Impact of 'consolidating small plots into a large field' policy on farmland large-scale management from three dimensions: Taking Yangshan County in Guangdong Province as an example

[Objective] Land consolidation has become an important component of national agricultural policies, and a thorough evaluation of its impact on farmland large-scale management is both practically and theoretically significant. [Methods] Based on the policy context of “consolidating small plots into a large field” (CSPLF), this study took the exogenous shock in Yangshan County, Guangdong Province as an observation window, and used data from a quasi-natural experiment and the generalized difference-in-differences model to identify its impact on farmland large-scale management from three dimensions: plot scale, operating scale, and continuous planting scale. [Results] The results indicate that the expansion effect of CSPLF policy on plot scale is significant, with an increase of 12% in the plot area and a 28.8% drop in the number of plots. The CSPLF policy motivates farmers to rent out land to new agricultural operating entities, changing the pattern of “small-scale farmers replications”, and achieving large-scale operating management. It also increases the possibility of farmers growing similar crops on adjacent plots, thus achieving continuous planting scale. Further analysis shows that the farmland large-scale management stimulated by the CSPLF policy can deepen the division of household labor, especially in non-agricultural employment. [Conclusion] The findings of this study demonstrate that CSPLF policy plays an important role in the transformation of China’s farmland large-scale management mode, which has far-reaching strategic implications. The study highlights that we need to change the engineering trend in the implementation of CSPLF policy of the past, and attach great importance to land tenure rights adjustment.