Which Scale Is Appropriate for the Sustainable Management of Paddy Field?—A Case Study of Jiaxing, China

Abstract

This article aims to explore the appropriate scale for the cultivation of paddy field and its influencing factors in Jiaxing. The stochastic frontier production function and binary logit method were used to calculate the appropriate scale. The results showed: (1) The appropriate management scale of the paddy field in Jiaxing is 10–30 ha. (2) The farmers’ willingness to cultivate paddy field on a large scale was positively correlated with land quality, and their number of years engaged in agriculture. (3) It was negatively correlated with the difficulty of obtaining a loan and the age of the farmers. This research proposed that the government should continue to support the appropriate scale management of paddy field, and promote agricultural modernisation. At the same time, the government should also attach importance to promoting the role of science and technology in agriculture by actively training new generations of professional farmers, promoting land transfer, and implementing the subsidy policy for larger-scale cultivation to create a good environment for farmers to work on an appropriate scale.