Governments in developing counties often promote intercropping (crops intercropped with fruit trees on cultivated land) schemes in order to improve smallholders’ income. However, the implementation of such schemes is often hindered by inappropriate institutional environments and inefficient project management. It is important to assess the impacts of such intercropping programs, especially since such a cultivation strategy can often align closely with smallholders’ livelihood strategies, particularly in poor and remote rural regions. This paper attempts to assess the impact of an intercropping program on participants’ incomes in rural Xinjiang (China), and to explore the possible shortcomings in the program’s design and implementation. We apply a propensity score matching method, based on a survey dataset of 352 households, supplemented with descriptive analysis based on our anecdotal field observations. The findings demonstrate that the intercropping program had negative effects on the incomes that participants derived from farming, their off-farm income and their gross income. Overall, participants experienced significant losses of income. Anecdotal observations show that land tenure insecurity played a crucial role in negating the anticipated income improvement effect of this program. Farmer’s perceptions that they have limited security of tenure made them reluctant to invest the necessary time and resources to make the new cropping systems a success, while the available subsidies only partially covered the costs involved. In addition, the program led to a significant drop in yields of field crops as the trees were competing for a limiting and fixed supply of irrigation water.

The linkage between land tenure security and land quality improvement investment is crucial given that the land tenure security system is a widely applied policy tool for the protection of cultivation land in developing countries. Drawing on the triple land tenure security framework, this paper examines the impact of the de jure and the de facto land tenure security on farming households’ decisions about using organic fertilizer on their plots in China, based on a national survey dataset covering 2308 plots matched with 962 farming households across 8 provinces in China (Shangdong, Shangxi, Jilin, Zhejiang, Henan, Gansu, Hunan, and Sichuan) from January to July 2013. The empirical results show that the de facto land tenure security affected the use of organic fertilizer by the farming households positively. In comparison, the impact of the de jure land tenure security on the use of organic fertilizer by farming households was modest. It is suggested that the government should implement the policies effectively to promote de jure land tenure security and encourage farming households to make sustainable land investment.

Despite growing agricultural modernization, a majority of pesticide packaging waste (PPW) remains inadequately recycled in China, posing threats to agricultural sustainability and food safety. Drawing from the nationally representative CRRS dataset encompassing 10 provinces and 2,131 households, this study addresses critical research gaps in PPW management by integrating novel dimensions of farmers’ cognition, infrastructure accessibility, and regional heterogeneity, using both multinomial logit (MNL) and propensity score matching (PSM) methods. Our findings show that farmers’ awareness of PPW’s harm on soil and the environment positively influences recycling behavior, while cognitive obstacles negatively impact recycling likelihood. Farmer perspectives on food security demonstrate a dual role, indicating a potential knowledge gap regarding the harmful consequences of burying or burning PPW. The results also highlight that the presence of fixed collection points significantly enhances farmers’ recycling practices. The study suggests a need for interventions, such as promoting fixed collection points and targeted educational programs, to enhance awareness and dispel misconceptions. A comprehensive policy approach, integrating infrastructure development, education, and community engagement, is crucial for fostering sustainable PPW management, ensuring an environmentally responsible and agriculturally sustainable future.

Disputes over farmland constitute an important challenge for tenure security, economic growth and social stability. Land titling is a theoretically promising policy instrument that can enhance tenure security and reduce the occurrence of farmland disputes in the developing world. However, the impact of land titling on the occurrence of disputes has been found to be highly conditional. Empirical evidence on this issue has been surprisingly limited and has often lacked the consideration of a specific context. In this study, whether land titling affects the incidence of farmland disputes in the context of China is investigated, focusing particularly on the interaction between land titling and social capital and household capability. Both the probit and CLL models are applied, using household data entailing a total of 3693 samples located in rural China. The results show that (1) land titling in China reduces the incidence of farmland disputes, and that (2) the analysis based on interaction terms indicates that households who are disadvantaged in social capital and household capability are more likely to experience fewer disputes. Implications for the government and organizations are as follows: (1) the titling programme should seriously consider the current tenure arrangement. Confirmation of current tenure is recommended over the establishment of a new system to avoid possible institutional shopping and overlapping claims; and (2) land titling, if well implemented, is recommended to redress local power asymmetry and to help vulnerable groups defend their property.