Search Results (259)

Archaeological sites located on the edge of growing cities often struggle to reconcile heritage protection with rapid development. To understand this tension, we examined a 50.83 km² zone around the Western Han Imperial Mausoleums in the Qin-Han New District. Using Landsat images from 1992, 2002, 2012, and 2022, this study applied supervised classification, land-use transfer matrices, and dynamic-degree analysis to trace three decades of land-use change. From 1992 to 2022, built-up land expanded by 29.85 percentage points, largely replacing farmland, which shrank by 35.64 percentage points and became fragmented. Forest cover gained a modest 5.78 percentage points and migrated eastward toward the mausoleums. Overall, urban growth followed a “spread–integrate–connect” pattern along major roads. This study interprets these trends through five interrelated drivers, including policy, planning, economy, population, and heritage protection, and proposes an integrated management model. The model links archaeological pre-assessment with land-use compatibility zoning and active community participation. Together, these measures offer a practical roadmap for balancing conservation and sustainable land management at imperial burial complexes and similar urban fringe heritage sites. Full article

This study examines Poland’s agricultural land market between 2009 and 2023 through fixed effects and spatial econometric models, highlighting economic and spatial determinants of land prices. Key results show that GDP per capita strongly increases land values (β = +0.699, p < 0.001), while agricultural gross value added (–2.698, p = 0.009), soil quality (–6.241, p < 0.001), and land turnover (–0.395, p < 0.001) are associated with lower prices. Spatial dependence is confirmed (λ = 0.74), revealing strong regional spillovers. The volume of state-owned WRSP land sales declined from 37.4 thousand hectares in 2015 to 3.1 thousand hectares in 2023, while non-market transfers, such as donations, exceeded 49,000 annually. Although these trends support farmland protection and family farms, they also reduce market mobility and hinder generational renewal. The findings call for more flexible, sustainability-oriented land governance that combines ecological performance, regional equity, and improved access for young farmers. Full article

Investigating soil temperature and the heat transfer process is essential for understanding water–heat changes and energy balance in farmland. The conversion from upland fields (UFs) to paddy fields (PFs) alters the land cover, irrigation regimes, and soil properties, leading to differences in soil temperature, thermal properties, and heat fluxes. Our study aimed to quantify the effects of converting UFs to PFs on soil temperature and heat transfer processes, and to elucidate its underlying mechanisms. A long-term cultivated UF and a newly developed PF (converted from a UF in May 2015) were selected for this study. Soil water content (SWC) and temperature were monitored hourly over two years (June 2017 to June 2019) in five soil horizons (i.e., 10, 20, 40, 60, and 90 cm) at both fields. The mean soil temperature differences between the UF and PF at each depth on the annual scale varied from −0.1 to 0.4 °C, while they fluctuated more significantly on the seasonal (−0.9~1.8 °C), monthly (−1.5~2.5 °C), daily (−5.6~4.9 °C), and hourly (−7.3~11.3 °C) scales. The SWC in the PF was significantly higher than that in the UF, primarily due to differences in tillage practices, which resulted in a narrower range of soil temperature variation in the PF. Additionally, the SWC and soil physicochemical properties significantly altered the soil’s thermal properties. Compared with the UF, the volumetric heat capacity (C_s) at the depths of 10, 20, 40, 60, and 90 cm in the PF changed by 8.6%, 19.0%, 5.5%, −4.3%, and −2.9%, respectively. Meanwhile, the thermal conductivity (λ_θ) increased by 1.5%, 18.3%, 19.0%, 9.0%, and 25.6%, respectively. Moreover, after conversion from the UF to the PF, the heat transfer direction changed from downward to upward in the 10–20 cm soil layer, resulting in a 42.9% reduction in the annual average soil heat flux (G). Furthermore, the differences in G between the UF and PF were most significant in the summer (101.9%) and most minor in the winter (12.2%), respectively. The conversion of the UF to the PF increased the C_s and λ_θ, ultimately reducing the range of soil temperature variation and changing the direction of heat transfer, which led to more heat release from the soil. This study reveals the effects of farmland use type conversion on regional land surface energy balance, providing theoretical underpinnings for optimizing agricultural ecosystem management. Full article

