Land Transfer Contract and Farmers’ Straw-Returning Behavior: Evidence from Rural China

Straw return is a crucial method for utilizing agricultural waste as a resource. Against the backdrop of increasing straw production in China, most scholars focus only on the behavioral decision of whether farmers choose to transfer land. However, few studies have touched on the specific content of the land transfer contract and its impact on farmers’ behavior. This paper innovatively starts from the perspective of land transfer contracts to explore the impact of land transfer contracts on straw return in terms of standardization, stability, and profitability and to make theoretical contributions to the rational use of straw and the protection of arable land resources. Using data from the 2020 China Rural Revitalization Survey (CRRS) database, this study empirically analyzed the effects of different elements of land transfer contracts on straw returns to the field. The results show that: (1) Written transfer contracts are more effective than verbal contracts in encouraging farmers to adopt the straw return behavior. (2) Fixed-term contracts are more stable and can effectively promote farmers' adoption of straw return technology. (3) The remunerative transfer method is more profitable and can effectively encourage farmers to adopt straw return technology compared to the non-remunerative transfer method. (4) Farmers in mountainous areas or with smaller areas of farmland have a lower probability of adopting straw return technology. Therefore, the important role of remunerative, fixed-term, written land transfer contracts in the process of straw return should be emphasized, and the adoption rate of straw return should be increased through differentiated policy guidance and comprehensively promoting the sustainable development of agriculture.