Analysis of Employment Trend in Flue-Cured Tobacco Planting

Jianwen WANG, Liangjiao LIU, Jianqiang HUANG, Jiguang HE, Jianyong LI, Li LI

1.Liuyang Branch of Changsha Tobacco Company, Liuyang 410302, China; 2.College of Public Administration and Law, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China; 3.Ningxiang Branch of Changsha Tobacco Company, Ningxiang 410600, China

Abstract Based on the investigation of the amount of labor used in each production link of flue-cured tobacco planting in Liuyang since 1989, and through the analysis of the changes of labor-related factors, it is concluded that the amount of labor used in tobacco planting in Liuyang experienced a significant increase and relatively stable stage in the early 1990s, and it has been declining continuously since the beginning of the 21st century; the change of flue-cured tobacco planting technology mode, as well as mechanized, large-scale and specialized production are the main factors that affect the change of the amount of labor used in flue-cured tobacco planting in Liuyang.Based on the method of changing the technical model to reduce amount of labor used, the types of labor used for planting of flue-cured tobacco can be divided into the following types: reducing the amount of labor by technical methods; reducing the amount of labor by making use of weather; reducing the amount of labor by using drugs; reducing the amount of labor used at the cost of reducing the technical implementation standards of a certain production link.The change of labor used in flue-cured tobacco planting is not only related to the cost and price factors, but also related to the profound social and economic background.In the future, reducing labor and cost is the trend of flue-cured tobacco production, and mechanization, large-scale and specialized production are the main development direction of flue-cured tobacco production, but under the condition that flue-cured tobacco production is still dominated by manual operation, maintaining a certain amount of labor is still the basis for maintaining high quality of flue-cured tobacco planting at present.

Key words Flue-cured tobacco production, Technical model, Amount of labor used, Production cost, Mechanization, Development trend

1 Introduction

Flue-cured tobacco is an economic crop with large planting area, wide distribution and strong planning in China.Because of the characteristics of high tax and high output value, tobacco industry plays a prominent role in land consolidation, water conservancy and road construction, poverty alleviation and other aspects in tobacco producing areas, and plays an irreplaceable role in increasing financial taxes and farmers’ income in rural tobacco producing areas of our country.The planting of flue-cured tobacco is a labor-intensive industry, and the labor cost is the largest item in the tobacco planting cost, which generally accounts for more than half of the total cost.Under the same production conditions and technical measures, the amount of labor used for flue-cured tobacco planting determines the implementation quality of technical measures, and is finally reflected in the yield and quality of tobacco leaves.Over the years, although the State Tobacco Monopoly Bureau has taken a number of measures to greatly increase investment in scientific research and vigorously promote the construction of modern tobacco agriculture and the implementation of specialized services for flue-cured tobacco planting, the amount of labor used for flue-cured tobacco planting has been significantly reduced compared with before.However, the problems of difficult and expensive labor in flue-cured tobacco planting are still prominent, and there is a trend of increasing gradually.To a certain extent, this affects the stability of tobacco scale and the improvement of tobacco quality in some tobacco areas.Taking Liuyang tobacco area as a sample, this study makes an in-depth analysis of the historical amount of labor used and change law in flue-cured tobacco planting per unit area in Liuyang from the technical and socio-economic point of view, in order to accurately grasp the changing trend of future amount of labor used in flue-cured tobacco production and tobacco planting scale, correctly deal with the difficulty of employment in flue-cured tobacco production, and provide reference for improving the level of labor management in flue-cured tobacco production, improving tobacco quality and tobacco planting efficiency, and maintaining the sustainable development of tobacco production.

2 Method of analysis

2.1 Investigation

For 1989, 1999, 2009 and 2019 flue-cured tobacco growers in Liuyang, 10-20 representative tobacco farmers were selected for interview and investigation, and the tobacco planting scale, technical model, amount of labor used and employment mode of each era were investigated.Among the growers interviewed, some have been planting continuously for many years, and some have only planted for one year.

2.2 Access to historical materials

We collected and consulted the flue-cured tobacco planting cost files, work files and technical files related to the survey content in different years, extracted the information and data related to this study, and analyzed them.

