The article contains considerations on the sustainable management of paddy fields. The authors conducted a questionnaire survey, the analysis of which allowed conclusions to be drawn about the current situation of paddy farmers and recommendations for future measures. I evaluate the selection of data and research methods correctly. However, the article lacks a discussion section. Supplementing the article with this section would enhance the quality of the article. At the same time, it is recommended to significantly expand the cited literature, mainly based on the missing discussion section.

Author Response

Respond to Reviewer 1

However, the article lacks a discussion section. Supplementing the article with this section would enhance the quality of the article. At the same time, it is recommended to significantly expand the cited literature, mainly based on the missing discussion section.

We are grateful for the suggestion.We've already added the part of discussion as follows:

The appropriate scale of paddy field management is jointly influenced by natural resources and the social economy and varies with regions. Compared with the research results of other regions, the optimal operation scale of this study is relatively larger. This may be attributed to the fact that in Jiaxing, the terrain is flat, the economy is developed, the level of agricultural science and technology is high, and the conditions for agricultural mechanization are superior. In addition, the perfect agricultural land transfer policy and transfer transaction platform are also conducive to the centralized and large-scale development of land.

The analysis of the coefficient of elasticity of land, labor and capital in the study area shows that farmers' land input has a positive impact on agricultural technical efficiency.The main reason is that the increase of land investment and the expansion of operation scale help to realize the scale effect of agricultural production and management. with the expansion of rice operation scale, it creates flat and continuous land conditions for agricultural mechanization production.

Inputs of capital and labour have a positive effect on the technical effectiveness of rice management. This is due to the fact that capital investment is not only an essential factor affecting rice yield, but also helps to solve the problem of nutrition absorption and reduce diseases and insect pests during rice growth, thereby increasing farmland production and income. The use of agricultural machinery can simplify the traditional rice production process, reduce labour input, and increase production efficacy. The larger the operation's scope, the more conducive it is to economies of scale as the number of employees rises. Jiaxing is an economically developed coastal city, the cost of youthful labour is higher, and the greater the number of household labourers, the greater the labour cost savings for farmers, which increases the rice production's technical efficiency.

In term of the regression results from table6, the farmers' willingness to cultivate paddy field on a large scale were positively correlated to land quality, and their number of years engaged in agriculture, while negatively correlated to the difficulty of loan and the age of farmers.First of all, the land quality affected the willingness of farmers to expand their management scale. The regression coefficient of land quality was 1.243, which indicated that land quality had a significant positive effect on farmers' willingness. Land quality is the integration of land smoothness and soil fertility, including paddy field infrastructure. The higher the land quality, the higher the output of agricultural production, and the higher the agricultural technical efficiency. Therefore, farmers with better-quality land were more willing to expand their management scale to increase the output value.

Second, the number of years farmers had been engaged in rice planting affected their willingness to expand the scale of management. The longer the farmers engaged in rice planting, the more willing they were to expand the cultivation scale. Agricultural production is very dependent on the management abilities of farmers. Generally, the longer the years of rice management, the richer the rice planting experience of farmers. Experienced farmers are more familiar with the growth and development of crops and are often more willing to expand the scale of their operations.

Third, age had a significant negative effect on farmers' willingness. Although agricultural mechanization has become the norm, rice planting still requires a lot of manual labor. It is normal to work long hours under hard conditions. Older farmers are unable to manage larger land due to physical reasons, so with the increase in age, the enthusiasm of farmers to expand the cultivation scale decreases gradually.

At last, the loan difficulty had a significant negative impact on farmers' willingness to expand the scale of cultivation. In addition to the purchase of agricultural production materials such as seeds, pesticides, and chemical fertilizers, there are also the costs of hiring labor at harvest and the purchase of agricultural machinery. These need to invest a huge amount of money in a short time. A government loan is an effective way to solve the shortage of funds, but agricultural loans often have complex procedures and strict conditions. When the difficulty of the loan increases, farmers lack the funds to expand the scale, so they have to stay at the original scale.

