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Farmers’ perception to farmland conversion: A questionnaire survey in Xining City, Qinghai Province, China

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Abstract

China is experiencing a fast process of farmland conversion which is conducted mainly by local governments to fuel economic development. Social tension is aroused and policy makers take great concerns on coordinating interests among different stakeholders, especially for increasing farmers’ interest. The purpose of this study is to get some insights related to land acquisition institution by exploring farmers’ perception to farmland conversion. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) was applied for the investigation in peri-urban area, of Xining City, Qinghai Province, China. The total of 519 householders from 15 villages completed valid questionnaire survey from July to November, 2012. The results indicate that farmland conversion has several impacts on farmers’ life. Most farmers are gradually adapting to city life. Higher living expenses and more income are perceived by farmers with average score of 4.21 and 2.69, respectively. The average scores of 2.38 and 2.46 are for improvement of life security and more job opportunities. Farmers expect to get some stable ways of compensation in addition to lump-sum compensation in cash. Stable subsidies every year and obtaining same number of land received strong proposal. And these two options are cited by 49.6% and 43.9% of respondents. Farmland conversion brings about cleaner living condition and more amenities, but lower air visibility and drier air. Results reflect landless farmers’ economic and life pressures and various demands. Local government should pay more attention to increase farmers’ income and improve rural security system.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Land Study, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Qiong Chen & Yunlong Cai

  2. Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, Ministry of Education, Beijing, 100871, China

    Qiong Chen & Yunlong Cai

  3. School of Life and Geography, Qinghai Normal University, Xining, 810008, China

    Qiong Chen, Fenggui Liu, Qiang Zhou & Haifeng Zhang

Authors
  1. Qiong Chen
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  2. Yunlong Cai
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  3. Fenggui Liu
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  4. Qiang Zhou
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  5. Haifeng Zhang
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Correspondence to Yunlong Cai.

Additional information

Foundation item: Under the auspices of National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40971051)

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Chen, Q., Cai, Y., Liu, F. et al. Farmers’ perception to farmland conversion: A questionnaire survey in Xining City, Qinghai Province, China. Chin. Geogr. Sci. 23, 634–646 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11769-013-0624-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11769-013-0624-7

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