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Coupling and Coordinated Development of Land Use, Ecological Environment, and Sustainable Food Production

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (23 November 2023) | Viewed by 8624

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Xianhui Hou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China
Interests: sustainable agriculture; land use; policy evaluation
Dr. Liguo Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Natural Resources and Surveying, Nanning Normal University, Nanning 530001, China
Interests: land use and environmental governance

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Since the SDGs were put forward, land use and sustainable agricultural development have been the focus of our attention, especially in the context of continued population growth and accelerated resource consumption. Thus, land use, ecological environment, and food production have been three important academic fields in the past two decades. Previous studies have provided many important policy recommendations for relevant policy formulation and made important contributions to the sustainable development of mankind.

In fact, land use, ecological environment and food production are three important aspects of agricultural development. As a typical ecological economic system, the sustainable development of agriculture must take ecological protection and food production into consideration, as well as the rational use of land resources. In recent years, we have seen the growth of land use eco-efficiency, ecosystem service value, and agricultural biodiversity, an increased awareness of environmental issues of land use, and changes in people’s attitude and behavior with regard to food safety. However, few studies have systematically considered the relationship between land use, ecological environment, and sustainable food production. This is not conducive to the realization of multiple goals.

This Special Issue aims to collect theoretical and empirical contributions in the areas of land use, ecological environment, and sustainable food production. This will provide us with a more comprehensive perspective to better understand agricultural transformation and development to create value for society and stakeholders including farmers, government institutions, and consumers.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Xianhui Hou
Dr. Liguo Zhang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainable agriculture
  • governance system
  • policy evaluation
  • eco-efficiency
  • agricultural pollution
  • land use
  • land degradation
  • farmland transfer
  • low-carbon agriculture
  • food security
  • agricultural biodiversity

