Exploring the Dynamic Coupling Relationship between Agricultural Economy and Agro-Ecological Environment in Semi-Arid Areas: A Case Study of Yulin, China

Tianyou Wang,Qiqi Jia,Xiuping Yang,Dacheng Zhang,Wentao Zhang

doi:10.3390/su11082259

Abstract

The rapid expansion of agricultural areas in semi-arid China over the past decades has aggravated the imbalance of the agroeconomy and agroecological environment. To further understand the coupling relationship between the two, this paper, taking Yulin as a case, develops an integrated index system for evaluation of the agricultural economy and the agroecological environment, and a model of the coupling coordination degree for evaluation of the dynamic coupling relationship between the two. Based on that, we have investigated the coupling coordination by comparing the differences of the development index of the two sub-systems at different periods. Subsequently, we further clarified the internal interaction and coupling relationship between the two sub-systems with a cross-impact analysis. The results suggested that the weights of ecological environmental conditions and agricultural development input are respectively0.5908 and 0.3570. From 1997 to 2016, a high-level interactive coupling existed between the agroecological environment and agricultural economy, and the coupling coordination degree of the two sub-systems grew slowly. Overall, the degradation of the agroecological environment impeded the coordinated development of the agricultural economy and the level of coupling coordination improved from basic coordination in the beginning to superior coordination in the end. The agricultural economy grew rapidly, at the expense of the degradation of the agroecological environment. Furthermore, more attention should be paid to improving agricultural development input for promoting economic and ecological benefits, and coupling coordination degree of the two sub-systems. These findings are important for boosting sustainable development of the agricultural economy in semi-arid areas.

Highlights

Due to China’s huge population, the area of arable land per capita is merely 0.09 hm2, which is lower than the global average (0.194 hm2)
The eco-environment condition is the dominant indicator for agro-ecological environment, and more attention should be paid by decision-makers on the natural conditions of agricultural development
This study serves as a reference to fully understanding of the agro-ecological environment and agricultural economy, facilitating sustainable development of agriculture in semi-arid areas

Summary

Introduction

Due to China’s huge population, the area of arable land per capita is merely 0.09 hm, which is lower than the global average (0.194 hm). Owing to the continuous increasing population and living standards, the demand for food and other agricultural products has rapidly expanded. Farmers in the semi-arid areas of China and some other developing countries still maintain traditional agricultural production modes, which are characterized by small scale, low-level mechanization, and low output per unit. People have no choice but to continuously expand the planting area and use chemical synthetic products, such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides, resulting in the reduction of biodiversity and further deterioration of the ecological environment

Objectives

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Results

Conclusion