Large-scale inter-basin water transfer is an important means to alleviate the pressure on water resources in water shortage regions. However, the long-term impacts of inter-basin transfers on the regional water–salt balance and associated land productivity remain poorly understood, especially in salt-affected arid environments. To fill this gap, the core objective of this study was to reveal the implications of inter-basin water transfer on soil salinity and sodicity and the crop yield response under different irrigation practices. We conducted a case study on the Karamay irrigation district (KID), an artificial oasis with a 30-year history of inter-basin water transfer in northwestern China, using trend and correlation analyses, water–salt balance analyses, and salt-controlled yield reduction functions as well as field comprehensive measurements over 1996–2023. The results indicate that soil salinity and sodicity profiles, overall, exhibited a clear vertical stratification under both the early and late crop growing stages, and the degree of the soil salinization was decreasing, and the area of non-saline land was increasing significantly from 1996 to 2023 in the KID. Owing to the lack of salt-washing water and the poor irrigation water quality, the water-saving irrigated farmland was in the slight salt-aggregating state in the topsoil layer, while the other soil layers were in the salt-expelling or salt-equilibrating state in the KID. The profile distribution and exchange fluxes of soil salinity and sodicity are mainly characterized by climate, irrigation, and groundwater dynamics, as well as the plant salt tolerance, soil properties, and agronomic management which also influence the soil salt accumulation. With the transformation of irrigation schemes from traditional flood irrigation to modern water-saving irrigation during 1996–2023, the impact of soil salinity on relative crop yields has been substantially reduced in the KID, especially for salt-sensitive crops. This revealed that optimizing the drainage facilities, precise field irrigation and fertilization measures, and rational crop selection and agronomic practices are vital for high-quality development in the KID. Capitalizing on these research findings, we would provide effective directives for maintaining the sustainability of agricultural development in other similar inter-basin water transfer zones in the world. Full article

To address the issues of high computational complexity and boundary feature loss encountered when extracting farmland information from high-resolution remote sensing images, this study proposes an innovative CNN–Transformer hybrid network, MAMNet. This framework integrates a lightweight encoder, a global–local Transformer decoder, and a bidirectional attention architecture to achieve efficient and accurate farmland information extraction. First, we reconstruct the ResNet-18 backbone network using deep separable convolutions, reducing computational complexity while preserving feature representation capabilities. Second, the global–local Transformer block (GLTB) decoder uses multi-head self-attention mechanisms to dynamically fuse multi-scale features across layers, effectively restoring the topological structure of fragmented farmland boundaries. Third, we propose a novel bidirectional attention architecture: the Detail Improvement Module (DIM) uses channel attention to transfer semantic features to geometric features. The Context Enhancement Module (CEM) utilizes spatial attention to achieve dynamic geometric–semantic fusion, quantitatively distinguishing farmland textures from mixed ground cover. The positional attention mechanism (PAM) enhances the continuity of linear features by strengthening spatial correlations in jump connections. By cascading front-end feature module (FEM) to expand the receptive field and combining an adaptive feature reconstruction head (FRH), this method improves information integrity in fragmented areas. Evaluation results on the 2022 high-resolution two-channel image dataset from Chenggong District, Kunming City, demonstrate that MAMNet achieves an mIoU of 86.68% (an improvement of 1.66% and 2.44% over UNetFormer and BANet, respectively) and an F1-Score of 92.86% with only 12 million parameters. This method provides new technical insights for plot-level farmland monitoring in precision agriculture. Full article