Despite the fact that this study is limited to a specific rice management area in Jiaxing, it can be used to explain the appropriate scale and influencing factors of rice in other water network plain areas. The factors influencing the appropriate magnitude of paddy field management in Jiaxing shared similarities with other studies. It is also influenced by agricultural modernization and market-driven growth. In this case, farmers must not only consider the environmental endowment of the region during production and management but also give greater attention to policy adaptation. Considering the uniqueness of the crop-sowing industry, this paper's findings also pertain to international research. Xiong Zhichao argued, for instance, that age, land rent, and time limit, contracted land area, and so forth are significant factors influencing the willingness of farmers in the county of Qiyang. Sun Tong's investigation of the tea industry in Anhui Province revealed a correlation between producers' willingness and the degree of mechanization and regional circulation. Ambros determined that the shift from small to large farms in the Baltic Sea region is due to a shift in the agricultural policy trend. Kusz et al. investigated the scale effect of Polish agriculture in terms of macro influence. This study has limitations regarding the various relationships that may exist in different contexts between agricultural production's influencing factors. Comparatively, developed regions have more agricultural production resources and greater agricultural technical efficacy than China, which explains why European government regulation and farmer education may play a larger role in the agricultural upgrading process. As this study concentrates on the rice planting industry, although its results can serve as a reference for other policy-oriented and labor-intensive production and management, the diversity of industrial characteristics necessitates additional empirical research to validate our conclusions. Geography and policy support may continue to influence the business decision-making behavior of farmers in other nations, as evidenced by studies on the agricultural scale and efficacy of the dairy industry in Western Europe and the grape industry in South Afric.

The innovation of this paper resides in the beneficial investigation of the content model of moderate scale agricultural land management in conjunction with the new era's Chinese characteristics. The study examines the issue of agricultural land management on a moderate scale from the standpoint of farmer income and concludes that the optimal rice management scale in Jiaxing is between 10 and 30ha. Moreover, it is concluded that the quality of farmland, the age of farmers, the number of years of rice planting, and the difficulty of obtaining agricultural loans are the primary factors influencing the propensity of rice farmers in Jiaxing to expand their operations.

Reviewer 2 Report

It is compactly organized to match the theme, which is good. Both subjective and objective investigations have been conducted and can be highly evaluated. As for English, I don't have enough English ability to evaluate it, but I still want the basic parts to be revised.

Author Response

Respond to Reviewer 2

As for English, I don't have enough English ability to evaluate it, but I still want the basic parts to be revised.

Many thanks for the suggestion.To be more clear and in accordance with the reviewer concerns, we have tried our best to polish the language in the revised manuscript.

Reviewer 3 Report

The reviewed article "Which Scale is Appropriate for the Sustainable Management of Paddy Field? - A Case Study of Jiaxing, China" appears to be an interesting study, but needs significant improvement.

In terms of structure, it lacks only a clearly indicated discussion of the results, but I have a series of comments on the content contained in the various chapters.

My main comments and objections:

1 No indication of the innovation of the conducted research. Analyzing the article, it is difficult for the reader to indicate what novelty the authors obtained. Neither the methodology is anything new, nor the subject of the conducted research.

2 The purpose of the research needs to be clarified. Nowhere in the article did I find what the Authors exactly mean by the repeatedly used term: "Appropriate scale management of paddy field".

3. Lack of scientific justification of the methodology adopted.

4. Lack of methodological justification for the selection of the study area and its representativeness.

5. Very local nature of the research. How can the results obtained be used in other countries and for other crops, for example?

6. Very poorly presented background of the study, poor references, especially the lack of international items.

7. No discussion of the results obtained, in relation to other studies.

8. Summary and conclusions for the most part very poorly related to the results of the research conducted.

9. I am not a language specialist but I think that the article needs language correction.

10. Units of area need to be standardized (hm², hectares).

The article needs significant improvement.