2.3 Data processing

Because different individuals have great differences in the amount of labor used in each link of tobacco production in different environments, different growers have great differences in one-day working time and work efficiency due to gender, age, physical strength and other reasons.In order to objectively and truly reflect the average number of workers per unit area of the main tobacco growers in Liuyang in different years under normal conditions, the data on a tobacco farmer in each year with the same planting scale and technical methods as those of farmers in the current year with medium employment were selected, and revised with reference to historical materials on the basis of multi-party confirmation.The division of the amount of labor used in each link includes not only the link itself, but also the process that extends up and down to the area connected with other links.For example, the transplanting process includes burrowing, transporting seedlings, field planting, watering and complementary planting of seedlings and so on.The amount of labor used in each link includes the amount of labor invested by tobacco farmers themselves, the number of employees and the amount of labor used for a number of specialized services completed entirely by manual labor such as harvesting and grading, but it does not include the amount of labor used for specialized services in such links as raising seedlings, ploughing and ridging, which account for a small proportion of the total cost.The daily working time is calculated according to 8 h and calculated with the precision of 0.25 working days.If a single link exceeds or is less than 0.25 labor, it will be adjusted in the relevant technical links on the premise of keeping the total labor consumption unchanged with the survey.

3 Results and analysis

3.1 Historical amount of labor used and production mode of flue-cured tobacco planting

According to statistics, the amount of labor used in flue-cured tobacco planting in Liuyang in 1989 was 487.5 per ha, which also represented the amount of labor used in the traditional 15-level acquisition of common tobacco growers in the 1980s and before(Table 1).The main technical models in this period are as follows: cattle ploughing in the field, artificial ridging, double-row planting, soil bed for seedling raising, direct transplanting, bottom fertilizer application and topdressing, relying entirely on artificial ploughing and weeding and artificial pruning.The fresh tobacco leaves harvested in the curing stage were transported by carrying on the shoulder and soil carts, baked with briquettes made of bulk coal, replenished with a large amount of dry firewood during the period of stem curing.After the flue-cured tobacco leaves are graded and bundled, they are directly used for sale.The amount of labor used for delivery and sale is 15 per ha and it is included in other employment together with 15 labor per ha invested by tobacco farmers in dredging trenches and passages before tobacco planting.During this period, the capacity of the flue-curing house and the planting scale of tobacco per household are generally about 0.2 ha, the main body of tobacco planting is mainly the young and middle-aged, supplemented with women and the elderly, and all the labor used for tobacco production is generally invested by the tobacco farmers’ families themselves.

Table 1 The amount of labor used and changes in the planting of main growers of flue-cured tobacco in Liuyang from 1989 to 2019 (persons/ha)

Ridging, cultivation and weeding rely entirely on manual labor, while fertilization, transportation and delivery of tobacco mainly rely on carrying on the shoulder or soil cart.During this period, the labor intensity of flue-cured tobacco planting was high, and the output of flue-cured tobacco was low and the quality was poor.In 1999, the main amount of labor used according to the technical scheme of high-quality tobacco production was 645 per ha, which basically represented the actual amount of labor used in Liuyang tobacco production in the 1990s.The main technical measures are as follows: two-stage seedling raising with rice straw nutrient, single row high ridge, ploughing and ridging, fertilization is mainly furrow application of bottom fertilizer, still dominated by a large amount of farm manure, flue-curing house capacity and single grower’s planting scale are mainly 0.267 ha.In 2009, the planting scale of each main flue-cured tobacco grower in Liuyang was 1 ha, and the amount of labor used by main growers was 487.5 per ha; in 2019, the planting scale of medium and small-scale main flue-cured tobacco growers in Liuyang was 1-2 ha, and the amount of labor used by main growers was 330 per ha, and the amount of labor used by main flue-cured tobacco growers totally depending on employees or with hired labor accounting for a large proportion of total labor was 243.75 per ha.

3.2 Causes and classification of reduced amount of labor used in flue-cured tobacco planting

From 1999 to 2019, the amount of labor used by tobacco growers in Liuyang decreased from 645 to 330 per ha.The ways to reduce amount of labor used include the following six types:(i)Method change.For example, the soil bed for raising seedling is changed to the floating system of flue-cured seedlings, which saves the labor of raising seedlings, and the labor consumption is reduced by supporting technical measures to reduce the times of fertilization or harvest.(ii)Taking advantage of the weather to reduce labor.For example, transplanting tobacco seedlings in continuous rainy weather saves the labor of watering, topdressing before continuous rainy weather reduces the water consumption for topdressing.(iii)The use of drugs to reduce labor.For example, the use of herbicides reduces the amount of work required for weeding.(iv)To reduce labor at the cost of lowering the technical implementation standard of a certain production link.For example, the amount of labor used can be reduced by reducing the quality of ditch cleaning and ridging, reducing the quality of soil cultivation or reducing the amount of nutritious soil.(v)The use of machinery instead of labor to reduce labor.The main feature of mechanical operation is the use of fuel or electricity to provide power.Liuyang tobacco production mainly depends on mechanical operations to reduce amount of labor used in ploughing, ridging and transportation, as well as mechanical bundling of tobacco leaves, reducing amount of labor used by 78.75 per ha.(vi)To improve efficiency and reduce labor through large-scale production and specialized services.Liuyang tobacco production mainly depends on large-scale production and specialized service itself to reduce amount of labor used for harvesting, curing and grading, reducing amount of labor by 71.25 per ha.