China’s ongoing urbanization, expanding land transfer, has reshaped rural land use and generational consumption patterns. Using three waves of China Family Panel Studies data, this study applies a two-way fixed effect model to examine the impact of farmland transfer-out on generational consumption structure and explores the mediating role of household income, the moderating role of non-agricultural income share, and regional and income heterogeneity. Findings show the following: (1) Farmland transfer-out significantly increases subsistence, developmental, and hedonic consumption among middle-aged and young farmers, with the greatest rise in hedonic consumption. For elderly farmers, only subsistence consumption increases, and to a lesser extent. (2) Among middle-aged and young farmers, transfer-out raises household income, boosting all consumption types; a higher share of non-farm income further strengthens subsistence and hedonic consumption. For elderly farmers, while income increases, a higher non-farm income share weakens the income effect on subsistence consumption. (3) Regionally, land transfer-out significantly boosts subsistence and hedonic consumption in the eastern region for younger farmers, and all three types—especially subsistence—in the central and western regions. Elderly farmers in the east also see a rise in subsistence consumption. (4) An income heterogeneity analysis shows stronger effects for low-income younger farmers and high-income elderly farmers. Based on these findings, this study proposes targeted policies to promote farmland transfer-out, offering insights for optimizing land use and enhancing rural consumption, with implications for other countries’ land management. Full article

The ecological efficiency of cultivated land utilization is closely related to food security and the sustainable development of agriculture. As an important actor in the utilization of cultivated land, the transfer of labor to non-agricultural sectors and its impact on ecological efficiency remain underexplored. Taking China as an example, this study employs push–pull theory, technology factor substitution theory, and land scale economy theory to explore the motivations and mechanisms of non-agricultural labor transfer. An empirical analysis was conducted using provincial panel data from 2011 to 2023. The research methods include the super-efficiency SBM model, fixed effect model, mediating effect model, and threshold effect model. The results are as follows: (1) Non-agricultural labor transfer promotes improvements in the ecological efficiency of cultivated land utilization. A 1% growth in non-agricultural labor transfer is associated with a 0.615% improvement in the ecological efficiency of cultivated land utilization. The impact is especially evident in the main grain-producing areas and northern regions. (2) As a modern agricultural production factor, agricultural machinery plays a mediating role in factor substitution at the farmland stage, accounting for 39% of the effect. (3) The scale of agricultural land operation exhibits a single threshold effect with a threshold value of 1.1577. Against the backdrop of widespread non-agricultural labor transfer, this study provides a reference for further strengthening the utilization of agricultural machinery and promoting large-scale land operations. Full article

Contracting farmers are the main entities in cultivated land protection. From the perspective of contractual rights, improving the ecological compensation standards for cultivated land under the “Separation of Three Rights” system helps coordinate interest relationships in ecological compensation and serves as the key to benefit distribution among multiple right-holders. Reasonable compensation to contracting farmers facilitates the dual consideration of food security and ecological safety in cultivated land. The study starts from the connotation of contractual rights, incorporates both opportunity cost losses and ecological values into compensation criteria based on the membership attributes of contractual rights and the nature of use rights. Employing the equivalent factor method, replacement cost method, and opportunity cost method, it calculates compensation standards for both transferred and non-transferred contracting farmers, using prefecture-level cities in Jiangsu Province as case examples. (1) Land-transferring contracted farmers: The compensation standard is calculated based on opportunity cost loss as the compensation basis. (2) Non-transferring contracted farmers: The compensation standard incorporates both opportunity cost losses and the ecological value generated through agricultural production. Research Findings: The average compensation standard for contracted farmland transfer in Jiangsu Province is 6275.79 CNY/hm², primarily implemented through government compensation mechanisms. The average compensation standard for non-transferred contracted farmland in Jiangsu Province is 40,604 CNY/hm², implemented through a government–market–community collaborative mechanism. The tiered compensation criteria, by accounting for differential contributions of farmland transfer participants and non-participants to agro-ecosystem services, effectively reconcile the dual imperatives of arable land preservation and livelihood enhancement for contracted farmers. Full article

