Search Results (12)

The protection of cultivated land is related to food security and sustainable agricultural development. Improving agricultural planting efficiency and reducing chemical inputs are important to promoting sustainability and protecting cultivated land, and agricultural mechanization plays an important role in this process. Based on the survey data of 2118 households in 10 provinces of China, we used the Oprobit and IV-Oprobit models to analyze the impact and mechanism of agricultural mechanization on the behaviors of farmers in achieving sustainability and protecting cultivated land. The results show that agricultural mechanization has a significant promotion effect on the behaviors of farmers, especially in motivating them to adopt higher levels of protective behaviors in terms of sustainable land cultivation. At the same time, the impacts of agricultural mechanization on the different production links were different. The promotion effect of the harvesting link on the sustainability protection behaviors of farmers was the most obvious, and the promotion effects of the tillage and sowing links were the least obvious. In addition, planting income and fertilizer input played a role in mediating between mechanization and cultivated land sustainability protection. Further analysis showed that agricultural mechanization can more effectively motivate farmers with full-time businesses or higher land concentrations to prioritize cultivated land sustainability. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the role of agricultural mechanization in promoting sustainability, protecting cultivated land, and promoting innovative green agricultural machinery. Via mechanization, we can increase the incomes of farmers, reduce excessive fertilizer use, and specifically target full-time farmers engaged in agricultural production and key aspects of land sustainability protection to promote the construction of better agricultural machinery systems, as well as agricultural machinery research and innovation, thereby fully leveraging the ecological protection effects of agricultural mechanization. Full article

Soil compaction is one of the most important and readily mitigated threats to soil health. Digital Soil Mapping (DSM) has emerged as an efficient method to provide broad-scale maps by combining soil information with environmental covariates. Until now, soil information input to DSM has been mainly composed of point-based quantitative measurements of soil properties and/or of soil type/horizon classes derived from laboratory analysis, point observations, or soil maps. In this study, we used field estimates of soil compaction to map soil behavior to compaction at a national scale. The results from a previous study enabled clustering of six different behaviors using the in situ field observations. Mapping potential responses to soil compaction is an effective land management tool for preventing future compaction. Random forest was used to make spatial predictions of soil behavior to compaction over cultivated soils of mainland France (about 210,000 km²). Modeling was performed at 90 m resolution. The map enabled us to spatially identify clusters of possible responses to compaction. Most clusters were consistent with known geographic distributions of some soil types and properties. This consistency was checked by comparing maps with both national and local-scale external sources of soil information. The best spatial predictors were available digital maps of soil properties (clay, silt, sand, organic carbon (SOC) content, and pH), some indicators of soil structural quality using SOC and clay content, and environmental covariates (T °C and relief-related covariates). Predicted maps were interpretable to support management recommendations to mitigate soil compactness at the soil–scape scale. Simple observational field data that are usually collected by soil surveyors, then stored and available in soil databases, provide valuable input data for digital mapping of soil behavior to compaction and assessment of inherent soil sensitivity to compaction. Full article

Featuring complex and fractured terrain, the Loess hilly and gully regions suffer poor grain production capacity. The behavior of farmers, the major users of agricultural production space, significantly influences the agricultural production space. Hence, it is essential to explore the evolution rules of the agricultural production space under the influence of farmer behavior and reveal the influencing mechanism of agricultural production space change, which will facilitate the promotion of ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin. Relying on six-stage remote sensing images of the Yanhe River Basin from 1995 to 2018, this study utilized a land use dynamic index, transfer matrix and landscape pattern index to analyze the spatial pattern evolution of agricultural production in the Yanhe River Basin. Furthermore, the geographic detector model was applied to quantitatively analyze the influencing factors of the spatial pattern evolution of agricultural production. The results demonstrated the following: (1) From 1995 to 2018, the overall area of cultivated land in the Yanhe River Basin decreased by 927.02 km², with a change degree of 21.07%. The spatial structure of agricultural production changed, mainly transferring the cultivated land to woodland and grassland. (2) The spatial form of agricultural production has changed from fragmentation to regularity, and the complexity of the production space shows a trend of first increasing and then decreasing. (3) The evolution of the spatial pattern of agricultural production was affected by multiple factors of farmer behavior, where significant interactive enhancement effects existed. Specifically, labor input was the dominant factor affecting the overall scale of the production space, with an influence value of 0.202; fertilization input and cultivated land transfer were the key factors affecting the spatial distribution of production, with influence values of 0.264 and 0.242, respectively; income level and social interaction were the base factors affecting the spatial form of production, with influence values of 0.558 and 0.438, respectively. The research results provide scientific support for the improvement of agricultural production quality and the spatial evolution mechanism of agricultural production in the Yanhe River Basin. Full article