The amount of labor reduced in a certain way may involve many of the above six ways at the same time, generally classified from the main factors or classified separately.For example, the amount of labor used in tobacco production can be reduced in many ways through large-scale production and specialized services.Large-scale planting of flue-cured tobacco can make more use of mechanical operation, concentrate on the use of machinery to transport fertilizer or fresh tobacco, improve work efficiency and reduce amount of labor used.Under the condition of centralized continuous large-scale production, the tobacco loading capacity of the dense curing room used under the condition of centralized continuous production is 4 times that of the ordinary soil curing room.With the same curing time, the curing efficiency can be 4 times higher than that of ordinary earth curing, and the work is easier.In the case of professional curing and one person managing multiple curing rooms, the efficiency is higher, and the amount of curing work per unit area is less.Although the improvement of the proportion and efficiency of field machinery work includes the role of large-scale planting, and intensive curing reduces the amount of labor with the forced ventilation by motor-driven blower, but from the analysis of the main factors, the reduced amount of labor used in the former is classified as mainly relying on machinery to reduce labor, while the latter is classified as mainly relying on large-scale production and specialized services to reduce amount of labor used.

Among the above six production methods to reduce amount of labor used, the common feature of the first four types is to reduce amount of labor used by changing the technical mode.The reduced amount of labor used in most of the production links of Liuyang flue-cured tobacco planting is mainly achieved by changing the production technology mode, and the reduced amount of labor used is 150, accounting for about half of the total amount of labor used; the amount of labor mainly reduced by the use of machinery and that reduced by large-scale production and specialized services each account for about 25%.

4 Discussion

4.1 The effect of the change of amount of labor used in different periods of flue-cured tobacco planting on the quality of flue-cured tobacco leaves

From 1989 to 1999, the whole process of tobacco planting in Liuyang depended on manual operation, and it was basically invested by family labor, and the amount of labor used showed a significant increasing trend; on the basis of a large increase in labor, the yield and quality of tobacco were significantly improved by changing the technical model of tobacco production.From 2000 to 2019, the amount of labor used in tobacco planting in Liuyang continued to decrease, while the overall quality of tobacco always steadily improved.First, the reduced amount of labor used in Liuyang tobacco production through different ways will generally have many effects on the growth and quality of flue-cured tobacco, and the combination of some technologies can enhance its favorable factors and reduce its adverse effects; or through optimization and adjustment, the amount of labor used in some production links is reduced and the amount of labor used in some production links with higher value is increased, for example, using the combination of floating seedling raising and nutritious soil cultivation to replace the combination of soil bed two-stage seedling raising and small soil cultivation, the amount of labor used can be reduced by 75 per ha.Although the former can make tobacco plant growth at root elongation stage slightly slower and stress resistance slightly worse, it grows faster after rosette stage, and diseases are significantly reduced.Compared with cattle ploughing and artificial ridging, mechanical ploughing and ridging combined with manual ditch cleaning and ridging can reduce the amount of labor used by 60 per ha.Although the soil bulk density of the ridge after cattle ploughing and artificial ridging is lower and the quality is relatively better, the soil ploughing depth, ridge height and the amount of live soil occupied by single tobacco plant are significantly increased after mechanical ploughing and mechanical ridging, and the overall effect is better.Second, although the reduction of amount of labor used in some production links is achieved at the cost of reducing fine production, with the gradual improvement of tobacco planting technology, it can be made up by the improvement of tobacco leaf nitrogen control, density control, balanced fertilization and other technologies.In addition, there are significant differences in tobacco yield and quality among different employment methods and employment amount, which is prominently shown in the fact that in 2019, tobacco growers in Liuyang who relied entirely on hired workers or employed workers accounting for a large proportion of total labor used 86.25 labor per ha less than self-employed medium and small-scale tobacco growers.Moreover, the proportion of left-behind elderly and left-behind women in employment was significantly higher than that of small and medium-sized tobacco growers, and their tobacco output and quality were significantly lower than those of self-employment-based medium and small-scale tobacco growers.

