From Labor to Land: Rethinking the Objective of Agricultural Mechanization in China

: Agricultural mechanization has long been valued primarily for its capacity to substitute for labor. However, with increasingly binding constraints on arable land and raising yields per unit of land becoming central to safeguarding national food security, the developmental objective of mechanization must evolve accordingly. This study argues that mechanization should move from a predominantly labor-substituting orientation toward a dual labor–land substitution objective, focusing on strengthening its land-substituting capacity. Drawing on the theory of induced technical change, it identifies two broadly established evolutionary phases of agricultural mechanization’s substitution effects since 1978 in China: draft-animal substitution followed by labor substitution. It further identifies an emerging post-2023 tendency for mechanization to acquire a land-substituting dimension. In this emerging technological context, the increasingly intensive application of artificial intelligence and digital technologies is reshaping the functional role of agricultural mechanization. Through precision sowing, optimized plant density, and low-loss harvesting, mechanization improves operational precision and reduces production losses, thereby providing an increasingly important technological and material foundation for raising grain yields. Taken together, these developments suggest a reorientation toward dual labor–land substitution. Against this technological backdrop, the study outlines policy directions for strengthening the land-substituting and yield-enhancing capacities of agricultural mechanization.