Parasitic Behavior and Separation Countermeasures in Large-scale Farming: Insights from Shijiazhuang, China

A significant number of young and middle-aged farmers are migrating to urban areas, which could facilitate farmland transfer and large-scale farming in China. While there has been active exploration in achieving large-scale farming, a replacement model has not yet been developed. The primary challenge does not stem from the modes themselves, but rather from agricultural stakeholders’ parasitic behavior on farmland transfer. This parasitism takes the form of farmers’continued reliance on farmland, village cadres leveraging their power for rent-seeking from farmland, and the virtual parasitism carried out by agricultural intermediaries. Drawing from an investigation conducted in Shijiazhuang, the capital city of Hebei in the North China Plain, this study asserts that the key to promoting orderly farmland transfer lies in establishing a compensation standard founded on principles of social justice. The article culminates in the exploration of the specific compensation standards for farmland transfer.