Operation Scale, Transfer Experience, and Farmers’ Willingness toward Farmland Transfer-In: A Case Study of Rice–Crayfish Cultivating Regions in China

Most arable land in rural areas of China is highly fragmented, and promoting large-scale operation by means of farmland transfer is of great significance to both increase farm income and improve the ecological stability of farmland. At present, crayfish are widely popular with the consumer market, and the rice–crayfish cultivation pattern has considerable industrial advantages for water-rich plain areas. However, farmers do not have a sufficient understanding of the new model, and its application is not common enough, failing to realize the advantages of the region’s special industries. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the current situation of farmland transfer in rice–crayfish cultivating regions of Hunan and Hubei, China, and employ the logistic regression model to explore the impacts of operation scale and transfer experience on farmers’ willingness toward farmland transfer-in, in order to promote the sustainable development of rice–crayfish cultivating. The results showed that: Firstly, both operation scale and transfer experience have a significant positive relevance with farmers’ willingness toward farmland transfer-in. Secondly, there are obvious differences in the impact path among large-scale, medium-scale, and small-scale rice or rice–crayfish farmers. Thirdly, the transfer-out experience is inhibitory or not significantly associated with the willingness toward farmland transfer-in. Fourthly, the transfer experience intensifies the positive influence of the expansion of operation scale on the farmers’ willingness toward farmland transfer-in. This study can provide some reference and basis for the local government to make differentiated measures according to the farmland transfer preferences of farmers with different scales and operation types, so as to promote farmers’ willingness to operate at a large scale and realize the sustainable development of the regional rice–crayfish cultivating model.