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 20643 KiB  
Article
Coordination Analysis of Sustainable Agricultural Development in Northeast China from the Perspective of Spatiotemporal Relationships
by Guang Yang, Hua Yan and Quanfeng Li
Sustainability 2023, 15(23), 16354; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152316354 - 28 Nov 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1617
Abstract
The coordination of sustainable agricultural development is essential for optimizing agricultural policies and ensuring food security. However, only a few studies have examined the temporal and spatial aspects of the coordination of sustainable agricultural development systems in Northeast China. This study proposed a [...] Read more.
The coordination of sustainable agricultural development is essential for optimizing agricultural policies and ensuring food security. However, only a few studies have examined the temporal and spatial aspects of the coordination of sustainable agricultural development systems in Northeast China. This study proposed a theoretical framework based on the dissipative structure theory, which suggests that the coordination among the four subsystems of economy, society, resources, and technology plays a crucial role in determining the level of sustainable agricultural development in Northeast China (SADINC). Then, the present study took socioeconomic statistical data as data sources and integrated administrative division data using the ArcGIS platform, forming spatial data for municipal-level units of SADINC from 2000 to 2020. The entropy weight method was applied to analyze the change in sustainable agricultural development, while the coordination degree model was used to analyze the coordination among different subsystems. The main results showed a general increase in the index of SADINC. The central part of the study area generally exhibits higher urban economic and resource indices, while the southern region exhibits higher urban social and technological indices. The average coordination degree of SADINC decreased from 1.736 to 1.639, representing a decline of 0.097. Moreover, the spatial polarization in most cities’ coordination degrees and subsystem indicators is not pronounced. However, there are characteristics of high-high agglomeration and low-low agglomeration. The high-high aggregation of the coordination degree shows a dispersal pattern from the large-scale agglomeration in the south-east to the central part. The distribution of low-low agglomeration transforms from large-scale agglomeration in the west to small-scale agglomeration in the northeast. The implementation of agricultural policies has dramatically impacted the increase in the index of each subsystem in Northeast China from 2000 to 2022. However, it is crucial to ensure coordination among the subsystems. Therefore, future policies should focus on strengthening the coordination among the economic, social, resource, and technology subsystems to achieve sustainable agricultural development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coupling and Coordinated Development of Land Use, Ecological Environment, and Sustainable Food Production)
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28 pages, 9237 KiB  
Article
Study on the Crop Suitability and Planting Structure Optimization in Typical Grain Production Areas under the Influence of Human Activities and Climate Change: A Case Study of the Naoli River Basin in Northeast China
by Jian Yin and Danqi Wei
Sustainability 2023, 15(22), 16090; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152216090 - 19 Nov 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2929
Abstract
Optimizing crop planting structures under the influence of climate change and human activities is crucial for sustainable food production and global food security. Taking the Naoli River Basin in Northeast China as a case area, a machine learning model based on maximum entropy [...] Read more.
Optimizing crop planting structures under the influence of climate change and human activities is crucial for sustainable food production and global food security. Taking the Naoli River Basin in Northeast China as a case area, a machine learning model based on maximum entropy was used to explore the suitability distribution of crops under the influence of both environmental factors and human activities. The optimized planting structure strategies were tested in combination with future climate change. The results show that considering human activities can more accurately simulate crop suitability than considering only natural environmental factors. The suitable planting areas for maize, rice, and soybeans are 18,553.54 km2, 10,335.98 km2, and 5844.80 km2, respectively. Highly adapted areas for major crops are concentrated in the plain areas of the middle reaches of the river basin, rather than in populated areas, and there are overlaps among the suitable planting areas for each crop. The optimal crop distribution for the planting structure is to plant rice in the hydrophilic areas of the plain hinterland, soybeans in the plain hinterland farther from the water source, and corn in the peripheral plains and gently sloping mountainous areas. Human activities exerted a strong influence on the potential scatter of soybeans, while climate change had the most significant implications for maize. Future climate change may reduce the area of suitable crop zones, posing challenges to regional food production. It is necessary to reflect on how to rationally balance soil and water resources, as well as how to cope with climate change in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coupling and Coordinated Development of Land Use, Ecological Environment, and Sustainable Food Production)
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19 pages, 6252 KiB  
Article
Coupling RESI with Multi-Scenario LULC Simulation and Spatiotemporal Variability Analysis: An Ecological Spatial Constraint Approach
by Qin Jiang, Zhengtao Shi, Qiaoling Liang, Guangxiong He, Lei Zhao and Li He
Sustainability 2023, 15(22), 15757; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152215757 - 8 Nov 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1177
Abstract
Southwest China’s arid river valleys represent ecologically vulnerable areas with intense human activity. Understanding the historical changes in LULC and land cover and projecting the impacts of various development scenarios on future LULC have become crucial for regional spatial information management and territorial [...] Read more.
Southwest China’s arid river valleys represent ecologically vulnerable areas with intense human activity. Understanding the historical changes in LULC and land cover and projecting the impacts of various development scenarios on future LULC have become crucial for regional spatial information management and territorial spatial planning. This research analyzes the land-use changes in the Yuanmou dry-hot valley over a 30-year span from 1990 to 2020. Building upon the PLUS model, we established a coupled habitat quality spatial and multi-scenario land-use simulation model. Four development scenarios were proposed: natural progression, economic development, ecological conservation, and balanced development. We conducted simulations and evaluations of land-use in the Yuanmou dry-hot valley for 2030 using the PLUS mode, assessing the sustainability of future development scenarios under varying ecological constraints. During the simulation, three distinct RESI regions were employed as restricted development zones, integrating the three ecological constraints with the four simulation scenarios. We introduced a novel approach based on ecological environmental quality as the ecological constraint, providing a scientific reference for sustainable development in ecologically vulnerable areas. The results indicate that under ecological conservation scenarios with high-to-low RESI constraints, the ecological environment is superior to the other three scenarios. The results show the following: (1) From 1990 to 2020, aside from a continuous decrease in grassland area, there was an increasing trend in the areas of water bodies, forests, croplands, construction lands, and unused lands in the Yuanmou dry-hot valley. (2) By 2030, under all four development scenarios, the cropland area is expected to expand rapidly, while forested areas will decrease; grassland areas will decline under natural and economic development scenarios but show opposite trends under the other scenarios; and construction land and unused land areas will decrease under the ecological conservation and balanced development scenarios. (3) Land-use intensity analysis for the four scenarios indicated that, by 2030, unused lands in the Yuanmou dry-hot valley are more likely to be converted into water bodies, forests are more likely to be converted into croplands and grasslands, grasslands are more likely to be converted into croplands, croplands are more likely to be converted into grasslands, and construction lands are more likely to become unused lands. (4) Sustainable LULC management evaluations based on landscape indices reveal that ecological conservation and balanced development scenarios exhibit superior landscape connectivity and clustering. Thus, the balanced development scenario is the most appropriate LULC strategy for the Yuanmou dry-hot valley in the future. These findings provide scientific references for balancing ecological conservation and economic development in the arid river valleys of Southwest China. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coupling and Coordinated Development of Land Use, Ecological Environment, and Sustainable Food Production)
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37 pages, 1282 KiB  
Article
Will the Cows and Chickens Come Home? Perspectives of Australian and Brazilian Beef and Poultry Farmers towards Diversification
by Diana Bogueva, Maria Marques, Carla Forte Maiolino Molento, Dora Marinova and Clive J. C. Phillips
Sustainability 2023, 15(16), 12380; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151612380 - 15 Aug 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2282
Abstract
Farmers across the world face criticism on environmental and animal welfare concerns, as well as are increasingly being affected by climate change. We explored the willingness of cattle and poultry producers in Australia and Brazil to consider alternative enterprises and diversification of their [...] Read more.
Farmers across the world face criticism on environmental and animal welfare concerns, as well as are increasingly being affected by climate change. We explored the willingness of cattle and poultry producers in Australia and Brazil to consider alternative enterprises and diversification of their businesses. Twenty-seven farmers, 14 from Australia and 13 from Brazil, current or former beef or poultry producers, were interviewed to explore their perspectives about making such changes. The interviews were qualitatively analysed using Atlas.ti to generate key insights. Although the farmers were actively interested or had engaged in alternative enterprises, they recognised these presented a less certain future if they had been previously contracted to large companies. Some were critical of their respective governments and former contract companies for lack of assistance in finding suitable alternative enterprises. Farmers showed inconsistent recognition of the current challenges of animal production in relation to climate change. Our results indicate that most farmers are open to diversifying, but they face many challenges that have serious connotations. Public policies, knowledge transfer and a secure demand for alternative products emerged as major influential factors for Australian and Brazilian farmers in a fast and just transition from meat cattle and chicken raising to alternative activities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Coupling and Coordinated Development of Land Use, Ecological Environment, and Sustainable Food Production)
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