What Is the Operation Logic of Cultivated Land Protection Policies in China? A Grounded Theory Analysis
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
This study discusses “What is the operation logic of cultivated land protection policies in China? A grounded theory analysis”. It has certain theoretical significance and research value for re understanding the cultivated land policy. The organizational structure of the paper is good. However, the following questions need to be solved by the authors.
(1) The protection of cultivated land is a worldwide scientific problem and the literature of more scholars outside China should be strengthened.
(2) The resolution of some figures (like Figure 1) needs to be improved.
(3) If figure 3 is not the author’s original work, please mark the author.
(4) Sufficient evidence and support should be provided for the scientific and reasonable classification in Table 2.
(5) The language of this study must be revised and improved by native speakers. Many of the current expressions are Chinese style, weakening international transmission. At the same time, some sentences are too long. For example, “To eliminate the gap between theory and practice and improve the explanatory power of theory on social phenomena or behavior, principal axial coding emphasizes the analysis of each category in the context of research and social and cultural background.” In 4.2 section.
Author Response
This study discusses “What is the operation logic of cultivated land protection policies in China? A grounded theory analysis”. It has certain theoretical significance and research value for re understanding the cultivated land policy. The organizational structure of the paper is good. However, the following questions need to be solved by the authors.
Comment 1: The protection of cultivated land is a worldwide scientific problem and the literature of more scholars outside China should be strengthened.
Response 1: Thanks for your suggestion. According to your suggestion, we revised some details to make the paper more clear.
Protecting cultivated land is a recognized worldwide topic. Internationally, cultivated land protection forms and priorities have their own characteristics, but they have certain commonalities in scientific planning, legal protection, government regulation and market operation. The cultivated land protection policy of the United States is mainly macro-control oriented. First, it is to formulate a complete legal system for cultivated land protection, that is, to plan and protect cultivated land from the aspects of planning, taxation, requisition, etc. Then it is to implement the land use control system and the land development right system. Canada mainly guides cultivated land protection through the planning system, including laws and regulations, land use planning and restrictions on the right to agricultural land development. In the face of high urbanization, Britain still retains a large number of cultivated land thanks to it focuses on the implementation of the land development right system. After the 1960s, many laws have been issued to strengthen the planning and management of land resources in Britain. Comparatively speaking, in France, the cultivated land protection policy puts more emphasis on centralization, and the central government exercises the land legislative power. Private cultivated land must be used for agricultural management, and it is not allowed to abandon cultivation, inferior cultivation and build houses on cultivated land. In Germany, the ecological compensation policy and the ecological index trading mode ensure land use and ecological balance, which is a policy worthy of reference. Given its limited land resources, Japan has not only established a sound legal system for the protection of cultivated land, but also paid special attention to the creation of new urban agriculture. In addition, South Korea also formulated a series of laws to reasonably protect and develop agricultural land resources. In general, compared with the above-mentioned countries, the particularity of China's cultivated land protection policy lies in basic national conditions and the complex relationship between the multiple subjects of cultivated land protection.
Comment 2: The resolution of some figures (like Figure 1) needs to be improved.
Response 2: Thanks for your suggestion. According to your suggestion, we have redrawn these figures that need to be modified. The relevant legend, scale and other elements are supplemented.
Comment 3: If figure 3 is not the author’s original work, please mark the author.
Response 3: Thanks for your comment. We rechecked the relevant figures and revise its title. In fact, figure 3 mainly shows the analysis process of grounded theory, which is drawn by the author of the original. In order to enhance the standardization and preciseness of this research, we added the quotation mark on the figure title.
Comment 4: Sufficient evidence and support should be provided for the scientific and reasonable classification in Table 2.
Response 4: Thanks for your comment. According to your suggestion, we add the more reasonable classification in this part:
Based on the qualitative analysis of NVivo12.0 software, this paper adapts the human-computer cooperation to manage and code the data texts of CLPP, which will guarantee the reliability and consistency of the coding reach the qualified level. There are four basic problems that have been refined during literature review and study of policy texts, but the systematic research framework has not been set up before the coding process. The problems are as follow: What is the social foundation of CLPP? What is the institutional environment of its development? What kind of governance structure has been formed by CLPP? How the policy system affects the allocation of cultivated land resources? On the basis of theoretical analysis and comparison of policy text materials, the coding analysis of the original data has been completed.