Analyzing cultivated land input behavior (CLIB) at the scale of rural households links with cultivated land-use efficiency (CLUE), this study examined the Yimeng Mountain area in northern China, supported by field survey data from 737 rural households. This research systematically analyzed the characteristics of CLIB of different types of rural households, measured the CLUE of different types of rural households by using a data envelopment analysis (DEA) model, and explored the influence of CLIB on CLUE based on the Tobit regression model. The results show (1) significant differences in the characteristics of the CLIB of different types of rural households in the Yimeng Mountain area. Among them, the highest land, labor, and capital inputs were I part-time rural households (I PTRH), followed by full-time rural households (FTRH). In contrast, II part-time rural households (II PTRH) and non-agricultural rural households (NARH) had higher levels of non-agricultural employment; however, their input levels gradually declined. (2) The CLUE of the sample rural households was generally low and had considerable potential for improvement. Regarding the types of rural households, as the degree of part-time employment increased, the CLUE showed an inverted U-shaped trend of first increased and then decreased, namely, I PTRH > FTRH > II PTRH > NARH. This finding indicates that appropriate part-time employment could help to promote investment in agricultural production and improve the CLUE. (3) The CLIB of rural households had significant effects on CLUE; the literacy of the agricultural labor force, yield-increasing input per unit area, per capita household income, share of agricultural income, operation scale of cultivated land, effective irrigation rate of cultivated land, and soil and water conservation rate of cultivated land had positive effects on improving CLUE. Even so, there was still significant heterogeneity in the degree of influence of different rural household types. The study concluded with some policy recommendations from the perspective of different rural household types to provide references for optimizing farming inputs and improving CLUE. Full article

Family farms are the “most-desirable”; new-style agricultural production and management entities in China at this stage, as well as their production behaviors, play an important role in achieving sustainability in agricultural development. The scientific evaluation of family farm management efficiency and the identification of an effective path to the high efficiency of family farms with different resource endowments are critical for family farms to transform from quantitative growth to qualitative improvement and develop in a sustainable and healthy way. Based on the data from a rural fixed observation point of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, this study randomly selected representatives from 532 family farms from 27 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions in China as research objects; calculated their total factor productivity based on the DEA model; and employed the Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) method to identify the configuration models for a high total factor productivity, which combines the factors of land investment, capital investment, labor investment, education level of farm leaders, land transfer years, the introduction of new technology and new equipment, and financial support. It is found that the average efficiency of family farms in China is not high yet, and both the pure technical efficiency and scale efficiency have great room for improvement. The efficiency of family farms is not determined by one single condition, but by the combinations of multiple factors. The introduction of new technology and new equipment, long land transfer period, high input of production and labor, and financial support are the driving forces to improve the efficiency of family farms. This demonstrates that although the current family farms are still in the cultivation stage of capital and labor-intensive investment, they do not mainly rely on traditional agricultural productions such as labor to achieve high efficiency. The managerial implications are as follows. First, the strategy of intensive and efficient management instead of the blind expansion of land scale should be considered, the full play to the role of family labor while controlling the scale of employees is highly suggested. Second, attention should be paid to the accumulation of the human capital of family farm practitioners, which implies that more highly educated people for family farm management, as well as high-technical-skilled farm operators, should be employed. Third, it is necessary to create a good institutional environment for the development of family farms and to increase financial support such as credit loans for family farms. Full article

