The impact of the supply of farmland, level of agricultural mechanisation, and supply of rural labour on grain yields in China

In order to provide food security for a growing population, abundant crop production is necessary. Globally, unpredictable natural and human factors are the result of the unforeseen consequences of agricultural productivity. Appropriate land tenure, proper labour allocation, and higher agricultural mechanisation levels are the fuel to boost agricultural productivity. China has implemented various policies such as its farmland protection policies, rural-labour allocation to off-farm industries, and agricultural mechanisation subsidies to induce grain self-sufficiency. However, farmland loss is an increasing trend; surplus rural labour continues to exist; and agricultural mechanisation has not reached the required level of quality and quantity. With this in mind, this study examines the long- and short-term impacts of farmland supply, rural-labour supply, and agricultural  mechanisation development on grain-crop yields in China. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach to co-integration and error correction was applied to data over the period 1978-2017. The results show that farmland supply and agricultural mechanisation developments are positively associated with the growth of grain-crop yields in both the short- and long-term. However, the impact of the rural labour supply on grain yield is insignificant. Strengthening farmland protection policies and promoting innovation-based agricultural mechanisation development plays an important role in sustainable food production. Future research should focus on improving the quality of farmland, agricultural mechanisation, and finding effective strategies to protect farmland for sustainable food production. Moreover, China’s efforts to enhance the multidimensional level of agricultural mechanisation should be encouraged.