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›› 2009, Vol. 26 ›› Issue (3): 338-349.DOI: 10.7523/j.issn.2095-6134.2009.3.008

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Farmer crop choice in remote regions of northern China

CUI Yong-Wei1,2,3, HU Rui-Fa1,2, KELLY Peter4, LIANG Luo-Hui5   

  1. 1. Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resource Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;
    2. Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China;
    3. Graduate University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;
    4. Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Berkeley CA 94720, USA;
    5. Environment and Sustainable Development Programme, United Nations University, Tokyo 150-8925, Japan
  • Received:2008-12-15 Revised:2009-02-19 Online:2009-05-15
  • Supported by:

    supported by the United Nations University (HQ-2003-ICA-O-00072), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (70325003), and Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KSCX2-YW-N-039) corresponding author

Abstract:

Preserving genetic diversity on farms is crucial to global agriculture, and effective programs to promote such conservation depend on farmers' choice among different crops. Farmers in remote regions of northern China continue to grow diverse minor grain crops of local varieties with rich genetic resources. We conducted a household survey to better understand farmers' choice. Based on the proposed crop choice model, we find that the low socioeconomic status and the incompleteness of the markets are the two main reasons. The present study suggests that the government should invest more on genetic diversity preserving.

Key words: crop choice, diversity, remote region, China

CLC Number: