Abstract
China’s urban explosion has resulted in a substantial loss of agricultural production on the fringes of many cities. Farmland is not only converted into urban uses but also taken out of production because it has lost its value for those who can farm it. This farmland abandonment process has received little research attention. This paper studies the abandonment of farmland around the rapidly urbanizing city of Wuhan and aims to identify its important determinants based on an extensive field survey among local farmers. Around 800 semi-structured field interviews were conducted to capture the parcel and location characteristics, farming practices, and household characteristics. Important parcel-related drivers of land abandonment are lack of family members to work the land and fragmentation of parcels. Spatial characteristics are less important, except for the presence of certain soil types that favour cultivation and designation under the farmland protection policy. The planted crop species and the option to transfer land to other farmers are important farming practices to continue cultivation. Moreover, farmers with a higher farming income and lower education levels are less likely to abandon their farmland. We suggest that land use policies can help in preventing further farmland abandonment by steering urban development away from the most suitable soils for farming and concentrating development to limit the fragmentation of parcels. Strengthening the land market and removing the remaining barriers for farmers to transfer land to colleagues can further help to keep farmland in production.
Highlights
Farmland abandonment is taking place in many countries around the world and has received substantial attention from researchers and policy makers because of its environmental and socio-economic impacts (e.g. Rey-Benayas et al 2007; Van der Zanden et al 2016)
Farmland abandonment is usually associated with marginal areas where farming costs are no longer compensated by the profits from production (Díaz et al 2011; Gellrich et al 2007)
This paper aims to explain farmland abandonment on the urban–rural fringe in China
Summary
Farmland abandonment is taking place in many countries around the world and has received substantial attention from researchers and policy makers because of its environmental and socio-economic impacts (e.g. Rey-Benayas et al 2007; Van der Zanden et al 2016). Farmland abandonment is usually associated with marginal areas where farming costs are no longer compensated by the profits from production (Díaz et al 2011; Gellrich et al 2007). These marginal areas are characterized by environmental, economic, and social constraints (MacDonald et al 2000; Renwick et al 2013; Rey-Benayas et al 2007; Strijker 2005; Van Vliet et al 2015).
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