How Does the Transfer of Farmland Affect Agricultural Mechanization

WEN Le; CHEN Feng-bo; SHI Min; MENG Ting

Abstract：Against the backdrop of the continuous advancement of agricultural and rural modernization,this study uses 1878 survey data from southern rice growers and applies theories of economies of scale,agricultural division of labor,and transaction costs to explore the impact of land transfer on the mechanization level and mode of rice growers.Research has found that the transfer of agricultural land significantly improves the level of agricultural mechanization and promotes a shift in mechanization models.By using farmers'perception of property rights security as an instrumental variable for agricultural land transfer and overcoming endogeneity in the model,the results remain robust.Specifically,for every one percentage point increase in land area transferred by farmers,their rice planting mechanization operation area will increase by 0.386 percentage points.At the same time,the probability of farmers owning their own agricultural machinery after transferring land has increased,while the probability of hiring machine plowing and harvesting services has decreased,leading to the transformation of the socialized service market for agricultural machinery.Heterogeneity analysis shows that the higher the degree of land fragmentation,the more likely it is to reduce the positive impact of agricultural land transfer on agricultural mechanization;Meanwhile,middle-aged and young farmers have a higher degree of agricultural mechanization compared to elderly farmers.To further promote the transformation of small farmers into modern agriculture and accelerate the modernization process of agriculture and rural areas in China,it is necessary to strengthen land property rights protection and promote the transfer of agricultural land.