Pattern of Grain Production Potential and Development Potential in China–Mongolia–Russia Economic Corridor
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
There is clarity in the approach to the problem and the results that seek to achieve greater efficiency in wheat, soybean, maize, and paddy production, considering an innovative modeling strategy. Wich is useful for performing a quantitative analysis of the grain yield differentiation pattern in the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor (CMREC) region.
Author Response
Thank you very much for your comments and professional advice.These opinions help to improve academic rigor of our artice.Based on your suggestion and request,we have made corrected modifications on the revised manuscript.Meanwhile,the manuscript had be reviewed and edited by language services of ELSEVIER.We hope that our work can be improve again.The red part is the modified content.Furthermore,we would like to show the details as follows：
1.There is clarity in the approach to the problem and the results that seek to achieve greater efficiency in wheat, soybean, maize, and paddy production, considering an innovative modeling strategy. Wich is useful for performing a quantitative analysis of the grain yield differentiation pattern in the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor (CMREC) region.
The author’s answer:
3.4 Analysis of the grain yield differentiation pattern
Based on the statistical analysis results of the measurement system, taking the potential development range of grain and cereal as an example, according to the natural breakpoint method, the potential development range of grain can be divided into fiver potential areas: lower potential area, lower potential area, general potential area, high potential area and higher potential area, as shown in Figure 3.
3.4.1 Overall analysis of potential spatial differentiation
In terms of provincial administrative unit, grain development potential areas are mainly distributed in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region,Heilongjiang Province ,et al. in China; Darkhan-Uul Province, Selangor Province, Sükhbaatar Province, and eastern Oriental Province ,et al. in Mongolia; Amur Oblast, Khabarovsk Krai,Irkutsk Oblast, Tyumen Oblast ,et al. in Russia. In terms of grain type, the distribution of wheat potential areas is the same as that of grain areas. The regions with great potential for soybean development are mainly Far East and Siberia in Russian and in China’s northeast, especially including Khabarovsk Krai, Tyumen Oblast, Zabaikalsky Krai, Sverdlovsk Oblast, and Amur Oblast. The regions with great potential for maize development are mainly distributed in eastern Mongolia, Russian Far East, and Siberia, including Dundgovi Province, Ömnögovi Province, Sükhbaatar Province, Oriental Province of Mongolia, and Khabarovsk Krai of Russia. The regions with great potential for paddy development are distributed in the Russian Far East, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and northeast of China, mainly in Jewish Autonomous Oblast and Primorsky Krai of Russian Far East, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and Liaoning and Jilin Provinces of China.
3.4.2 The higher potential area
In general, the higher potential area are mainly distributed near 50°N and south of accumulated temperature ≥2200℃, with good thermal conditions but poor water guarantee. The climate is relatively dry, with precipitation of approximately 500 mm and great inter-annual variation. The soil is dominated by black soil with high fertility and developed irrigation system. The combination of light, heat, water, and land conditions in this area is good, which is suitable for the growth of a variety of crops. Meanwhile, it is also the region with the largest distribution of high-yield fields in Russia and China (approximately 3.4 million hm2), which creates conditions for stable and high crop yields. This region is the main production area of wheat, rice, soybean, and corn, and the unused cultivated land area in this region is 2.4 million hm2.
3.4.3 The developing potential area
The developing potential areas are mainly located in the peripheral regions of the superior potential areas near the 45°N, including Irkutsk Oblast, Zabaikalsky Krai, Amur Oblast of Russia, Sükhbaatar Province, Oriental Province and eastern Khentii Province of Mongolia, and northeast China. Most of the region has a good hydrothermal soil combination. The heat condition is very good with accumulated temperatures between 1800℃ and 2200℃. The soil is fertile, but the water is not enough; the annual runoff is very small between 50 mm and 150 mm. Most regions have less precipitation (300–500 mm) with evapotranspiration in the range of 700–900 mm. Soil productivity potential is high, and this region is a concentrated wheat and corn production area [35]. The high-yield field covers an area of 5.6 million hm2, with the largest high-yield area distribution in Russia. It is suitable for developing irrigated agriculture with a variety of mesothermic and thermophilic crops. At present, the unused cultivated land area in this area is 490,000 hm2, which has great potential for agricultural development.
3.4.4 The general potential areas
The general potential areas are mostly located south of the Siberian Federal District and south of the Far Eastern Federal District on both sides of 55°N, and mainly include Moscow Oblast, Leningrad Oblast, Tver Oblast, Republic of Buryatia, central area of Zabaikalsky Krai, central area of Amur Oblast in Russia; Darkhan-Uul Province, Dundgovi Province, west of Khentii Province in Mongolia; and other regions. The terrain is flat and the plain area is large. The heat condition is insufficient in most areas with accumulated temperatures between 1800℃ and 2000℃. The region belongs to the cold zone and the crop growing period is short. Water condition is adequate, with abundant annual runoff (150–400 mm). The annual precipitation is 500–700 mm, the evaporation is weak (400–600 mm), and the annual precipitation is higher than the annual evaporation. The soil is podzolic soil with high acidity and low fertility. The combination of light, heat, and water is uncoordinated. The water condition is good, but the amount of light and heat are insufficient; the land condition is poor, and the productivity of agricultural resources is low. However, the regional range is large and the regional differences in the combination of natural conditions of the area are evident. Most of the soil potential in this area is between 0.45 and 0.6; approximately 7.5 million hm2 area constitutes wasteland that is suitable for agriculture, and 52×104 hm2 is high-yield field that has a certain potential for agricultural development.
