The relationship between farm size and fertilizer use efficiency:Evidence from China

作     者：ZHU Wei QI Li-xia WANG Rui-mei ZHU Wei;QI Li-xia;WANG Rui-mei

作者机构：College of Economics and ManagementChina Agricultural UniversityBeijing 100083P.R.China School of Public AdministrationNorth China University of Water Resources and Electric PowerZhengzhou 450045P.R.China 

出 版 物：《Journal of Integrative Agriculture》 (农业科学学报（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2022年第21卷第1期

页      面：273-281页

核心收录：

学科分类：120301[管理学-农业经济管理] 12[管理学] 1203[管理学-农林经济管理] 090101[农学-作物栽培学与耕作学] 09[农学] 0901[农学-作物学] 

基　　金：supported by the National Social Science Fund of China(16AJY013) 

主　　题：farm size farm scale fertilizer use efficiency positive relationship 

摘      要：Low fertilizer use efficiency is commonly found in China’s agriculture sector. It is critical to understand the drivers of fertilizer use in order to increase fertilizer use efficiency(FUE). The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between farm size and FUE based on farm-level data in China. The results suggest a positive farm size–FUE relationship. The estimated elasticities of farm size for rice, maize, wheat–maize, and rice–maize are similar, and the average elasticity of farm size is around 0.2. Statistically, a 1% increase in farm size is associated with a 0.2%increase in FUE. The positive effect of farm size on FUE is not due to the increase in yield, but the reduction in fertilizer use while keeping yield largely unchanged. The findings suggest that promoting the expansion of farm size may increase FUE, and thus reduce environmental pollution caused by fertilizer overuse.