RETHINKING SUBSTITUTION ATTRIBUTE: A NEW MODEL OF AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY SERVICES IN SOUTHERN CHINA

zhijie luo; Chunyu Wang

Todos os Trabalhos

Trabalho

DOI

10.29327/9786527226680.1441865

Título do Trabalho

RETHINKING SUBSTITUTION ATTRIBUTE: A NEW MODEL OF AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY SERVICES IN SOUTHERN CHINA

Autores

zhijie luo
Chunyu Wang

Modalidade

IRSA - Congresso Mundial de Sociologia Rural (01/10/2025 a 20/01/2026)

Área temática

IRSA 34 - Diverse Transitions of Farming and Peasantries

Data de Publicação

06/08/2026

País da Publicação

Brasil

Idioma da Publicação

pt-BR

Página do Trabalho

https://www.even3.com.br/anais/sober-irsa2026/1441865-rethinking-substitution-attribute--a-new-model-of-agricultural-machinery-services-in-southern-china

ISBN

978-65-272-2668-0

Palavras-Chave

substitution attribute, agricultural machinery services(AMS), stepwise machinery harvesting(SMH), capital, smallholders

Resumo

The substitution attribute of labor is regarded as a key implication of agricultural mechanization development. Based on fieldwork in County X, located in Southern China. The paper examines a novel agricultural machinery services(AMS) model in China’s sugarcane industry: stepwise machinery harvesting(SMH). County X is China’s largest county in terms of sugarcane cultivation area. The author conducted process-tracking over one year, including three in-depth field investigations, and performed deep interviews with 120 individuals. The SMH represents a pragmatic choice by local governments implementing the policy of “sugarcane leaf burning ban”, aiming to advance mechanization while protecting the ecological environment. Unlike practices centered on combine harvesters, this model exhibits distinct differences in operational methods, functional roles, and task types. These characteristics indicate that the SMH poses a significant challenge to the traditional AMS system. This challenge manifests in the evolving dynamics of interaction between human, machinery and crop within operational workflows, and the resulting divergent logic governing productive forces and relations of production. Consequently, the study argues that agricultural mechanization doesn’t follow a predetermined trajectory. Further exploration of its “substitution attribute” is warranted: while absolute substitution of labor occurs under grain-dominated crop structures, relative substitution emerges in non-grain-dominated crop structures. Analyzing these differential substitution attributes requires examining the dynamic interplay between productive forces and relations of production within AMS workflows. Based on this, the study further reveals that within the AMS market, capital’s internal and external squeezes of smallholder farming occurs on two dimensions: firstly, the SMH model is exerting internal pressure on family farming; secondly, AMS operators are continuously expanding their reach to smallholders. However, the transition towards agricultural mechanization remains fraught with uncertainty. Sugar companies hold a dominant position in the circulation stage of agricultural products, thereby effectively controlling agricultural operators and the AMS market.

Título do Evento: 16th World Congress of Rural Sociology and 64th Congress of the Brazilian Society of Rural Economics, Management and Sociology
Cidade do Evento: Porto Alegre
Título dos Anais do Evento: Anais do 64º Congresso da SOBER e XVI Congresso Mundial de Sociologia Rural (IRSA)
Nome da Editora: Even3
Meio de Divulgação: Meio Digital
DOI

Como citar

LUO, zhijie; WANG, Chunyu. RETHINKING SUBSTITUTION ATTRIBUTE: A NEW MODEL OF AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY SERVICES IN SOUTHERN CHINA.. In: Anais do 64º Congresso da SOBER e XVI Congresso Mundial de Sociologia Rural (IRSA). Anais...Porto Alegre(RS) UFRGS, 2026. Disponível em: https//www.even3.com.br/anais/sober-irsa2026/1441865-RETHINKING-SUBSTITUTION-ATTRIBUTE--A-NEW-MODEL-OF-AGRICULTURAL-MACHINERY-SERVICES-IN-SOUTHERN-CHINA. Acesso em: 22/09/2026