The influencing factors and Development Countermeasures of Large Farming Household in Jiangxi Province

Tianfang DAl，Fufang MA1.Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics，Nanchang 330013，China；2.

The influencing factors and Development Countermeasures of Large Farming Household in Jiangxi Province

Tianfang DAl1，2，Fufang MA2*
1.Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics，Nanchang 330013，China；
2.

As an important part of the new agricultural business entities，large-scale grain-production households play a significantly positive role in improving the land resource utilization，improving agricultural productivity，increasing agricultural output and farmers'income，and making a certain contribution to stabilize grain production. This paper analyzed the current situation of large-scale grain-production household in Jiangxi Province，as well as the problems in land transfer，farmland infrastructure，production and management，capital and other risks.At last，the paper proposed targeted countermeasures.

Large farming household；Development characteristics；Problems；Countermeasures

W ith advancement of urbanization，agricultural industrialization，collectivization and modernization as well as transferring of rural labor，part-time farming is increasingly on rise and large faming household， farmers’professional cooperatives，and leading enterprises of agricultural industrialization are emerging，having significant effects on cro production and national crop safety.

The operating entities of agricultural production have undergone considerable changes and large farming household has become one of backbones for crop production and management.Currently，there are 682 000 large farming household，representing 0.28%，who engage in farmlands of 9 million hm2，accounting for 7.3%of national farmland area.In conclusion，crop yield of the farming household totals 74.6 billion kg，taking up to 12.7% of national crop yield，of which the yield of faming household averages 7 290 kg/hm2，133 kg higher compared with national average level. These indicated that the scale，organization，and professional level are growing［1］.

Jiangxi Province is a large agricultural province and one of national crop-producing areas.In 2012，crop area reached 3 675 930 hm2，with total yield of 20.848 million ton，making great contribution to national crop safety.Recently，new-type operating entities of crop are booming，taking increasingly high proportion in crop production.According to statistics，in the end of 2012，large farming household with area over 3.3 hm2is as high as 29 498，involving crop area of 0.248 9 million hm2and crop yield of 2.393 million ton，taking up to 11.5%of provincial crop yield.It can be concluded that the operation of farming household is of significance for provincial crop safety and becomes crucial for crop production development.

Therefore，the research made analysis on large farming households in Jiangxi Province in terms of advan-tages，development and difficulties to explore further development strategies，which is important for grasping crop production trend，stability，and crop safety in Jiangxi Province and provides references for crop production in similar areas.

Advantage for Large Farming Household in Developing Crop

The advancement of large farming household promotes crop industry. Compared with traditional contract operation，the new operating entities take advantages in operation scale，capital，technology and market competition and large farming household plays an active role in improving land use rate and yield per unit area and agricultural labor productivity，as well as farmer’s incomes.

Promoting workforce liberation and increasing farmer’s incomes

With economy evolvement and new operation entity emergence，rural farmlands are gradually held by new operation entities，and farmers are liberated from farmlands.By labor transferring，farmers start working in secondary and tertiary industries and get higher benefits.Meanwhile，with increasing emergence of large farming household，crop production develops in a large scale and incomes are growing.

Improving agricultural productivity and advancing agricultural modernization

Large farming households are of high capability in organization and production，with a fixed model and management system，accomplishing production organization.In general，for large farming households，farmlands are managed by themselves or hiring professionals.According to practical production，it is important to carry out seasonal production，grasp production chains and coordinate production measures to improve productivity.

Furthermore，large farming household generally targets on improving crop yield and benefits，relying on abundant capital，highly-qualified crop species，green plant protection method， formula fertilization and mechanization-based operation.At the sametime，they usually reduce material or labor costs to improve economic benefits through increasing marginal benefits.