Author Response

Respond to Reviewer 3

In terms of structure, it lacks only a clearly indicated discussion of the results.

We add a new chapter to discuss the results. By analyzing the results of the stochastic frontier production function, we make clear the importance of land factors to the moderate scale operation in Jiaxing. In addition, we discuss the land quality and policy factors that affect the scale operation, which confirms the above hypothesis.And the discussion is as follows:

Point1:No indication of the innovation of the conducted research. Analyzing the article, it is difficult for the reader to indicate what novelty the authors obtained. Neither the methodology is anything new, nor the subject of the conducted research.

We have increased the discussion about the innovation of the article in section 6. From the perspective of research methods, research perspective and research content, this paper is a useful expansion of the existing literature.

In addition, from an empirical point of view, this paper obtains the best management scale of Jiaxing and the specific factors that affect farmers' large-scale operation of rice, which are the innovation of this paper.

Point2:The purpose of the research needs to be clarified. Nowhere in the article did I find what the Authors exactly mean by the repeatedly used term:"Appropriate scale management of paddy field".

As suggested,we added the purpose of the research and the connotation of "Appropriate scale management of paddy field" in section1,the main contents are as follows:

The purpose of this study includes the following points:1.To understand the rice management status of rice farmers in Jiaxin;2.Calculating the scope of appropriate scale operation of farmland in Jiaxing;3. Exploring the realistic factors that affect farmers' expansion of management scale, and put forward the ways to achieve appropriate scale management.

The term "appropriate scale management of paddy field" refers to the best use of land and other inputs to maximize agricultural income, while avoiding changes in the technical and economic environment.The "appropriate" of moderate scale management of agricultural land varies in different regions. Koltun takes the Polish family farm as the background and obtains the result that the moderate management scale of Polish family farm is more than 30 ha. According to research by Jayne and other academics that examined at changes in farm size distribution in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia over the past ten years, the number of medium-sized farms with a size of 5 to 100 ha is growing quickly throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa.

Point3:Lack of scientific justification of the methodology adopted

We have increased the scientific basis for the choice of research methods in this paper. The reasons are as follows:We use the stochastic frontier production function method to measure the moderate scale operation, which is based on the special choice of rice as the research object. It is more suitable to select the SFA stochastic frontier production function, which can effectively eliminate data noise for technical efficiency analysis, to explore the appropriate scale of paddy field management, as rice production is susceptible to the external environment and has randomness.The previous scholars' choice of the measurement method of moderate scale operation also strongly confirmed the scientific nature of this method.For instance,Ajibefun uses the stochastic frontier production function model to estimate what kind of total land area has the highest average technical efficiency of farmers, and obtains that the appropriate agricultural management scale in Nigeria is 1-1.49ha

Point4:Lack of methodological justification for the selection of the study area and its representativeness.

As suggested,we added a description of methodological justification for the selection of the study area and its representativeness in section2. it is shown below:
The reasons for choosing Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province as the study area in this study include the following points: 1.Jiaxing is an important grain production base in China, and its rice output ranks first in Zhejiang Province for many years. 2.As an economically developed water network plain, Jiaxing is representative in the study of appropriate scale in China. 3. Jiaxing City has implemented global land renovation and promoted the development of agricultural production conditions conducive to the development of appropriate scale operation.

Point5:Very local nature of the research. How can the results obtained be used in other countries and for other crops, for example?

we added a description of how to apply the results of this study to other areas.The additions are as follows:

Although this study is only based on the moderate scale of rice in Jiaxing, the results of this paper can provide experience sharing and reference for other countries to develop appropriate scale operation in the plain area of water network similar to Jiaxing. The research of other crops can use this research method to calculate the appropriate scale of this crop.The conclusion of this study can be used as a reference for the study of rice planting regions related to similar resource and environmental conditions and socio-economic conditions.For example,it can be used as a reference for the rice-growing regions of India, which are also densely populated and situated in a monsoon climate zone.