Comment 5: The language of this study must be revised and improved by native speakers. Many of the current expressions are Chinese style, weakening international transmission. At the same time, some sentences are too long. For example, “To eliminate the gap between theory and practice and improve the explanatory power of theory on social phenomena or behavior, principal axial coding emphasizes the analysis of each category in the context of research and social and cultural background.” In 4.2 section.
Response 5: Thanks for your comment. According to your suggestion, we have improved the expression of relevant chapters. The sentences in 4.2 section have been rewritten, as other paragraphs in the whole text.
“The principal axial coding aims to analyze each category in the context of re-search and social-culture background. That's not only eliminates the gap between theory and practice, but also improves the explanatory power of theory to social phenomena or behaviors.”
The editing certificate of this paper is as follows：
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
I read with great interest the manuscript “What is the operation logic of cultivated land protection policies in China? A grounded theory analysis” which which examines the relationship between CLPP and operation logic.. Although the issue is interesting, the manuscript needs to be carefully prepared. My concerns are:
1. Figure 1, Figure 2. The map needs to be modified. Just to name one or two: What do different colored ellipses represent?
2. “China’s cultivated land quantity gravity center is gradually migrated northward”（line 171）.There was no general agreement on the timing. Why choose the data of these three years? Can the data of these three years support this conclusion?
Author Response
I read with great interest the manuscript “What is the operation logic of cultivated land protection policies in China? A grounded theory analysis” which examines the relationship between CLPP and operation logic. Although the issue is interesting, the manuscript needs to be carefully prepared. My concerns are:
Comment 1: Figure 1, Figure 2. The map needs to be modified. Just to name one or two: What do different colored ellipses represent?
Response 1: Thanks for your suggestion. According to your suggestion, we have redrawn these figures that need to be modified. The relevant legend, scale and other elements are supplemented. And the ellipses of different colors represent the directional distribution of cultivated land area in different years.
Comment 2: “China’s cultivated land quantity gravity center is gradually migrated northward”（line 171）.There was no general agreement on the timing. Why choose the data of these three years? Can the data of these three years support this conclusion?
Response 2: Thanks for your suggestion. According to your suggestion, we read the policy texts and relevant literatures of the CLPP again. The specific basis for selecting node years in this paper are as follows.
The basis for selecting 2000: Deepening the protection of basic farmland and the compensation system for occupied farmland. In 1998 and 1999, the “Law of Land Administration of the People’s Republic of Chinaâ‘ ” and the “Regulations on the Protection of Basic Farmlandâ‘¡” were revised to confirm the implementation of the balance of cultivated land occupation and compensation and the control system of the use of basic farmland protection areas in the form of legislation. In 1999, the Ministry of Land and Resources issued the “Measures for the Administration of Annual Land Use Plansâ‘¢”, which proposed to control the conversion of agricultural land in the form of annual index allocation.
â‘ “Law of Land Administration of the People’s Republic of China”
http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/c30834/201909/d1e6c1a1eec345eba23796c6e8473347.shtml
â‘¡“Regulations on the Protection of Basic Farmland”
http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2020-12/26/content_5574284.htm
â‘¢“Measures for the Administration of Annual Land Use Plans”
http://www.gov.cn/ziliao/flfg/2006-12/25/content_477669.htm
The basis for selecting 2008: In 2006, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued the “Outline of the Eleventh Five Year Planâ‘£”, which put forward the binding index of 1.8 billion mu of cultivated land for the first time. In 2007, the “Interim Regulations on Cultivated Land Occupation Tax⑤” was issued, which further stipulated the cultivated land occupation tax in detail. In 2008, the “Outline of the National General Plan for Land Use (2006-2020)â‘¥” reiterated the need to adhere to the red line of 1.8 billion mu of cultivated land, and proposed that by 2010 and 2020, the national cultivated land should be maintained at 1.818 billion mu and 1.805 billion mu respectively.