Improving crop quality and increasing crop yield and benefits

It is an inevitable choice for new operation entities to engage in diversified operations in the context of decreasing comparative benefit.At present，organic rice，selenium-rich rice and health-care rice are all available for large farming households in Jiangxi Province.Hence，it is crucial to develop right products suitable for high-end customers and maximize rice commercial value by improving rice quality，transforming rice to organic or function based rice.It is also important to highlight rice package，brand establishment，and authentication of producing area，to improve rice acceptance，market share and product grade in order to further enhance rice value and economic benefits.

Development Characteristics of Large Farming Households in Jiangxi

Recently，stimulated by national policy of supporting agriculture and benefiting farmers，new operation entities represented by large farming household grows fast in Jiangxi Province.

Table 1 Farming by large farming households in Jiangxi Province

Concentrated distribution and increasing momentum

As shown in Table 1，there were 29 498 large farming households with crop areas over 3.33 hm2，which are distributed mainly in advantageous areas of rice in Jiangxi，such as Poyang Lake producing area，Ganfu Plain producing area，Jitai Basin producing area，and high-yielding area in the west of Jiangxi，involving 62 counties or districts.In addition to that，the operation area of large farming household keeps small and the planting area generally maintains below 20 hm2.In Jiangxi Province，large farminghousehold with an area of 20 hm2totals 27 668，representing 93.8%，of which the households with the area of 3.33-6.60 hm2are much more，taking up to 60%of provincial large farming households.

In 2012，large farming household with an area of 3.33 hm2reached 29 498，with rented area of 247 640 hm2，crop area of 386 100 hm2，and commodity grains exceeding 1.5 billion.Specifically，large farming households with an area of 6.67 hm2totaled 12 124，increasing by 30.2%compared with last year；the rented area reached as extensive as 177 500 hm2，increasing by 28.41%；the growing crops reached 277 300 hm2，enhancing by 24.23%.

Table 2 Production and management of large farming households in Jiangxi Province in 2012

High farmland circulation rate and renting cost

In order to implement national crop safety strategy，farmlands are generally concentrated to new operation entities in a well-organized way to increase scale economy of land and increase farmer’s incomes and yields. Currently，there are two ways of land circulation in Jiangxi Province，including signing contract farmland circulation and collective circulation.In 2012，the circulation rate of land reached 92%in 2012（Table 2）and land circulation proceeded effectively and in large scales in a well-organized way，laying foundation for crop safety.

As shown in Table 2，the renting costs tended to be volatile upon cities in Jiangxi Province.For example，the renting cost in Jiangxi was 5 327.7 yuan/hm2，but the price was different upon different regions.In Ganzhou City，the renting cost was the least of just 3 150 yuan/hm2，and the highest in Yichun City of 8 580 yuan/hm2.

Increasing subsidies granted for policy considerations year by year

Since 2008，the policy of direct subsidy was implemented in Jiangxi Province.Specifically，for large farming households with farming area of 3.33 hm2，subsidy would be given at the price of 240 yuan/hm2.Until 2012，totaling 245.607 1 million yuan was provided，involving 36.42 million yuan in 2008，37.90 million yuan in 2009，51.119 4 million in 2010，53.577 1 million yuan in 2011 and 66.590 6 million yuan in 2012.

During 2010-2011，Jiangxi Province made use of increased agricultural subsidy to transform nearby farmland infrastructure collectively.In 2012，the project capital was 287.08 million yuan，involving 62 counties，districts or farmlands and standard farmlands of 14 700 hm2and the capitals grew to 347.81 million yuan in 2011，covering 45 counties，districts or farmlands and standard farmlands of 17 800 hm2.

In 2013，Jiangxi Province started subsidy trial for large farmland households，including loaning，interest subsidy，farmland irrigation，concentrated construction of rice seedling cultivation site，soil fertility improvement and production facilities from the perspectives of financial support and agricultural infrastructure construction， with highlights to bottleneck and difficulty in agricultural productions.