Point6:Very poorly presented background of the study, poor references, especially the lack of international items.

We added a description of background and references in section 1 as follows:

The "appropriate" of moderate scale management of agricultural land varies in different regions. Koltun takes the Polish family farm as the background and obtains the result that the moderate management scale of Polish family farm is more than 30 ha. According to research by Jayne and other academics that examined at changes in farm size distribution in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia over the past ten years, the number of medium-sized farms with a size of 5 to 100 ha is growing quickly throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa.With the deepening of the research, scholars gradually realize the contribution of intensive farming of small-scale peasant management and the lower cost of family supervision to production efficiency. As early as 1990s, Russian scholar Chayanov discovered and proposed that there is a reverse relationship between farmland management scale and agricultural production efficiency (IR) .Empirical research on developing nations in Asia, Africa, and South America has also confirmed this reverse relationship. For instance, Maina's study of small farms in Kenya revealed that increased land size had a negative impact on economic efficiency; Shete and Rutten discovered that large-scale agricultural operations in densely populated areas of central Ethiopia's highlands resulted in a decrease in farmers' incomes. Researchers have also examined the causes of IR in farmland scale operation. Due to the imperfect nature of the labour market, large-scale operations are more likely to generate transaction risks, such as information asymmetry and land transfer disputes. On the other hand, small-scale household management is more conducive to maximising farmers' enthusiasm and reducing supervision costs and risks. Foster et al., for instance, use labour market transaction costs to explain why small farms are more efficient than large farms in the majority of low-income countries; the constant rate of return on land-level data from Ali in Rwanda demonstrates a negative correlation between farm size and crop productivity, a key factor of which is the imperfect labour market .

In addition, the primary focus of the study of appropriate scale is the research on the influencing factors of farmland's appropriate scale, which includes socioeconomic and natural environmental factors. For illustration, between 2005 and 2016, Ambros analysed statistical data on agricultural land development in ten European Union (EU) member states surrounding the Baltic Sea. The results show that the transformation from small farms to large farms is due to production mechanization and agricultural policy tendencies . Gorton found that factors affecting the scale of family farm management include the education of the labor force and the level of agro-technical training. According to Ogundaril, the number of parcels, the degree of dispersion, the area of farmland, the level of education, and the availability of credit funds all affect agricultural production in Africa.

Point7:No discussion of the results obtained, in relation to other studies.

We added a discussion section to explore the reasons for the research results, and compared with other research results for analysis and discussion.The discussion part has been mentioned in answer 1. The following is the content of the comparative analysis.

Despite the fact that this study is limited to a specific rice management area in Jiaxing, it can be used to explain the appropriate scale and influencing factors of rice in other water network plain areas. The factors influencing the appropriate magnitude of paddy field management in Jiaxing shared similarities with other studies. It is also influenced by agricultural modernization and market-driven growth. In this case, farmers must not only consider the environmental endowment of the region during production and management but also give greater attention to policy adaptation. Considering the uniqueness of the crop-sowing industry, this paper's findings also pertain to international research.For example, Xiong Zhichao put forward that the important factors affecting the willingness of farmers in Qiyang County include age, land rent and time limit, the area of contracted land, and so on. Sun Tong's exploration of the tea industry in Anhui Province confirmed that the degree of mechanization and regional circulation were correlated to farmers' willingness. Ambros analyzed that the reason for the transformation from small farms to large farms in the Baltic Sea lies in the change of agricultural policy tendency. Kusz et al explored the scale effect of Polish farms from the perspective of macro influence. This study has its limitations on the different relationships that may exist in different backgrounds of the influencing factors of agricultural production. Comparatively, developed regions have more agricultural production resources and greater agricultural technical efficacy than China, which explains why European government regulation and farmer education may play a larger role in the agricultural upgrading process.As this study concentrates on the rice planting industry, although its results can serve as a reference for other policy-oriented and labor-intensive production and management, the diversity of industrial characteristics necessitates additional empirical research to validate our conclusions. Geography and policy support may continue to influence the business decision-making behavior of farmers in other nations, as evidenced by studies on the agricultural scale and efficacy of the dairy industry in Western Europe and the grape industry in South Afric.