4.2 Social and economic factors related to the fluctuation and reduction of amount of labor used in flue-cured tobacco planting

From the planting of high-quality tobacco in 1990 to replacing the planting of common tobacco with high-quality tobacco in 1992, the amount of labor used in flue-cured tobacco has increased significantly, which is not only related to economic factors, but also closely related to social factors.At that time, the labor wages in rural areas of Liuyang were relatively low, and the output and purchase price of high-quality tobacco leaves were significantly higher than those of common tobacco, and the substantial improvement in the planting efficiency of flue-cured tobacco could support a large increase in labor input.At the same time, the rural labor force in Liuyang is abundant, the proportion of young adults in the labor force is large and the level of education is low.In addition to planting flue-cured tobacco, tobacco farmers are also engaged in planting rice, raising pigs, raising fish, carpentry, bricklaying and so on.The main work changes among planting, breeding and traditional craftsman work.The fluctuation of flue-cured tobacco planting efficiency leads to the simultaneous increase and decrease of tobacco growers and tobacco planting scale.These factors are also the main reason why the tobacco planting team in Liuyang took young adults as the main force in the 1990s and before, and there are still a large number of young adults entering the tobacco planting team until the early 21century.

With the economic development and urbanization of Liuyang, a large number of young and middle-aged workers in rural areas are employed in factories or other industries, and with the passage of time, migrant workers tend to be gradually stabilized and fixed after they are employed in factories or other industries; the education level of the new rural labor force is improved, while the time of contact and acceptance of traditional labor is reduced.At the same time, due to the improvement of rural living standards and the improvement of farmers’ living conditions, most migrant workers are no longer willing to work in the traditional planting industry, construction industry and infrastructure industry with high physical exertion, difficult working environment and low wages.Although the purchase price of tobacco leaves continues to rise(it is now close to the price of imported high-quality tobacco leaves), there is still a significant gap with the rising pace of wages of migrant workers, resulting in fewer and fewer young and middle-aged workers newly entering the tobacco growing team.At present, the main force of tobacco planting in Liuyang is still farmers born in the 1960s, while the tobacco harvesting, grading and other work depends on the older left-behind elderly and left-behind women.Within a certain range, the change of flue-cured tobacco planting benefit is more likely to lead to the rise and fall of single-household planting scale, rather than the increase or decrease of tobacco growers.Tobacco farmers’ expansion of tobacco planting scale depends on the employment of left-behind elderly and women who have received traditional labor training and relatively low wages, and the social production potential needs to be further tapped.With the withdrawal of these tobacco farmers and professional members of flue-cured tobacco planting due to age and physical reasons, the number of new workers who have joined the tobacco planting team is seriously insufficient, and Liuyang tobacco industry will face an unsustainable dilemma due to the lack of labor force.In addition, due to rising wages, relatively low work efficiency of the left-behind elderly and left-behind women, while tobacco farmers expand the scale of tobacco planting, they will inevitably fall into the situation of reducing the degree of fine production and the implementation of production technology standards for reducing labor, resulting in a decline in the output and quality of tobacco leaves of some tobacco farmers.In spite of this, the development of social economy fundamentally depends on the improvement of agricultural productivity, and a large number of surplus labor forces formed in rural areas will be transferred to industry and other industries.Reducing labor intensity, reducing labor consumption per unit area and improving production efficiency are not only the trend of agricultural production in the future, but also the trend of tobacco production in the future.Therefore, in the long run, reducing labor and cost is still the irreversible development direction of flue-cured tobacco planting in the future.

5 Conclusion

At a certain level, the space to reduce the amount of labor used in tobacco production by the change of technical mode is limited, and with the maturity of flue-cured tobacco planting technology, the space will become smaller and smaller; the role of large-scale production and specialized services in reducing the amount of labor used in tobacco production is also very limited, and the way of reducing amount of labor used in large-scale production and specialized services is fundamentally realized through mechanized production.This is because mechanical operations have significant cost advantages, and this advantage has become increasingly prominent when labor wages have been rising with the improvement of social productivity and economic development, and the oil price, which accounts for the largest cost of mechanical activities, has become relatively stable.Only mechanized production can fundamentally reduce labor intensity and flue-cured tobacco production, and improve tobacco production efficiency.

Tobacco production links are complicated, a kind of machinery can only be applied to one operation.It is a long way to develop and improve the machinery with wide application and good operation effect for each production link.However, human operation is omnipotent in agricultural production, and manual operation is still the most fine, ecological and environmentally friendly mode of production in tobacco production, but the value of manual operation to ecological environment protection is difficult to reflect in the market competition.Therefore, during the transition period from manual operation to mechanized production, it is necessary to adjust the purchase price of tobacco leaf in time according to the change of social labor cost.At the same time, by providing a variety of subsidies to characteristic tobacco leaves and ecological tobacco leaves, we can better reflect the value of manual operation to the improvement of tobacco quality and ecological environment protection, and maintain the benefits of growing tobacco within a certain range, maintain and stabilize a certain number and quality of tobacco farmers, keep tobacco quality and tobacco planting scale stable.In the long run, it is necessary to increase the investment in tobacco production infrastructure construction, speed up the improvement of mechanized operation level and mechanized production degree, reduce the labor cost of tobacco production, and improve the competitiveness of tobacco market.