Global cropland intensification surpassed expansion between 2000 and 2010: A spatio-temporal analysis based on GlobeLand30

Abstract

Cropland expansion and intensification are the two main strategies for increasing food production. Here, we investigated the spatio-temporal patterns of global cropland expansion and intensification between 2000 and 2010 using the GlobeLand30 dataset. In doing so, we first analyzed the expansion and loss of global cropland at different spatial scales. Second, we quantified cropland intensification from the perspective of output and mapped its global spatial distribution. Third, nine coupled patterns of cropland expansion and intensification were identified, and the contributions of these two strategies to global crop production were finally estimated and compared. The results show that global cropland increased slightly (2.19%) during 2000–2010, with the American continent having the largest net increase (0.21 million km2) and Africa having the highest magnitude of increase (7.42%) as well as the most substantial spatial variation. Among the world's top ten countries with the largest cropland areas, China was the only country which experienced cropland decrease, while cropland in Brazil and Argentina increased the most. Moreover, we found that Brazil ranked first in cropland intensification, followed by China, India and Ukraine. More than one-third of countries' cropland had stable area and moderate intensification, suggesting that agricultural land systems did not cause significant environmental harm globally during this period. Ten countries (e.g., Brazil and Algeria) experienced significant cropland expansion as well as a high level of intensification, suggesting that they could be major contributors to global crop production as well as environmental change. Cropland expansion largely boosted crop production improvement in Asia, while cropland intensification was the dominant factor for crop production in Europe and America. Overall, cropland intensification contributed much more than expansion to improving global agricultural production during 2000 and 2010. Our results gain a comprehensive overview of spatio-temporal patterns of global cropland expansion and intensification, which can provide helpful insights for the international community and individual countries to better guide land use planning, adjust agricultural structure and coordinate food trade so as to achieve a sustainable development of agriculture.