Point8:Summary and conclusions for the most part very poorly related to the results of the research conducted.

We've already rewritten the part of Summary and conclusions,The content is as follows:

This study examined the agro-technical efficacy of rice producers in Jiaxing's water network plain using the stochastic frontier production function. The following conclusions were reached after using the binary logit technique to the analysis of the variables influencing rice farmers' desire to increase their management scale:

(1) From the perspective of technical efficiency per household, too large or too small-scale paddy field management does not have advantages; only moderate-scale operation can achieve the goal of increasing farmers' income, and resource allocation under a reasonable scale can achieve the best operating profits. A moderate-scale operation had a significant positive impact on technical efficiency. To realize the moderate scale operation of rice for farmers, we must realize the optimal allocation of land, capital and labor force.The development conditions of moderate scale operation in Jiaxing are good, and most farmers also have the will to continue to transfer land and expand the scale of operation in the future.

(2) The overall technical efficiency of rice farmers in Jiaxing was higher, the average technical efficiency is 0.8072. The condition of paddy field scale management was better, the average management scale reached 25.08 ha, and the optimal range of scale management was 10-30 ha. There are still some farmers whose rice management scale is too small or too large.In order to realize the appropriate scale operation with the best technical efficiency of rice production, it is necessary to promote land transfer and optimize the scale of rice management per household in Jiaxing.

(3) From the perspective of technical efficiency, the land input coefficient, capital input coefficient and labor input coefficient of Jiaxing are 0.8489, 0.1067 and 0.0835 respectively, indicating that the returns of grain production scale of rice farmers in Jiaxing are increasing, and the effect of economies of scale is significant. Land input factors have the most significant impact on the technical efficiency of management, indicating that the scale of agricultural land management is an important factor affecting agricultural production. The calculation results of stochastic frontier production function show that when resources are allocated reasonably and effectively, farmers in Jiaxing have 19.28% of potential output under given input-output conditions.

(4)According to the regression analysis of whether rice farmers in Jiaxing are willing to expand their management scale in the future, we can know that the factors that affect farmers' decision-making willingness mainly include farmland quality, the number of years of rice management, the age of interviewed farmers and the difficulty of agricultural loans.The quality of farmland and the number of years in which farmers operate rice play a positive role, while the age of farmers interviewed and the difficulty of agricultural loans restrain the negative impact. This is determined by the endowment characteristics of agricultural production and the personal quality of farmers.Farmers' rice planting is affected by the quality of farmland and the level of their own management. The better the quality of farmland is and the more experienced farmers are, the higher the income of rice planting is. Therefore, the production enthusiasm of expanding operation and increasing agricultural income is higher. On the other hand, the older farmers interviewed and those who have difficulties in agricultural loans do not have more time, energy and capital investment. In addition, compared with the young peasant households, the anti-risk ability of the aged labor force is poor, and the farmers pay more attention to the social security function of land rather than the function of operating income.

Point9: I am not a language specialist but I think that the article needs language correction.

Thank you for the suggestion.To be more clear and in accordance with the reviewer concerns, we have tried our best to polish the language in the revised manuscript.

Point10:Units of area need to be standardized (hm2, hectares).

We have modified the units of area from hm2 or hectares to ha.

Reviewer 4 Report

The current manuscript, Which Scale is Appropriate for the Sustainable Management of Paddy Field? — A Case Study of Jiaxing, China, is written and presented with a lot of details in the research steps and results. Some minor points are required to improve or clarify.