The behavior of farming households is the most direct factor involved in the transition of cultivated land utilization from high-input/high-output to green and sustainable utilization mode. Improving farming households’ green utilization efficiency of cultivated land (GUECL) is of great significance in facilitating agricultural green development in China. However, there are few studies on GUECL based on the micro-perspective of farming households that cover the comprehensive benefits to the economy, ecology, and society. This paper builds a theoretical analysis framework of farming households’ green utilization of cultivated land and uses the super-efficiency EBM model and a questionnaire to conduct an empirical analysis of 952 farming households in Shandong Province to evaluate the green utilization efficiency of cultivated land. The results show that the GUECL of the farming households is generally not high, with an average value of 0.67, and can be further improved. The higher the GUECL, the lower the input and undesired output per unit yield and per unit output value. Tobit regression results show that a farming household’s per capita income is significantly positively correlated with the GUECL, while agricultural insurance, agricultural subsidies, cultivated land scale, cultivated land fragmentation, and regional economic level are significantly negatively correlated with the GUECL. In addition, recommendations can be made on promoting and innovating agricultural green development technology, popularizing and publicizing farming households’ thoughts on the green utilization of cultivated land, and ensuring and improving rural green life so as to provide a reference for promoting green transition of cultivated land utilization with diversified coordination and multiple measures. Full article

The development of green agriculture is an effective way to realize the sustainable development of agriculture, which is of great significance for guaranteeing national food security, improving the supply ability of agricultural products, promoting the healthy development of cultivated land, and realizing green development. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China has proposed the establishment of a green-development-oriented agricultural support system, which intends to reverse the worsening of the agricultural ecological environment; however, in 2019, the input of agricultural chemical fertilizer still exceeded the international limit of the safe application of chemical fertilizer. In recent years, agriculture has surpassed industry to become the largest non-point source pollution industry in China, seriously affecting the rural ecological civilization construction and the advancement of green sustainable development coordinated. To analyze the key factors affecting the development of green agriculture, in this study, logistic binary regression analysis was used to measure the main factors affecting farmers’ green agricultural production willingness and green agricultural production behavior. The results show that a farmer’s age, land type, compensation for land transfer, technical service organization, related training, and economic and technological subsidies had significant effects on their green agricultural production willingness. The age of farmers, number of staff, risk of green agricultural production technology, technical service organization, and economic and technological subsidies were shown to have significant effects on the green agricultural production behavior of farmers, where the different factors influenced the behavior to different degrees. Based on the above findings, it is suggested that the Chinese government should help farmers to carry out agricultural green transformation through technical training, policy popularization, economic subsidies, and educational support. Full article

Since the reform and opening up, a large proportion of the Chinese rural labor force has transferred to urban and non-agricultural industries. Rural labor transfer not only changes the allocation of household labor in agricultural and non-agricultural sectors but also affects the utilization of other agricultural production factors. Based on data from 818 households in three counties in northern Jiangsu province, this paper analyzed the impact of labor migration on farmers’ adoption of cultivated land quality protection (CLQP) behaviors. The survey results showed that farmers’ awareness of CLQP was still very weak, and the proportion of farmers adopting measures such as subsoiling, straw application, cover crops and green manures and the complementary use of organic fertilizers was still relatively low. The empirical results showed that perennial out-migration for work can constrain households’ protective inputs into soil conservation, but part-time farming locally can promote households’ inputs. The results also showed that farmer characteristics, farming conditions and external environment also significantly affected the farmers’ adoption of soil conservation practices. According to these conclusions, this paper puts forward the corresponding policy implications. Full article

During the last 40 years, China has undergone rapid urbanization which has resulted in land degradation and a decrease in land. Cultivated land protection has thus become one of the most active and important aspects of land science. This study presents a pressure-response-impact (PRI) framework which may reveal the inter-correlations among households’ land-use behavior and cultivated land quality change in the process of rapid urbanization in China. The structural equation model (SEM) has been applied using a household survey dataset collected in 2015 in Sujiatun district, Shenyang city, Liaoning province. The results show that: (1) there is a complex causal relationship between the latent variables urbanization, household land-use behavior and cultivated land quality (i.e., urbanization → land-use behavior → land quality), which supports our PRI conceptual framework; (2) the changes of external social-economic context stemming from urbanization are the major cause of land-use behavior variance; (3) land quality is mostly affected by farmers’ land-use behavior including land-use pattern, land-use degree and land-input intensity, in particular the growing of cash crops (GCC, associated with land use pattern) and capital input per unit of farmland (LII, associated with land input intensity). These findings are of some theoretical and practical significance. Theoretically, they add to the current literature by identifying the roles of sociological factors and farmers’ land-use behavior in the process of land quality protection using a PRI framework. Practically, measures should be taken to reasonably set the prices of agricultural products, promote the development of the land rental market and increase the comparative revenue of agricultural production, so as to stimulate incentives to farming and land quality protection. Full article

