IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2017i1p49-d124425.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Evolution of a Development Model for Fruit Industry against Background of an Aging Population: Intensive or Extensive Adjustment?

Author

Listed:
  • Bin Yuan

    (College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China)

  • Jintao Zhan

    (College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China)

  • Chao Chen

    (College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China)

Abstract

As an important starting point for optimizing the structure of agricultural products and implementing green production methods, the direction of orchard management development is directly related to the success of “supply side” reform in the fruit industry in China. However, in the context of the progressive aging of the rural labor force, is the old labor force still capable of the high labor intensity and fine cultivation management needed, such as for pruning, or to maintain or improve the application efficiency of fertilizers? In this paper, based on the micro-production data of peach farmers in Jiangsu Province, we explore the influence of aging on the management of fruit trees and further introduce fruit tree management into the production function to analyze the effects of different orchard management methods on fertilizer efficiency. The results show that with the increase of labor force age, although the total labor investment of aged farmer households has somewhat increased, significant differences exist in the distribution of labor investment between the different production processes due to the different labor demands from the various production processes. In technical stages that demand good physical capabilities, such as pruning and flower/fruit thinning, elderly farmers have significantly reduced labor investment than younger ones, and this relative shortfall further reduces the marginal output of their chemical and organic fertilizers. Foreseeably, the aging of the rural labor force will have a negative impact on the efficiency of chemical and other fertilizers, cost-cutting, and profit-making in the fruit and nut industries, which have the same management methods for pruning and flower (fruit) thinning. Therefore, this paper offers relevant policy recommendations for the optimization of production tools, expansion of operation scale, and development of socialized services for the fruit industry, etc.

Suggested Citation

  • Bin Yuan & Jintao Zhan & Chao Chen, 2017. "Evolution of a Development Model for Fruit Industry against Background of an Aging Population: Intensive or Extensive Adjustment?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2017:i:1:p:49-:d:124425
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/1/49/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/1/49/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bahar Celikkol Erbas & Ebru Guven Solakoglu, 2017. "In the Presence of Climate Change, the Use of Fertilizers and the Effect of Income on Agricultural Emissions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-17, October.
    2. Maibo Jiang & Xihe Wang & Yunhao Liusui & Xueqing Sun & Chengyi Zhao & Hua Liu, 2015. "Diversity and Abundance of Soil Animals as Influenced by Long-Term Fertilization in Grey Desert Soil, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(8), pages 1-17, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jeetendra Prakash Aryal & Dil Bahadur Rahut & Tek B. Sapkota & Ritika Khurana & Arun Khatri-Chhetri, 2020. "Climate change mitigation options among farmers in South Asia," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 3267-3289, April.
    2. Nabila Khurshid & Natasha Arfa Butt & Asma Fiaz & Suzan Sameer Issa & Mosab I. Tabash & Mujeeb Saif Mohsen Al-Absy, 2024. "Do Climate Change Matter for Agricultural Production in an era of Globalization? Empirical Insights from Pakistan," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 14(5), pages 534-545, September.
    3. Qi Li & Wanjiang Yang & Kai Li, 2018. "Role of Social Learning in the Diffusion of Environmentally-Friendly Agricultural Technology in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-12, May.
    4. Imran Hussain & Abdul Rehman, 2022. "How CO2 emission interacts with livestock production for environmental sustainability? evidence from Pakistan," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(6), pages 8545-8565, June.
    5. Dianpeng Li & Jianqin Zhou & Yuxin Zhang & Tao Sun & Shuqing An & Hongtao Jia, 2021. "Effects of Amendments on Physicochemical Properties and Respiration Rate of Soil from the Arid Region of Northwest China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-13, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2017:i:1:p:49-:d:124425. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.