1.There are no research hypotheses constructed and empirically tested in this paper. It will be more rigorous if research hypotheses are constructed from theories and/or existing literature.

2. In table 1 it would be better if the coefficient of variation of the variables were calculated and presented. The answers to the following questions should then be specified:

a) What are the implications of the obtained results (for the coefficient of variation)?

b) Do the methods used subsequently consider these statistical characteristics of the data?

3. If possible, it would be better if the variable notation were changed. Usually the variables are marked with capital letters (X, Y, Z) and the model parameters with Greek letters. In the paper, the notation "Chi" is used for variables, which makes us think of Chi-Square.

4. In the conclusions, it would be better if future research directions were specified.

Author Response

Respond to Reviewer 4

Point1:There are no research hypotheses constructed and empirically tested in this paper. It will be more rigorous if research hypotheses are constructed from theories and/or existing literature.

To be more clear and in accordance with the reviewer concerns, we have added two hypotheses in section 1 as follows:

On the basis of a comprehensive analysis of the moderate scale operation scope and influencing factors of each region, we conclude that each region's operation scale is dependent on its own conditions. Due to the favourable natural and socioeconomic conditions of rice cultivation in Jiaxing City and the context of China's agricultural modernization, this study proposes two hypotheses.

Hypothesis 1. Compared with other regions, the scope of moderate scale operation in Jiaxing is larger.

Hypothesis 2.Land factors and policy factors play an important role in influencing the moderate scale management of farmers in Jiaxing.

Point2:In table 1 it would be better if the coefficient of variation of the variables were calculated and presented. The answers to the following questions should then be specified:

a)What are the implications of the obtained results (for the coefficient of variation)?

b)Do the methods used subsequently consider these statistical characteristics of the data?

We modified Table 1 by adding the coefficient of variation.We also explain the results of the coefficient of variation and its influence on the selection of methods.The following is the modified content

Table 1. Descriptive statistical information on input and output factors of rice farmers in Jiaxing in 2021.

Variable		Average value	Standard deviation	Minimum		Maximum	Coefficient of variation
	546029.36		460109.42	45353	2526826.5		0.84
	309731.21		271717.93	21700	1531410		0.88
	302088.93		310431.52	18600	1725000		1.03
	430.85		209.88	180	1260		0.49
	25.08		20.88	2.07		120.91	0.83

The coefficient of variation reflects the discrete degree of labor, capital and land input factors and the total output of rice. According to the table below, the coefficient variation of agricultural capital input is the largest, while that of labor input is small. Generally speaking, there is a big difference between the input data and output data of rice farmers in Jiaxing, indicating that the moderate scale development of agriculture in the study area is not balanced, and the household capital investment of farmers with larger operation scale is also higher. on the other hand, small-scale farmers can not enjoy the benefits of scale returns. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the best rice business scope.In the following, the selection of research methods takes into account the dispersion of the data, uses the stochastic frontier production function method to separate the technical invalidity term, and also significantly eliminates the impact of statistical errors on the results.

Point3:If possible, it would be better if the variable notation were changed. Usually the variables are marked with capital letters (X, Y, Z) and the model parameters with Greek letters. In the paper, the notation "Chi" is used for variables, which makes us think of Chi-Square.

We changed the variable notation of the table species and explained it ：The descriptive statistical information is shown in Table 1. Y denotes rice output value per household; denotes land input per household; denoted capital investment per household;L denotes labor input per household;X denotes rice area.

According to the usual usage, we use to represent the investment of agricultural funds rather than the chi-square value. we hope you will not be bothered by this.

Point4:In the conclusions, it would be better if future research directions were specified.

