How does green transition of farmland use affect grain production capacity? Evidence from China

Inhibit or promote: Spatial impacts of multifunctional farmland use transition on grain production from the perspective of major function-oriented zoning

Abstract. The potential production capacity of the U.S. Northeastern Seaboard Region (NESR) was assessed using potato and corn as representative commodities. Geospatial data of historical climate, land use, soil, and management were coupled with a weather generator, the crop models SPUDSIM and MAIZSIM, and both spatially and temporally downscaled mid-century climate change data from HadCM3. Simulations were conducted at a sub-county level to investigate potential potato yield and corn silage production in response to (1) current climate and agricultural land use, (2) current climate and potential land use, and (3) two future climate scenarios and potential land use. Water management with rainfed or irrigated production was assessed for all scenarios. Potato growth was highly concentrated in northern states, while corn was distributed throughout the NESR. Average estimates for potato yield and corn silage across the region under current climate and land use were 27 and 33 Mg ha-1, respectively. The impacts of climate change were similar for the two future climate scenarios; potato yields declined by an average of 50%, and corn silage declined by 19%. To reclaim 100% of current production capacity under the future climate scenarios, roughly double the land area would be required for potato and a 23% increase in land area would be required for corn. Providing irrigation throughout the region would largely mitigate the negative impacts of climate for both crops, assuming this was an economically viable adaptation strategy. Response to irrigation was negatively correlated with latitude; however, this effect was minimized for potato in southern states where irrigation is currently in practice. These results provide quantitative data for use in assessments related to regional production capacity as influenced by land availability, climate, and crop characteristics.

O uso inadequado dos solos agrícolas vem causando a perda gradual da sua capacidade produtiva e a degradação dos recursos hídricos por sedimentos e poluentes. O uso do solo pode afetar os processos hidrológicos e a erosão do solo na bacia. O objetivo do trabalho foi simular diferentes cenários de uso do solo para a bacia hidrográfica do ribeirão Concórdia, utilizando o modelo SWAT, e analisar os efeitos dessas mudanças no fluxo de água e de sedimentos. Os cenários gerados foram agricultura, mata nativa e pastagem. A bacia está localizada no sul do Brasil e possui uma área de drenagem de 30,74 km². Na etapa de calibração, obteve-se coeficente de eficiência Nash-Sutcliffe mensais de 0,82 para escoamento e 0,83 para sedimento. O cenário mata nativa apresentou o maior decréscimo na vazão média, em relação ao cenário atual, cerca de 8,70%. O cenário agricultura produziu a maior taxa de produção de sedimentos, aproximadamente 3 vezes maior que o cenário atual.Observou-se que alterações no uso do solo impactam o regime e a disponibilidade hídrica da bacia.