â‘£“Outline of the Eleventh Five Year Plan”
http://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/2006/content_268766.htm
⑤“Interim Regulations on Cultivated Land Occupation Tax”
http://www.npc.gov.cn/zgrdw/npc/lfzt/rlyw/2018-08/24/content_2059233.htm
â‘¥“Outline of the National General Plan for Land Use (2006-2020)
http://www.gov.cn/guoqing/2008-10/24/content_2875234.htm
The basis for selecting 2017: In 2016, the “Outline of the 13th Five Year Plan⑦” proposed to explore and implement the cultivated land rotation and fallow system to maintain the sustainability of cultivated land fertility; the same year that Ten ministries and commissions including the Ministry of Agriculture issued the “Pilot Plan for Exploring and Implementing the Cultivated Land Rotation and Fallow System⑧”, which further clarified the region, objectives and technical path of the pilot of the cultivated land rotation and fallow system. In 2017, the Ministry of Land and Resources issued the “Notice on Improving Management Methods and Effectively Implementing the Balance of Cultivated Land Occupation and Compensation⑨”, which first proposed to take cultivated land production capacity as the core of its balance of occupation and compensation; In the same year, the CPC Central Committee issued the “Opinions on Strengthening the Protection of Cultivated Land and Improving the Balance of Occupation and Compensationâ‘©”, which proposed to vigorously implement land remediation, implement the task of supplementing cultivated land, and explore measures for the national overall planning of supplementing cultivated land.
⑦“Outline of the 13th Five Year Plan”
http://www.xinhuanet.com/politics/2016lh/2016-03/17/c_1118366322.htm
⑧“Pilot Plan for Exploring and Implementing the Cultivated Land Rotation and Fallow System”
http://www.moa.gov.cn/nybgb/2016/diqiqi/201711/t20171128_5921712.htm
⑨“Notice on Improving Management Methods and Effectively Implementing the Balance of Cultivated Land Occupation and Compensation”
http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2017-12/15/content_5247246.htm
â‘©“Opinions on Strengthening the Protection of Cultivated Land and Improving the Balance of Occupation and Compensation”
http://www.gov.cn/zhengce/2017-01/23/content_5162649.htm
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
General comments:
This study well-analyzed the current dilemmas and operation logic of China’s cultivated land protection based on CLPP texts and grounded theory. The findings are very interesting and useful for sustainable use and protection of cultivated land, but some minor problems should be addressed.
Specific comments:
1. The terms of “cultivated land”, “agricultural land” and “arable land” should be consistent in the whole text.
2. The figures should be revised to make them clearer.
3. The authors should avoid the repeat of results, and only keep the most important findings in conclusion section.
Author Response
General comments: This study well-analyzed the current dilemmas and operation logic of China’s cultivated land protection based on CLPP texts and grounded theory. The findings are very interesting and useful for sustainable use and protection of cultivated land, but some minor problems should be addressed.
Comment 1: The terms of “cultivated land”, “agricultural land” and “arable land” should be consistent in the whole text.
Response 1: Thanks for your suggestion. According to your suggestion, we have reorganized the use of some professional terms for the CLPP (Cultivated land protection policies). Also, the usage of "cultivated land" has been unified throughout the article. A total of 23 mixed use of “agricultural land” and “arable land” have been correctly modified in the whole text.
Comment 2: The figures should be revised to make them clearer.
Response 2: Thanks for your suggestion. According to your suggestion, we have redrawn these figures that need to be modified. The relevant legend, scale and other elements are supplemented.
Comment 3: The authors should avoid the repeat of results, and only keep the most important findings in conclusion section.