As suggested,we have added a description of future research directions in section 6:

Further research is still needed in the future, and the following research can be considered from the following aspects: first, by increasing the number of samples to carry out empirical research on the appropriate scale management of farmland of rice farmers in Zhejiang Province or other areas , in order to enhance the universality of the study. Secondly, in the future, we can increase the sample research objects, such as increasing the research content of other food crops and even cash crops. Finally, in the future, we need to continue to track the problem of appropriate scale management of rice planting in Jiaxing based on the global dynamic perspective, and use the time series and spatial series data of Jiaxing to study the problem of appropriate scale management of rice planting farmland in China.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The discussion was based on four literature items. Whereas pos. 42 concerns Poland. Rice is not grown in Poland, so it is a bit surprising to recall the research results of this article.

It's worth improving even more.

Author Response

回复审稿人 1

讨论基于四个文献项目。而位置42涉及波兰。波兰没有种植水稻，所以回想一下这篇文章的研究结果有点令人惊讶。

值得进一步改进

非常感谢您的宝贵建议，我们非常抱歉，由于误解，波兰农场的谷物研究被理解为水稻研究，导致歧义。我们修改了讨论部分错误部分的描述，并添加了一些参考资料，如下所示：

尽管本研究仅限于嘉兴某特定水稻管理区，但可用于解释其他水网平原地区水稻的适当规模和影响因素。影响嘉兴稻田管理适当规模的因素与其他研究有相似之处。它还受到农业现代化和市场驱动型增长的影响。在这种情况下，农民在生产和管理过程中不仅要考虑该地区的环境禀赋，还要更加重视政策适应。考虑到作物播种业的独特性，本文的研究结果也与国际研究有关。例如，熊志超提出，影响祁阳县农民意愿的重要因素包括年龄、地租和期限、承包土地面积等[^40]。孙彤对安徽省茶产业的探索证实，机械化程度和区域流通程度与农民意愿相关^[41]。安布罗斯分析，波罗的海从小农场向大农场转变的原因在于农业政策倾向的变化^[12]。八木等人发现，政府促进租赁的政策改善了土地流动性，并有助于扩大日本福井县家庭稻田的规模^[42]。Hoang等在越南年水稻规模研究中提出，政府干预是促进农业专业化的重要因素^[43]。本研究对农业生产影响因素的不同背景下可能存在的不同关系有其局限性。相比之下，发达地区比中国拥有更多的农业生产资源和更高的农业技术效率，这就解释了为什么欧洲政府的监管和农民教育可能在农业升级过程中发挥更大的作用[^44]。由于本研究以水稻种植业为重点，虽然其结果可以作为其他政策导向和劳动密集型生产和管理的参考，但工业特征的多样性需要额外的实证研究来验证我们的结论。Omotilewa等人还发现，农业政策可以促进尼日利亚农业生产力，农业商业化和粮食安全的增长[^45]。Kusz等讨论了宏观因素和农业补贴对波兰粮农规模变化的影响^[46]。这是因为地理和政策支持可能会继续影响其他国家农民的商业决策行为，西欧乳制品行业和南非西开普省葡萄行业的农业规模和功效研究证明^{了这一点[47]。}

[42]八木;日本稻田机械利用与管理组织：单户、多户和社区农场的比较[J].农业综合企业， 2021， 37（2）： 393-408.

[43]黄，V.N.;阮同棠;越南年小户水稻种植的规模和范围经济[J].综合农业学报， 2021， 20（12）： 3339-3351.

[44]北卡罗来纳州巴尤尔特;耶尔马兹，S.治理和教育对农业效率的影响：国际分析[C].第八届国际战略管理会议：第8卷。阿姆斯特丹：爱思唯尔科学Bv， 58： 2012-1158.

[45]奥莫蒂莱瓦;杰恩;穆扬加·农场规模与生产力的再审视——来自尼日利亚各种农场规模的经验证据[J].世界发展， 2021， 146： 105592.

[46]库斯;库斯;波兰家庭农场劳动盈利能力与经济规模的关系经济决定因素[J].可持续发展， 2022， 14（21）： 13819.

