Presentation short abstract

This paper explores why Chinese smallholders intensively use agrochemicals rather than maintain agroecological practices. It highlights how institutions, agrochemical provision schemes, and land–labour shifts drive this change.

Presentation long abstract

Different from large-scale industrialised farming, small-scale household-based farming has historically been perceived as subsistence-oriented, labour-intensive, and capable of making better use of nature by relying on traditional knowledge grounded in farmers’ own experience and experimentation rather than external inputs. In this sense, smallholders’ farming practices are usually believed to be agroecological. However, the case of China is an anomaly. In China, smallholders are observed to inventively, and even excessively, use agrochemicals, including chemical pesticides and fertilisers. Why do smallholders in China use agrochemicals so intensively? How did such a shift in smallholders’ farming practices emerge and develop?

To answer these questions, this paper examines the dynamics of smallholders’ agrochemical use through political economy and political ecology perspectives. It highlights the epistemological, technological, and social changes shaping smallholders’ farming practices. It argues that this shift is not entirely a matter of smallholders’ own preferences but is shaped by institutional changes, agrochemical provision schemes, and evolving land–labour conditions. Moreover, during this transition, smallholders are not passive actors. They are observed to engage in everyday forms of resistance by reserving parts of their farmland for agroecological cultivation to produce food for self-consumption. By doing so, the paper aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of the complexities of agroecological transformation.