Accurately extracting parcels from satellite images is crucial in precision agriculture. Traditional edge detection fails in complex scenes with difficult post-processing, and deep learning models are time-consuming in terms of sample preparation and less transferable. Based on this, we designed a method combining multi-resolution remote sensing images based on the Segment Anything Model (SAM). Using cropland masking, overlap prediction and post-processing, we achieved 10 m-resolution parcel extraction with SAM, with performance in plain areas comparable to existing deep learning models (P: 0.89, R: 0.91, F1: 0.91, IoU: 0.87). Notably, in hilly regions with fragmented cultivated land, our approach even outperformed these models (P: 0.88, R: 0.76, F1: 0.81, IoU: 0.69). Subsequently, the 10 m parcels results were utilized to crop the high-resolution image. Based on the histogram features and internal edge features of the parcels, used to determine whether to segment downward or not, and at the same time, by setting the adaptive parameters of SAM, sub-meter parcel extraction was finally realized. Farmland boundaries extracted from high-resolution images can more accurately characterize the actual parcels, which is meaningful for farmland production and management. This study extended the application of deep learning large models in remote sensing, and provided a simple and fast method for accurate extraction of parcels boundaries. Full article

Enhancing farmers’ behaviors toward cultivated land quality protection is a crucial support in achieving sustainable agricultural development and the national food security strategy. This study aims to investigate the impact of land transfer-in on farmers’ behaviors regarding cultivated land quality protection, explore the underlying mechanisms, and analyze group heterogeneity. To achieve this, the study empirically estimates the impact of land transfer-in on farmers’ behaviors in protecting cultivated land quality using micro-survey data from 743 households in Hubei Province, while addressing endogeneity and conducting robustness checks. The study further explores the mechanisms and heterogeneity of the effects of land transfer-in on farmers’ cultivated land quality protection behaviors. The results reveal that (1) land transfer-in significantly increases the likelihood of farmers taking actual actions to protect cultivated land quality and enhances their awareness, thereby promoting protective behaviors; (2) land transfer-in facilitates these protective behaviors mainly through income incentives and social network interactions, while rental constraints may have a suppressive effect; (3) full-time farmers, those with higher agricultural literacy, those who access agricultural knowledge online, and those affected by natural disasters are more likely to engage in proactive land quality protection behaviors after land transfer-in. Full article

This study proposes rule-based multi-task deep learning for highly efficient rice lodging identification by introducing prior knowledge to improve the efficiency of disaster investigation using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images. Multi-task learning combines rule-based loss functions and learns the best loss function to train a model conforming to prior knowledge. Rule-based and multi-task learning optimizes the integration of rule-based and deep learning networks and dynamically adjusts the loss function model. Lastly, edge computing is deployed on the edge computing host to improve model efficiency for instant inference. This study inferred fifty-one 4096 × 4096 tagged UAV images taken in 2019 and calculated the confusion matrix and accuracy indices. The recall rate of the modified model in the normal rice category was increased by 13.7%. The affecting factor may be caused by changes in spatial resolution and differences in spectral values in different periods, which can be solved by adding part of the 2019 image transfer training to adjust the learning characteristics. The prior knowledge of a deep learning network can be deployed on edge computing devices to collect high-resolution images by regional routes planning within inferred disaster-damaged farmlands, providing efficient disaster survey tools with high detection accuracy. Full article

With China’s urbanization process and changes in rural family structures, the abandonment of farmland in scattered villages within hilly mountainous regions is becoming an increasingly serious issue, restricting the improvement of land use efficiency. This study analyzes the basic characteristics and variations in abandoned farmland by conducting surveys and interviews with peasants in a scattered village in southern China. Using the Heckman two-stage model, we perform empirical analysis on the factors influencing farmland abandonment, addressing potential sample selection bias. The findings show the following: peasants with better health and higher education levels are more likely to transition to non-agricultural occupations which contributes to an increased abandonment of farmland. However, larger and more integrated land parcels, along with favorable farming conditions, help reduce abandonment. Additionally, rural land transfer and agricultural subsidies are important factors that enhance farmland utilization and mitigate abandonment. These results provide a reference for addressing the abandonment of farmland and improving both the farming environment and social policies in rural villages. Full article

