Moderate scale and realization potential of new citrus-planting business entities in hilly and mountainous areas in China

Abstract

The natural and economic conditions of agricultural resources vary greatly in China, especially in hilly and mountainous areas. The phenomenon of land fragmentation has become increasingly prominent, so that large-scale operations cannot be fully achieved in a short period of time, and the centralized and continuous scale of operations cannot be realized in China. In addition, with increasingly strict farmland protection and agricultural land use control systems, the issues of nongrain production and nonagricultural cultivated land use have become increasingly restricted. Thus, it is quite necessary to determine the appropriate scale of operations and the means to achieve moderately scaled operations for the new business entities. On the basis of microsurvey data for 108 new citrus-planting business entities in the modern agricultural park in the Chongqing’s Jiangjin District, an area with long citrus-planting history, we measured the moderate scale of new citrus-planting business entities to maximize profit using a translog growth model. According to the projection pursuit model, we evaluated the suitability conditions of citrus planting in garden land, woodland, grassland, and general cultivated land in the study area. We then explored the potential for new moderate-scale business entities within different farming radii. The results showed that large-scale planting conditions of citrus in garden land, forest land, grassland, and general cultivated land in the study area were suitable, and the proportion of high-suitable and medium-suitable land was 73.42%. Under the existing social and economic conditions, the moderate scale of new citrus-planting business entities in the study area was 1.8–2.7 hm². In particular, its rankings from large to small were agricultural enterprises (17.19–25.78 hm²), farmer cooperatives (16.88–25.33 hm²), big growers and breeders (6.39–9.59 hm²), and family farms (5.02–7.53 hm²). In the sample of 108 households, only 47.22% of the entities achieved moderate-scale operation, of which 25% of the entities achieved a scale greater than moderate operation. However, 52.78% of the entities achieved a scale of less than moderate operation. These entities would have to transfer the surrounding adjacent garden land, forest land, grassland, or general cultivated land to achieve large-scale land management. The land area of the adjacent gardens in a 1000 m farming radius could meet the moderate-scale operation demand of the vast majority of new business entities. For the vast majority of new business entities, the land area of the adjacent woodland, grassland, and general cultivated land could supplement the garden land to achieve moderate-scale operation in a 500 m farming radius. If the land area with moderate suitability and high suitability is prioritized, the land area in the adjacent gardens in the 1000 m farming radius could meet the moderate-scale operation demand for the vast majority of new business entities. Within the 500 m farming radius, the vast majority of new business entities have achieved moderate-scale operations if the land area adjacent to forest land, grassland, and general arable land was supplemented by gardens; however, a few entities could not achieve moderate-scale operations. From the village perspective, gardens were prioritized. Sixteen villages had planting areas and planting suitability that exceeded the average level of the study area, accounting for 23.53%. If combined with the reserve potential of the garden land, eight villages could improve their potential, accounting for 11.76%. Therefore, the conditions of large-scale citrus planting in the study area should be further improved, and the scale expansion of new citrus-planting business entities should receive additional scientific guidance.