BackgroundThe success of soil management depends on understanding of how soils respond to agricultural land use practices over time. Nitisols are among the most extensive agricultural soils in the Ethiopian highlands but soil degradation threatens their productive capacity. In this study, the effects of two land use systems, intensive cereal and agroforestry systems, and slope class on physical and chemical characteristics of some Nitisol profiles were investigated. In total 12 sample profiles were described and soil samples were collected from each of the identified master horizon. Soil physical characteristics evaluated were particle size distribution, structural aggregate stability, water holding capacity and bulk density. Chemical characteristics determined were exchangeable bases and cation exchange capacity, soil pH and the contents of organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), available phosphorus (AP) and some micronutrients.ResultsAmong the physical characteristics, land use and slope significantly (p < 0.05) affected particle size distribution and plant available water content. The mean sand (28%) and silt (26%) particles in the intensive cereal system were significantly (p < 0.05) higher compared to 15% sand and 18% silt in the agroforestry system. Conversely, the mean values of fine grained texture materials including 39% fine sand, 42% fine silt and 67% clay in the agroforestry system were significantly higher than 30% fine sand, 21% fine silt and 46% clay in the cereal system. Similarly, the lower slope had significantly (p < 0.05) higher fin texture materials (39% fine sand, 30% fine silt, and 63%) clay) compared to 17% fine sand, 14% fine silt and 51% clay fractions in the upper slope. The proportion of water stable aggregate (WSA) were highlight (63–94%) and there was no significant difference between land types and slope classes. Following from high structural aggregate stability, the soils have high water holding capacity that ranged from 22 to 32% at PWP to 34–49% at FC while plant available water content (AWC) was in the 120–230 mm m−1 range. Considering the chemical characteristics, land use significantly affected soil pH, total nitrogen (TN), exchangeable magnesium (Mg2+), potassium (K+), percent base saturation (PBS), and available micro nutrients—iron (Fe2+), manganese (Mn2+) and zinc (Zn2+). The mean pH value (5.29) in the intensive cereal system strongly acidic while the pH value for the agroforestry system (6.12) was taken moderately acidic. The mean OC content was 2.0 and 2.1% for the intensive cereal and agroforestry systems that were rated very low. The mean TN values were 0.15 and 0.22% for intensive cereal and agroforestry systems that were taken as low to very low. Similarly the mean values for AP were 8 and 10 mg kg−1 for cereal and agroforestry systems that were rated low. On the other hand, the CEC, exchangeable bases (Ca2+, Mg2+, K+) and PBS of the soil were rated high while Na+ appeared only in trace amount, and there was no significant difference between land use type and slope classes except for Mg2+, K+ and PBS. Mean values of Mg2+ and K+ (15 and 3 cmol(+) kg−1) and PBS (75%) in the agroforestry system were significantly higher than those in the cereal system (6 and 1.6 cmol(+) kg−1 of Mg2+ and K+ and 51% PBS). Among micronutrients, land use significantly (p < 0.05) affected available Fe2+, Mn2+ and Zn+. The mean values of Fe2+ (97 mg kg−1) and Mn2+ (68 mg kg−1) in the agroforestry system were taken as excessively high while they were moderately sufficient (37, 39 mg kg−1, respectively) in the cereal system. Slope effects were significant for OC, TN and AP having higher mean values (2.5% OC, 0.22% TN and 17 mg kg−1 AP) in the lower slope than in the upper slope (1.5% OC, 0.13% TN and 8 mg kg−1 AP).ConclusionLand use and slope had significant effect on some soil physical and chemical characteristics. The land use practices in the intensive cereal system are adversely affecting important soil characteristics as compared to the soil under the agroforestry system. These include alteration of particle size distribution, strongly acidic soil reaction, organic matter and nutrient depletion (N, P, K and Zn) and low plant available water content. Among the inappropriate land use practices include repeated cultivation to create fine seedbed that predisposes the soil to erosion, unbalanced fertilizer application, rotation of maize with potato that are depleting soil nutrient stocks (e., K and Zn), and removal of crop residues from fields. Therefore, a more balanced fertilizer blend application that contain N, P, K and Zn combined with liming to raise soil pH, organic matter management and integrated soil water conservation are recommended.

In order to investigate the remediation effect of the microbial-plant joint system on soil heavy metal Cd pollution, we carry out strain screening and pot experiment to explore the effects of plant growth-promoting bacteria on the accumulation capacity of ryegrass, soil physical and chemical properties and heavy metal speciation. The results show that the microscopic morphology of Burkholderia sp.YXL1 is pale yellow, rod-shaped and smooth edge with an average length of 5 μm, and it possesses strong growth-promoting ability and can tolerate cadmium content about 250 mg/L. The capacity of IAA production, siderophore and phosphate-solubilizing substances are 31.56 mg/L, 0.89 and 46.18 mg/L, respectively. In the <italic>YXL</italic>1-ryegrass joint remediation system, the organic matter and available phosphorus content in the soil are significantly increased by 4.08 g/kg and 2.54 mg/kg, respectively. The contents of weak acid extractable Cd and reducible Cd in the soil reach 16.25% and 12.53%, respectively. Compared with the control group, the ability of ryegrass to extract Cd from the soil is 2.76 times higher than that of the ryegrass treatment. The results also show that the Cd content of the cultivated layer soil is below the risk screening value (<0.3 mg/kg) in the Soil Environmental Quality Agricultural Land Soil Pollution Risk Control Standard (GB 15618—2018) to realize the safe use of agricultural land in the <italic>YXL</italic>1- ryegrass joint remediation system after 4 years.

