Bigger farms could boost sustainability in China

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-12-17 03:00

Australia; International; VIC

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Consolidating small farms into larger operations could improve agricultural sustainability in China while also eventually improving profits, according to Aussie and international researchers. Using data from rural surveys, the researchers assessed the impact consolidating croplands would have. The researchers say 86 per cent of Chinese croplands could be transformed from smallholder farms to large-scale regimes, and this would increase the exchange of knowledge and efficiency of machinery use while reducing nitrogen input. The move would also result in a 39 per cent reduction in necessary labour, which the researchers say would help double profits despite a high initial investment to get things moving.