3.4.5 Low potential area and lower potential area
Low potential area and lower potential area are located north of 55°N in Russia and south of 45°N in Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China, the Siberia Federal District, the north and south areas of Far East Federal District, Primorsky Krai, Khabarovsk Krai, northern Zabaikalsky Krai, and northern Amur Oblast of Russia; Ömnögovi Province and southwest of Dornogovi Province in Mongolia; and the west of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in China. In this area, the combination of light, heat, and water is not coordinated, the soil fertility is low, and the soil acidity is high. In most areas, the soil potential is below 0.4, making it is difficult to carry out agricultural development and designating it as the area with the lowest land potential.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
Dear authors,
I find your research very interesting. In the period of continuous change we are currently experiencing, it is essential to know the capacity of strategic areas to feed an ever-growing population. In order to do so, you establish a very accurate area of study and an appropriate methodology. However, there are some aspects that should be clarified in order to consider the publication of this article in this journal:
- The figures or maps included in the research are of such a low resolution that the legend is barely visible. It would be essential to improve their quality.
- Despite the fact that the article deals with a topic of particular relevance today, key geopolitical aspects have not been taken into account, such as the war that affects one of the study areas. It would be advisable to allude to this in the last section of the discussion and conclusion.
- The last paragraph of the paper includes small recommendations for supranational institutions. It would be interesting to expand and specify recommendations for policymakers.
Author Response
Thank you very much for your comments and professional advice.These opinions help to improve academic rigor of our artice.Based on your suggestion and request,we have made corrected modifications on the revised manuscript.Meanwhile,the manuscript had be reviewed and edited by language services of ELSEVIER.We hope that our work can be improve again.The red part is the modified content.Furthermore,we would like to show the details as follows：
1.The figures or maps included in the research are of such a low resolution that the legend is barely visible. It would be essential to improve their quality.
The author’s answer:
The maps are as follows, and has been uploaded to the system again.
Figure 1. Distribution map of range and soil production index in China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor
Figure 2. Distribution map of cultivated land in China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor.
2.Despite the fact that the article deals with a topic of particular relevance today, key geopolitical aspects have not been taken into account, such as the war that affects one of the study areas. It would be advisable to allude to this in the last section of the discussion and conclusion.
The author’s answer:
4.4. The CMREC Region should intensify existing production, and mitigat the immediate crisis, which plays an important role in promoting global food security.
The war in Ukraine and trade sanctions are triggering a level of volatility.The Ukraine–Russia war has directly impacted global wheat prices, trade sanctions is disrupting wheat markets on Russia,raising wheat futures at a near-linear rate to their highest levels since 2012. In March 2022, the wheat price alone rose by 19.7% ,the wheat price alone rose by 19.7%. Some of the most food-insecure countries are highly reliant on wheat imports from Russia and Ukraine, which is posing social and economic concerns for food security.Current dependence on wheat imports from Russia and Ukraine imperils food security in lower-income and middle-income countries in North Africa and the Middle East, the Mediterranean, sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and throughout Southeast Asia.
- The last paragraph of the paper includes small recommendations for supranational institutions. It would be interesting to expand and specify recommendations for policymakers.
The author’s answer:
With this in view, different organizations around the world should focus on grain crops with great potential, strengthen international cooperation in grain production such as soybean and corn, and focus on wheat and corn with great potential for production and development to easing the global supply crunch.In order to avoid monopoly and unilateral trade in the global food system,the CMREC Region shoud provides humanitarian assistance to Africa, South Asia and other food-shortage areas in the world, and promte the sustainable development of global food.Production of CMREC Region should be stimulated to meet demand ,intensifying existing production where there is capacity, production can be increased in traditional high-productivity wheat regions. Where wheat yields are generally high, direct economic incentives to expand wheat production which can contribute to access to grain ensured. This must mitigate near-term food security crises through increased production and demand-side interventions supported by appropriate policy incentives (such as price guarantees and subsidized agricultural inputs). Demand-side interventions that conserve grain stocks for human consumption and shift to lower-cost flour blends can also improve food insecurity in the short term.
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 3 Report
The issues contained in the article are very important and topical, if only due to the number of about 1 billion people starving in the world, or the prospect of population growth to 11 billion in 2100. Interesting methodology, but the results depend on the data used for these calculations. And here my doubts arise. Already in the summary, data on the production potential of cereals, which was estimated at 84 billion tons, and yet in the analyzed region, the production of cereals in the base period was 0.191 billion t (Table 1). In addition, the cereal yield data for Russia (2150.06 104 t/ 4359.45 104 hm2 = 0.493 t/hm2, are not 0.844 t/hm2) and Mongolia (33.65 104 t/ 30.19 104 hm2 = 1.115 t/hm2, are not 0.620 t/hm2) raise my doubts. What is Paddy (rice?).
Author Response
We thank the reviewer for pointing this out. We have fixed the error. This observation is correct. The new sentence reads as follows:
In terms of production potential, grain and cereals in the whole region amounted to 8.45×108 t , (4.25×108 t in Russia, 4.02 ×108 t in China, and 0.12×108 t in Mongolia).
The per unit area yield of grain should be 0.493.20 t/hm2 in Russian part. 0.844 t/hm2 is collected from the 2019 National Statistical Yearbooks of Russia,and is the average value of grain production throughout Russia.
The per unit area yield of grain should be 1.115 t/hm2 in Mongolia part. 0.620 t/hm2 is collected from the 2019 National Statistical Yearbooks of Mongolia,and is the average value of grain production throughout Mongolia.
Paddy is rice.The results referenced in secondary literature.
We would like to thank the referee again for taking the time to review our manuscript.
Thank you very much for your attention and time.Look forward to hearing from you.
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 3 Report
Accept in current form.
