Abstract:
Based on a panel data of peanut production inputs in 10 main peanut producing provinces in China from 1998 to 2017, this paper calculated the shadow substitution elasticities among different inputs and analyzed the regional differences to investigate the influence of price increase of primary inputs on the input adoption structure, and to verify and expand the theory of induced technology change. Results show that: 1) The increases of the primary input prices and the relative prices of inputs have significant positive impacts on both machinery inputs and fertilizer inputs. Fertilizer inputs could be substitutes for labor. There is an accompanying relationship between land and agricultural machinery; 2) There are clear substitutable relationships between labor and machinery, between labor and fertilizer, and between land and fertilizer; while there is a clear complementary relationship between land and machinery; and 3) There are regional differences in the substitution elasticity between labor and machinery subject to different terrain conditions. Policy recommendation includes: Promoting moderate scale operation of farmland through various forms of specialized services such as planting service and land trusteeship, taking mature integration model of agricultural machinery and agronomic fusion as extension technology of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and promoting new fertilizers such as slow-release fertilizers and new fertilizer-saving technologies such as layered fertilization.