Increasing water-use efficiency by optimizing planting density and irrigation regimes in maize is crucial for food security under limited water resources. In this study, six plant densities (6.0, 7.5, 9.0, 10.5, 12.0, and 13.5 × 104 plants ha−1) and three irrigation amounts (300, 450, and 600 mm) were assessed to analyze the effects of planting density and irrigation amount on the yield and yield components. We also explored the combination of maize production capacity and maximizing economic returns in a planting region. The results demonstrated that as planting density increased, grain yield first increased and then decreased. The optimum planting density was 9 × 104 plants ha−1 when the irrigation amount was 300 mm, and 10.5 × 104 plants ha−1 under both 450 mm and 600 mm irrigation amounts. The relationship between planting density, irrigation amount, planting area, production capacity, and economic return showed that a current production capacity with 6.75 × 104 plants ha−1, 600 mm, and 1.066 million ha, could be achieved with 10.5 × 104 plants ha−1, 344 mm, and 1.1 million ha. The water-use efficiency of irrigation was increased by 74%. Current returns could be achieved with 10.5 × 104 plants ha−1, 405 mm, and 1.1 million ha, or by 9.0 × 104 plants ha−1, 449 mm, and 1.1 million ha. These observations demonstrated that appropriately increasing the planting area and reducing the irrigation amount per hectare under an optimal planting density could achieve a greater economic return and water-use efficiency than either increasing the planting density or reducing the irrigation volume alone in North Xinjiang. We concluded that concurrent optimization of the maize planting density, irrigation amount and plant area will not only meet the demand of food security but also achieve a rational use of water resources and farmland.

The green transition of farmland use is a future trend in China’s modern agriculture and green development. However, its research framework, including its evaluation system, temporal-spatial distribution, and driving mechanisms, has not been established in the existent literature. With the 17 cities in Hubei Province as an example, we evaluated the green transition of farmland use and explore the characteristics and driving mechanisms of the temporal and spatial evolution from 2000–2019. The findings were as follows: First, the green transition of farmland use in Hubei Province is in infancy, but it has great potential. Second, the growth rate of the green transition of farmland use has noticeable regional differences in the east, central, and western areas of the province. Third, the three dimensions of spatial transition, functional transition, and model transition in the green transition of farmland use have significant spatial differences in coupling and coordination, and decoupling is becoming increasingly prominent. Based on the research findings, we put forward targeted countermeasures and suggestions.

An empirical study on the impact of green transition of farmland use on agricultural economic growth: A case of Hubei Province of China

There has been disclosed the essence of the concept of organization of efficient agricultural land use as the process of creation of the needed organizational and territorial, legal, economic and social conditions for total engagement into production and output increase of each hectare of land while conserving and restoring soil fertility. It has been verified that it is necessary to study the efficient agricultural land use systematically as land policy is closely related with economic and environmental policy, taxation and local development issues, as well as many other spheres of public relations. In doing so it is advisable to view efficiency of land use in three-dimensional system: economic system (economic needs of land resources and soils usage, the nature of land use, goods market, production placement, stimulation level, infrastructure development, etc.); social system (social institutions land use and land ownership, particularly, economic structure, the set of regulations and duties of a person towards land, land organization, land proprietary right, servitude, social infrastructure); environmental system (natural resources potential, agroecological features of soils use, product quality, environmental state of soils, environmental restrictions). It has been corroborated that while forming efficient and permanent land uses it is necessary to utilize modeling methods of efficient land use with consideration of interrelations and interdependence of natural properties of lands, social, economic and environmental factors. It has been proved that efficient agricultural land use has to include the set of measures aimed at meeting public needs through accounting and comprehensive estimation of productive capacity of land for its better use taking into account natural, social, economic and environmental conditions and end use. There has been proposed management decision-making algorithm for efficient land use organization. The sequence of formation of criteria for economic and environmental estimation of efficient land use has been set.

