Abstract:

With the implementation of the rural land circulation policy, the scale and rate of land circulation in rural areas have grown rapidly. The spatial pattern of farmland circulation has also been changing, which is an important characterization of the spatial pattern of agricultural land. Most existing research focuses on large-scale farmland circulation spaces. The lack of analysis on the scale and spatial structure of such circulation has led to a lack of guidance for the optimization of farmland circulation space in rural land circulation units in towns and villages. There is also a lack of research on the measurement of farmland production efficiency at the town scale. Furthermore, a standardized and unified index system or calculation method has not been developed, making it impossible to accurately plan the rural agricultural industry and the spatial layout of farmland based on efficiency data. Taking ZX Town, Guangzhou as an example, based on land circulation data from the past ten years, this study summarizes the change characteristics of its land circulation in geographic space, combines the data of town-level farmland circulation, agricultural development, spatial characteristics, and so on, and uses the super-efficiency DEA model to analyze ten-year farmland production efficiency in the town area. On this basis, the coupling coordination degree model is used to conduct a coupled analysis of the coordination relationship between production efficiency, farmland circulation rate, and the degree of spatial agglomeration of farmland circulation. The results indicate the following: 1) From the perspective of the spatial pattern of circulation, there is a significant positive spatial correlation in the circulation of farmland in ZX Town. The overall pattern of land circulation is in a state of agglomeration and continues to strengthen, with obvious phase characteristics. There are significant regional differences in the circulation clustering space. The low-value areas of circulation space are decreasing, and the high-value areas of circulation and agglomeration are gradually forming in the southeast and northeast. 2) From the perspective of farmland production efficiency and its coordination relationship with other factors, the value of such efficiency in the town area shows an overall upward trend of fluctuation, and the coupling and coordination trend with the rate and spatial agglomeration of farmland circulation is changing from antagonism to imbalance. Owing to stability and coordination, the increase in production efficiency under a state of high turnover rate and high concentration of circulation space is prominent. This study further combines the optimization plan of the production efficiency model and the analysis of the causes of the circulation pattern and puts forward optimization suggestions on the development of the agricultural industry, the scale of farmland circulation, and the spatial pattern based on the improvement of farmland production efficiency. The results can be used as a reference for agricultural industry development planning, among others.

Key words: farmland circulation, farmland production efficiency, coupling coordination degree, agricultural industry development, Guangzhou ZX Town