[47]康拉迪;库克森;西开普省葡萄生产效率和农场规模：汇集小数据集[J].南非经济研究， 2006， 74（2）： 334-343.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

The authors were very conscientious in addressing all my comments and made appropriate corrections in the article. The article was completed with missing content and questionable elements were clarified.

I recommend the article for publication.

Author Response

Respond to Reviewer 3

I recommend the article for publication.

We are very grateful for your comments and have made further detailed improvements to the literature in the discussion section of the article, as follows:

Despite the fact that this study is limited to a specific rice management area in Jiaxing, it can be used to explain the appropriate scale and influencing factors of rice in other water network plain areas. The factors influencing the appropriate magnitude of paddy field management in Jiaxing shared similarities with other studies. It is also influenced by agricultural modernization and market-driven growth. In this case, farmers must not only consider the environmental endowment of the region during production and management but also give greater attention to policy adaptation. Considering the uniqueness of the crop-sowing industry, this paper's findings also pertain to international research. For instance, Xiong Zhichao put forward that the important factors affecting the willingness of farmers in Qiyang County include age, land rent and time limit, the area of contracted land, and so on^[40]. Sun Tong's exploration of the tea industry in Anhui Province confirmed that the degree of mechanization and regional circulation were correlated to farmers' willingness^[41]. Ambros analyzed that the reason for the transformation from small farms to large farms in the Baltic Sea lies in the change of agricultural policy tendency^[12]. Yagi et al found that the government's policy of promoting leasing improves land mobility and helps to increase the size of family rice farms in Fukui Prefecture, Japan^[42]. Hoang et al. put forward that government intervention is an important factor in promoting agricultural specialization in the study of the rice scale in Vietnam^[43]. This study has its limitations on the different relationships that may exist in different backgrounds of the influencing factors of agricultural production. Comparatively, developed regions have more agricultural production resources and greater agricultural technical efficacy than China, which explains why European government regulation and farmer education may play a larger role in the agricultural upgrading process^[44]. As this study concentrates on the rice planting industry, although its results can serve as a reference for other policy-oriented and labor-intensive production and management, the diversity of industrial characteristics necessitates additional empirical research to validate our conclusions. Omotilewa et al also have found that agricultural policy can promote the growth of agricultural productivity, agricultural commercialization, and food security in Nigeria^[45]. Kusz et al discussed the impact of macro factors and agricultural subsidies on the scale change of grain farms in Poland^[46]. This is because geography and policy support may continue to influence the business decision-making behavior of farmers in other nations, as evidenced by studies on the agricultural scale and efficacy of the dairy industry in Western Europe and the grape industry in Western Cape, South Africa^[47].

[42]Yagi,H.; Hayashi, T. Machinery utilization and management organization in Japanese rice farms: Comparison of single-family, multifamily, and community farms[J]. Agribusiness, 2021, 37(2): 393-408.

[43]Hoang, V. N.; Nguyen, T. T.; Wilson, C. Scale and scope economies in small household rice farming in Vietnam[J]. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 2021, 20(12): 3339-3351.

[44]Bayyurt, N.; Yilmaz, S. The impacts of governance and education on agricultural efficiency: An international analysis[C]. 8th International Strategic Management Conference: Vol. 58. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Bv, 2012: 1158-1165.

[45]Omotilewa, O. J.; Jayne, T. S.; Muyanga, M. A revisit of farm size and productivity: Empirical evidence from a wide range of farm sizes in Nigeria[J]. World Development, 2021, 146: 105592.

[46]Kusz, B.; Kusz, D.;Bąk, I. Selected economic determinants of labor profitability in family farms in Poland in relation to economic size[J]. Sustainability, 2022, 14(21): 13819.

[47]Conradie, B.; Cookson, G.; Thirtle, C. Efficiency and farm size in Western Cape grape production: Pooling small datasets[J]. South African Journal of Economics, 2006, 74(2): 334-343.

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Which Scale Is Appropriate for the Sustainable Management of Paddy Field?—A Case Study of Jiaxing, China

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