Factors Preventing Large Farmland Households from Development

Since 2004，the Central Committee of the Party formulated a series preferential policies and measures for supporting agriculture，such as four“subsidies” （direct subsidy for farmers，comprehensive subsidy for agricultural materials，subsidies for crop species and subsidies for agricultural machines），abolishing agricultural tax and minimal purchasing price，in order to advance crop development.However，the problems can never be ignored for large farming households in production in Jiangxi Province.

Farmland transferring rules and stability to be improved

Large farming households are confronted by difficulties，such as nonstandard farmland circulation and poor soil stability.Currently，land circulation in different areas develops at an initial stage and an effective land circulation system is unavailable.It is notable that it is imperfection of policy incentive system that leads to doubts among farmers.At present，land circulation periods generally keep short，dominated by three or five years，or even one year.What’s more，oral agreement is much popular for land circulation，and the signed contracts are not so standard，resulting in increasing disputes.In addition to that，farmersbelieve that land is the dependence of life，and therefore prefer to extensively operate farmlands rather than conduct land circulation.What’s worse，the circulation fees tend to be volatile.In 2012，for example，national land circulation fees were 6 825 yuan/hm2and just 3885yuan/hm2in2009.In Jiangxi Province，the renting cost reaches 5 327.7 yuan/hm2，which is lower compared with average national value，but renting costs in some prefecture-level cities keep higher.Because of higher and rapid growth of land circulation，some large farming households have to give up land renting.Meanwhile，with imperfect rural social security system，it is hard for farmers to get guaranteed in life and the traditional concept of farming for crop safety influences land circulation and full use of farmlands，which significantly prevent development of large farming households in Jiangxi Province.

Restrictions on farmland infrastructure

With cropping benefits increased，large farming households increase risks to certain extend.Specifically，the degree of farmland irrigation keeps lower and irrigation facilities available are old，and perform poorly in functions，affecting crop production and posing threats on crop safety.It is estimated that water plays the most significant role in increasing crop yield among the influential factors.For instance，crop yield in irrigated farmlands is generally twice or four times as high as non-irrigated farmlands，increasing 50 billion kg crops［4］.According to statistics of the Ministry of Water Resources，of domestic farmlands of 122 million hm2farmlands，64 million hm2 farmlands are poor in irrigation facilities，representing 52.4%.For irrigated farmlands of 57.8 million hm2，the use rate of irrigated water was only 46%［4］and farmland infrastructure is not so good.What’s worse，the rented farmlands for large farming households are basically farmlands with poor fertility，so that it is necessary to increase organic matter to improve soil structure and fertility.What’s worse，it is hard to irrigate for some farmlands at drought or drain at flooding，and it is impossible to guarantee crop harvest at drought or flooding.Additionally，the other problems should taken into consideration also，including blocking of farm track，circuit aging，difficulty in concentration，low mechanization，difficulty of crop storage due to lack of sun-cure field，drying facilities and storage facilities.

Risks in operation and production

With increasing of farming scale，investment risks are growing，accordingly，because of high employment costs，renting fees，agricultural machine investment and production cost. In busy season，migrant workers are much more，but local labors are insufficient，increasing employment costs. On the other hand，technicists are in short，especially for those who are professional in technology，down-to-earth and strong in receptivity，which actually prevents extension of technology. With extensive farmlands，most agricultural productions are conducted with machines，which enhances agricultural costs.At the sametime，supporting policies for large farming households，such as financial credit and agricultural insurance，are not so sound，so that benefits of large farming households would be seriously affected，and even go bankrupt，under influence of natural disasters.

Difficulty in financing

Crop production is a high-investment industry，especially in early stage when massive funds are required in terms of raw materials，labor，drying and storage and some large farming households are not willing to make investments on farmland infrastructure and water conservancy facilities.On the other hand，large farming households are in a weak position in financing，without guarantees.Hence，it is difficult to apply loan in banks，and only self-raised funds and private lending are available.It can be concluded that large farming households lack funds and it is hard for crop production，deteriorated by financing difficulty，affecting crop safety.