In the context of the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy in China, returning rural migrant workers are bound to have a certain impact on the rural economy, and land is a very important factor in the agricultural economy. Using data from the 2018 China Labor Dynamic Survey (CLDS), this study examines how migrant workers’ return behaviors influence farmland transfer-in. To address potential endogeneity, the analysis employs the Probit model, instrumental variable methods, and propensity score matching. The findings reveal that returning migrant workers significantly promote farmland transfer-in. Households with returning migrant workers exhibit stronger demands for land transfer-in and tend to operate farmland on a larger scale. Furthermore, returning migrant workers drive farmland expansion through mechanization labor substitution, enhanced access to agricultural loans, and reduced non-farm participation. Additionally, returning migrant workers who are highly educated and younger play a particularly influential role, underscoring the heterogeneous impacts across different migrant groups. This study provides empirical evidence for rural revitalization policies in China by systematically analyzing the effect of returning migrant workers in promoting land transfer-in and the path of influence on farmland scale. Full article

Currently, a global hunger and malnutrition crisis is spreading throughout various regions worldwide. Overseas farmland investment endeavors to enhance regional food production through international cooperation but faces the challenge of ensuring a fair division. Our study develops a more equitable method: we have modeled overseas farmland investment as a cooperative game, reallocating benefits among host countries and investing countries. The application of our results to real data indicates that there is not only significant scope for improvement for host countries and overseas investors—which gain added benefits—but also a remarkable contribution made to rural development in terms of increased productivity. The cooperation to increase farmland yield through technology and capital transfer can be achieved in practice. In this context, transnational cooperations can provide additional benefits to participants, which can offer an important motivation for collaborators. Full article

In recent years, the problem of Cd (cadmium) contamination in cultivated soils has grown worse, endangering food security and human health and impeding agricultural sustainability. The application of foliar fertilizer can effectively prevent and control the accumulation of Cd in crops, but the related effects of foliar fertilizer application on the accumulation of Cd in wheat and the risk to human health are not clear. On the Cd-polluted farmland, five foliar fertilizers (multi-element compound fertilizer (Me), manganese-zinc micro-fertilizer (MZ), sodium dihydrogen phosphate (P), water-soluble organic fertilizer (WO) and foliar silicon fertilizer (Si)) and CK (the fresh water was used as the control) were sprayed on wheat at different growth periods (spraying once at the tillering stage and spraying twice at the tillering stage and the booting stage) to investigate the effects of foliar fertilizer on wheat yield and the content of Cd in grains and human health risks. The results showed that the application of five types of foliar fertilizers can lead to an increase in wheat yield, an inhibition of the transfer of cadmium to the edible parts of wheat, and a reduction in the human health risk (THQ). Compared with the CK (the fresh water was used as the control), the impact of Cd stress on the yield of spring wheat was alleviated by the MZ treatment, and the largest yield increase of 24.2% was achieved when MZ was sprayed once. When compared with one application, two applications of foliar fertilizers were shown to effectively reduce the content of Cd in the leaves, glumes, and grains of wheat, while increasing the content of Cd in the roots and stems. Among all foliar fertilizers, the cadmium content in wheat grains was most effectively decreased using MZ2 (spraying twice at the tillering stage and the booting stage), with a reduction of 36.6%. At the same time, the target hazard coefficient (THQ) of foliar spraying was reduced, and using two bouts of foliar fertilizer spraying was more effective in reducing the health risks. In conclusion, MZ fertilizer sprayed twice was a desirable choice for wheat, which was conducive to the safe production of wheat on Cd-contaminated farmland and for contributing to the sustainable development of agriculture. Full article