery, H.B Three decades of industrialization, The World Bank Review, (3): [13]Riveiro J A, Marey M F, Marco J L, et al Procedure for the classification and characterization of farms for agricultural production planning: application in the Northwest of Spain, Computers and electronics in agriculture, 61(2): [14]Henderson H Structural transformation and smallholder agriculture: an information theoretic analysis of the Nicaraguan case, Books for Libraries Press, 45(4): [15]Kłopot S Agrarian structure of individual agriculture in the years , Annales UMCS, SECTIO I Philosophia - Sociologia, 36(2): DOI: /v [16] Armbruster W.J., Ahearn, M.C Changing structure and organization of US agriculture, Elsevier Inc. [17]Varma P India's marginal intra-industry trade in selected agricultural and processed food products: The likely implications on adjustment costs and food security, Journal of Resources, Energy and Development, 10(1): [18]Guo Huancheng Agricultural regionalization and regional development in foreign countries, Dalian: Dalian press. [19]Nelson, G. C., Geoghegan, J Modeling deforestation and land use change: sparse data environment, Agric. Econ. [20]Shu Kunliang, Wu Di, Xu Xiaohong et al Corn structural adjustment: Practice, problems and policy support-based on the analysis of Jilin Province, Journal of Maize Sciences, 25(2): [21]Li Ming, Zhen Shanji, Gao Qi et al Research on the evolution characteristics of crop planting structure and adjustment countermeasures in Heilongjiang Province, Chinese Journal of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, 39(5): [22]Yao Shangyuan The research of site layout for the contemporary villages to the adjustment of agricultural industrial structure: A case study of the plain area in Jiang Han District, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This paper was supported by the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan Project of Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Y6H ); National Natural Science Foundation of China ( ; ); The Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KFZD-SW-314; ZDBS-SSW-SQC). 148