Development Measures

Large farming households are an important part of new operation entities of agriculture，who play a crucial role in crop safety in Jiangxi Province and even in China.The development relies on themselves as well as external environment.

To improve land circulation policy and standardize land circulation

It is important to improve land circulation policy and system to standardize land circulation.On one hand，it is necessary for governments to provide supports and guidance.Specifically，governments should stimulate and lead in establishing intermediary organizations，provide services on land circulation， reinforce promotion and strengthen farmers’recognition on related policies.On the other hand，it is valuable to improve subcontracts，standardize land circulation and restrict rights and duties of both parties involved，laying foundation for agricultural production of large farming households.Additionally，a sound rural social security mechanism should be constructed to resolve farmer’s worries about future and advance land circulation.

To reinforce financial supports and improve load system

It becomes necessary to improve financial support policy and reinforce governments’supports.It is effective to issue subsidy as per specific area in order to explore suitable subsidy policy for large farming households，which would stimulate large-scale operation of lands.Furthermore，special funds for large farming households can be established to compensate large farming households in terms of infrastructure construction and farmland transformation to reduce financial deficit，increase proportion of farmland（ensuring stable yields in drought and waterlogging），and improve cropping activity.Still，load mechanism is another issue should be well considered，resolving financing difficulty.For example，rural credit cooperatives and policy bank should take large farming households as highlights of credit aid and meet large farming households’demands on capitals，providing preferential policy on financing.As for agricultural machines，load periods can be extended to certain extent or subsidies be provided.

To develop socialization of agriculture and improve quality of large farming households

It is important to improve social-ization of agricultural for large farming households.At first，it is crucial to enhance supports and investments on agricultural infrastructure from scales and proportions，to guarantee the proportion of agricultural infrastructure investments at 10% of infrastructure construction.Secondly，science and technology promotion is also indispensible.For example，technicians should be organized to guide farmers and provide technology services. What’s more，training of production technology and field management should be promoted among large farming households to improve scientific farming and decision making. Thirdly，it necessary to cultivate professional farmers from universities or colleges and stimulate agricultural innovation activities in order to introduce novel ideas to rural areas.

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Responsible editor:Xiaoxue WANG

Responsible proofreader:Xiaoyan WU

（Continued from page 552）continuously spray 2-3 times，the interval period of fungicide application was 7-14 d.

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Responsible editor:Nanlin WANG

Responsible proofreader:Xiaoyan WU

影响种粮大户发展的主要因素及发展对策——以江西省为例

戴天放1，2，麻福芒2*（1.江西财经大学，江西南昌 330013；2.江西省农业科学院，江西南昌330013）

作为新型农业生产经营主体重要组成部分的种粮大户，在提高土地资源利用率、提高农业劳动生产率、增加农业产值和农民收入等 方面具有明显的积极作用，为稳定粮食生产做出了一定贡献。分析了江西省种粮大户的发展现状，以及在土地流转、农田基础设施、生产经营风险以及资金等方面存在的问题，提出了完善土地流转政策，规范土地流转、完善土地流转政策，规范土地流转及发展农业社会化服务，提高种粮大户的素质的措施。

种粮大户；发展特点；问题；对策

江西省博士后研究人员科研择优资助项目《江西省粮食生产经营主体变化与粮食安全关系研究》（00354033）；江西省科技厅软科学计划项目《粮食生产经营主体变化与粮食安全关系研究——以江西省为例》（20133BBA10013）。

戴天放（1969-），男，河北宁晋人，博士，研究员，博士后，硕士生导师，主要研究方向为农业生态经济与农业工程咨询，E-mail：dtflover@163.com。*通讯作者。

2015-01-06

2015-02-16

Supported by Advanced Program of Scientific Research for Post-doctors in Jiangxi Province（00354033）；Soft Science Research Program of Jiangxi Provincial Department of Science and Technology（20133BBA10013）.

.E-mail:dtflover@163.com

January 6，2015Accepted:February 16，2015