Analysis of Rice Cropping Decision-Making in a Double-Cropping Rice Area of Southern China
南方双季稻区农户水稻种植模式的决策行为分析——基于湖南省长沙县农户调查的实证研究

The decisions behind rice cropping patterns in a double-cropping rice area of southern China affect national food security. Changsha county in Hunan province is a typical double-cropping area, and the focal region in this study. Based on survey data collected from 312 farmer households, a logistic regression model was used that included land factors, farm household factors, economic factors, location factors and policy factors. Planting decision-making behavior and influential factors were analyzed. We found that the proportion of households adopting double-cropping rice is low (55% of households). Irrigation conditions, per-capita farm subsidies, schooling, per-capita disposable income and land scale were the most important influential factors in the double-cropping rice decision-making process. The challenges facing double-cropping rice systems are many. First, the increasing costs of agricultural production and increases in food income mean continued low net profit for farmers. Second, rapid increases in migrant worker salaries mean more people are leaving rural areas. Third, stagnation of rural land system reform and infrastructure construction has resulted in small-scale farm land and poor irrigation conditions. In order to enlarge the rice planting area in southern China, policies should concentrate on the control of agricultural production prices, strengthening and improving food subsidies, boosting the mechanism of land circulation, and promoting irrigation infrastructure. Policies for food purchasing price should reflect reasonable pricing to grant subsidies and ensure stable expected return for farmers. Farmland circulation policies that allow for land circulation and concentration should promote moderate scale operation. The state should regulate the price of agricultural inputs and formulate reasonable prices according to the fluctuation of food prices. Last, policies for the construction of farmland irrigation infrastructure and that reduce infrastructure shortfalls should be developed.