Acta Geographica Sinica ›› 2017, Vol. 72 ›› Issue (6): 1078-1090.doi: 10.11821/dlxb201706010

• Rural Development • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effect of governmental regulation on farmers' response behavior of drought resistance: An empirical study of North China Plain

Xiaoyun LI1,2(), Yu YANG1,2(), Yi LIU1,2(), Hui LIU1,2   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Analysis and Simulation, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing 100101, China
    2. College of Resouces and Environment, University of Chiense Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2016-07-14 Revised:2017-01-09 Online:2017-06-25 Published:2017-06-25
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.41430636, No.41590841;National Program on Key Basic Research Project (973 Program), No.2012CB95570001

Abstract:

Agricultural production will be confronted with more serious challenges under climate change. Understanding households' adaptive behaviors and the influence of government policies on them is the fundamental step to improve relevant policies for enhancing farmers' ability of adaptation against drought. The econometrics method is used in this study to evaluate the farmers’ adaptive behaviors and their influencing factors, especially the regulation of government policies, like early-warning and policy supports, based on a household and village survey in three provinces of the North China Plain (NCP). The results show that: (1) Most of households are apt to take adaptive measures when facing drought; and the more serious droughts are, the more the adaption measures will be taken. (2) The adaptation behaviors of farmers are affected by the regulation of government policies. The enthusiasm to take adaptations of households can be enhanced obviously by the governments' early-warning information and relevant policy supports, especially when the warning information is released by multiple channels and the subsides or multiple supports are provided by the township government and the village. However, most of the households have no support from governments at all levels. Besides, TV as the present main channel has very little effect on the farmers' hehaviors. (3) Adaptive behaviors vary along with households' characteristics. Farmers who live in irrigated areas, and who have more agricultural members in the family with larger cultivated land block acreage, are more inclined to take adaptive measures. These findings can provide references for the government to take measures to combat drought.

Key words: governmental regulation, drought, household, response behavior, North China Plain