Response 3: Thanks for your comment. We reread the relevant conclusion and rephrase this part:
This paper takes the policy texts of CLPP as the research object by grounded theory and analyzes the major dilemmas and operation logic of CLPP. We show that the logic operation of the CLPP is based on the situation-structure-motivation-action-space-result. More attention should be paid to the logical operation of the CLPP in China, which we explain in detail by analyzing the relationship among stakeholders, action, and space. The research conclusions help to identify the mechanisms of CLPP and clarify the factors affecting the implementation of protection behavior. The research conclusion also sheds light on the obstacles faced by cultivated land protection in the process of ecological transformation and can guide improvements in protective measures. Our key findings are as follows:
(1) The basic logic of the CLPP operation is to take the ultimate goal of cultivated land protection as the logical starting point and red-line consciousness and bottom-line thinking as the motivation. Based on a structure of government leadership with farmers as the main body and with social participation, this policy takes Pareto optimization of resource elements as the main direction. Multiple measures, such as the economy, technology, laws and regulations, and administrative supervision stimulate the functional integration of cultivated land use system. Then, relying on the internal core space, external competition and cooperation space, composite space, and new strategic space, the spatial pattern of cultivated land protection is optimized. The three dimensions of subject, action, and space are intertwined, embedded, and coupled in the input-conversion-output-feedback, and the conflict and bridging of different spaces become the inexhaustible driving force for the development of a cultivated land protection system. Therefore, we believe that the key to guaranteeing the effectiveness of CLPP in the future lies in solving the contradiction between theoretical abstraction and practical execution. Accordingly, we should distinguish the policy types and implementation methods of command control, economic incentive and publicity guidance. In different stages of economic and social development, the optimization and combination of multiple policy tools should be reasonably used to ensure the effect of cultivated land protection. Moreover, in order to reduce the negative externality of cultivated land occupation, we should appropriately increase the comprehensive cost of converting cultivated land into construction land, and improve the efficiency of optimal allocation of land resources through land marketization measures. At the same time, land marketization measures should also be taken to improve the efficiency of optimal allocation of land resources.
(2) CLPP is a comprehensive system of human development and natural protection information, which integrates administration, the economy, technology, and culture. In the practice of national agricultural regionalization protection, the theory of cultivated land use and protection is consolidated. The CLPP continues to maintain continuity, stability, and sustainability, and plays a supporting role in China’s socialist modernization. The value and importance of CLPP in this era are reflected in the practice of the new development stage, new development concepts, and new development patterns of cultivated land protection. The completion of the goals and tasks of cultivated land protection does not mean the end of the system but that China will continue to implement the world’s most stringent cultivated land protection system. The evolution process of CLPP is the result of the game of multiple stakeholders, which shows a significant path dependence characteristics. Therefore, how to use policy implementation to effectively improve the self enthusiasm of stakeholders has become the key to the innovation of cultivated land protection system in the future. In particular, we should find a safety coefficient interval to balance the cultivated land protection and construction needs of CLPP, and coordinate the interest demands and bureaucratic structure of different subjects. Some pension policies, low interest loan policies, preferential taxes and other policy compensation should be explored in the institutional framework of cultivated land protection. In addition, we should strengthen agricultural production technology, agricultural product marketing and other supporting measures to improve the enthusiasm of agricultural managers.
(3) CLPP should be based on the connotation of cultivated land and its protection objectives, and then implement adaptive governance for different forms of cultivated land use. Some factors such as the allocation of land use indicators and their marketization should also be fully considered to ensure the authority and applicability of the policy. Simultaneously, we should promote the legislation of cultivated land protection from the aspects of legal concept, control methods, compensation means, target responsibility, which will be beneficial to improve the systematization and integrity of the legal system related to cultivated land protection. Furthermore, the cultivated land protection system needs to cope with the transformation of cultivated land use brought about by climate change, smart agriculture, and food system transformation, and it must become more inclusive and sustainable in the process of ecological governance. The system can support the higher productivity levels of economic growth, such as sustainable intensification of cultivated land use. Scientific and technological innovation and technology integration play various roles in the implementation of cultivated land protection systems, which can create extensive efficiency. In addition, accurate assessment of human needs, seed quality, cultivated soil, and agricultural product trading will be the basis for effective protection of cultivated land.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
