关键词: 劳动力弱质化, 化肥利用效率, 要素替代, 调节效应, 机械化, 随机前沿生产函数

Abstract: With the migration of the rural labor force, the agricultural labor force has become depleted, which has raised the need for efficient fertilizer utilization. Based on panel data of major wheat producing provinces in China from 2004 to 2018 coupled with the stochastic frontier production function model, this paper deduced the fertilizer use efficiency function and established the functional relationship between fertilizer use efficiency and influencing factors. Empirical methods were used to study the impact of weak labor forces on wheat fertilizer use efficiency, estimate the substitution effect of mechanization on the feminization and parttime work of the labor forces, and examine the adjustment effect of mechanization on fertilizer use efficiency. The results showed that the wheat fertilizer use efficiency in China was still low (about 34%). In general, the weakness of agricultural labor forces had not affected the efficiency of wheat fertilizer use, because mechanization made up for the lack of physical strength of the agricultural labor forces. However, aging had a negative effect on fertilizer use efficiency. Therefore, in order to avoid the possible negative effects of the feminization, aging and concurrent business behavior of agricultural labor, this study suggested that it was necessary to continuously improve the rural education level, intensify agricultural science and technology training, develop and promote agricultural machinery applicability for the current situation of rural labor forces, and improve the substitution effect and adjustment effect of agricultural mechanization, so as to ensure the implementation effect of the agricultural fertilizer reduction and efficiency improvement plan. 

Key words: labor force weakness, fertilizer use efficiency, factor substitution, adjustment effect, mechanization, stochastic frontier production function