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impacts of farmers’ cognition of cultivated land quality protection (CLQP) on their behavioral response to land use practices. To this end, this paper establishes a theoretical framework linking farmers’ cognition (on CLQP status, policies and patterns) to their behavioral response (choices of farming methods, land inputs and agricultural waste disposal methods). A field survey was conducted in suburban areas in Liaoning province, Northeast China. A total of 240 households were selected using stratified random sampling. Results show that: (i) in regards to household cognition on CLQP, although a majority of households agree that CLQP is important and have a strong willingness to protect cultivated land quality, their cognition on the future prospect of CLQP is not optimistic; (ii) with regard to household responses to land use practices, a number of households have realized the importance of crop rotation, however, the use of chemical fertilizers is mostly based on past experience and is often excessive. Besides, the disposal of agricultural waste is inappropriate; (iii) household cognition on CLQP policies is found to be the most powerful factor that could lead to an improvement of CLQP practices. It is thus concluded that the government should help households adopt effective farming methods which are environmentally-friendly and sustainable by enhancing publicity of CLQP policies and strengthening farmers’ confidence in CLQP. Full article

Agrarian property regimes interact with relevant property stakeholders’ behaviors and benefits, playing a vital role in national and regional cultivated land use. In China, state and collective agrarian property regimes are the two main forms of cultivated land use. To help fully realize the multi-objectives of cultivated land use benefits provided by agrarian property regimes, our study investigated the relationship between agrarian property regimes and cultivated land use. This paper describes the role of a cultivated land use system in facilitating the relationship between agrarian property regimes and cultivated land use from a geographical perspective. Understanding the cultivated land use system is the foundation for comparatively analyzing differences in the cultivated land use benefits in two adjacent areas, a state-owned regime and a collective regime, in the city of Fujin, China, through a comprehensive evaluation. We found the following results: (1) The arrangement of agrarian property rights directly reflects capital, material and technology inputs by motivating agricultural labors to obtain different economic benefits; (2) The state agrarian property regime reflects top-down agricultural management while the collective agrarian property regime reflects bottom-up agricultural management in China. The different agricultural managements influence planting structure and land use planning, resulting in different ecological benefits; (3) Labor division and social insurance are the main drivers of different social benefits from the two regimes. Examining cultivated land use benefits provides a new comparative perspective for studying agrarian property regimes. The results show that cultivated land use benefits from collective and state agrarian property regimes are different. These findings clarify that, incentivized by the different types of agrarian property ownerships represented by collectively and state-owned regimes, local governments and organizations aim to achieve the multi-objective cultivated land use benefit goal of Chinese agricultural development, including economic, ecological and social benefits. With China’s goal of conducting moderate agricultural reform in its agrarian property regime, verification of rural collective land rights is an effective form of asset management in collective areas in China, while deepening land tenure and usufruct is an important priority in state-owned regimes. Furthermore, to make full use of agricultural resources, it is necessary to have a close collaboration between the collective agrarian property regime and the state agrarian property regime. Full article

The triangle method has been applied to derive a weekly indicator of evaporative fraction on vegetated areas in a temperate region in Northern Italy. Daily MODIS Aqua Land Surface Temperature (MYD11A1) data has been combined with air temperature maps and 8-day composite MODIS NDVI (MOD13Q1/MYD13Q1) data to estimate the Evaporative Fraction (EF) at 1 km resolution, on a daily basis. Measurements at two eddy covariance towers located within the study area have been exploited to assess the reliability of satellite based EF estimations as well as the robustness of input data. Weekly syntheses of the daily EF indicator (EF_w) were then derived at regional scale for the years 2010, 2011 and 2012 as a proxy of overall surface moisture condition. EF_w showed a temporal behavior consistent with growing cycles and agro-practices of the main crops cultivated in the study area (rice, forages and corn). Comparison with official regional corn yield data showed that variations in EF_w cumulated over summer are related with crop production shortages induced by water scarcity. These results suggest that weekly-averaged EF estimated from MODIS data is sensible to water stress conditions and can be used as an indicator of crops’ moisture conditions at agronomical district level. Advantages and disadvantages of the proposed approach to provide information useful to issue operational near real time bulletins on crop conditions at regional scale are discussed. Full article