Despite a large body of scientific research that shows that soils change on relatively short time scales under different management regimes, classical pedological theory states that we should expect these changes to occur only in the surface few centimeters and that they are not of adequate magnitude to suggest fundamental changes in pedon character over short periods of time. In fact, rarely, do the scientists that make these comparisons report on any properties deeper than 30 to 45 cm in the soil profile. With this study, we evaluate soil transformation to a depth of 150 cm after 50 yr of intensive row-crop agricultural land use in a temperate, humid, continental climate (Iowa, United States), by resampling sites that were initially described by the United States soil survey between 1943 and 1963. We find that, through agricultural land use, humans are accelerating soil formation and transformation to a depth of 100 cm or more by accelerating erosion, sedimentation, acidification, and mineral weathering, and degrading soil structure, while deepening dark-colored, organic-matter rich surface horizons, translocating and accumulating organic matter deeper in the soil profile and lowering the water table. Some of these changes can be considered positive improvements, but many of these changes may have negative effects on the soils' future productive capacity.

This study examines the impact of agricultural land use change into a petroleum mining area to farmers’ socioeconomic conditions around petroleum mining project area in Gayam District of Kabupaten Bojonegoro. The analyses used a mix method, using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The quantitative approach is used to determine the impact of agricultural land use change on the social and economic aspects with the respondent farmers were supported with a scoring method to determine the condition of socioeconomic vulnerability of farmers, while the qualitative approach carried out through in-depth interviews to some informants who have been affected by the project. The results shows that the presence of the petroleum mining industry has not had a positive impact yet on the farmers’ socioeconomic conditions. By the 700 hectares of agricultural land conversion, the agricultural production capacity of the area tends to decrease, including by the decreasing of the productivity of some agricultural land in a radius of 500 m from the fenceof the mining area as they are affected by the fence’s spotlight. The farmers' income also tends to decrease because of the decreasing of their working hours as the big loss of agricultural land in the area. As a result, many farmers should work outside of the area to search replacement of the arable land. These situations lead to a moderate condition of social and economic vulnerability for the farmers, especially for those who still have sufficient assets to meet the needs of their economic.

The northern slope of the Uluguru mountain, that falls under the sovereignty of Morogoro’s urban area, has steadily become populated and connected with uncontrolled human activity, which has had a harmful effect on the ecosystem. The rapid conversion of natural forests to farms and settlements has a severe effect on biodiversity and the land’s productive capacity. In order to assist the identification of compatible land uses for managing degradation and restoration of degraded land, as well as ensuring the long-term use of natural resources, this study applied the integration of Geographical Information System and Analytical Hierarchical Process. The land resources of the research area were identified using a Geographical Information System to guide in the evaluation of various land uses’ suitability. Land resource values were generated from different sources of data whereby elevation, slope, temperature, rainfall, soil properties, soil moisture index, and land surface temperature classifications were obtained. The land resource classification values throughout the study area were used to create land mapping units. The results of the criteria classification were integrated into questionnaires together with proposed compatible land uses obtained from the literature review. These well-structured questionnaires were used to retrieve expert opinions on land use allocation from environmental beneficiary institutions in the area. The influence of criteria on each suggested land use was assessed accordingly based on the score provided by Saaty’s scale. The weight of each criterion at each land mapping unit toward proposed compatible land uses for mapping purposes was calculated using the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) technique. The weighted criteria produced by the AHP technique were integrated into GIS using the weighted overlay method to produce a map that reflects expert judgments on mountain slope planning for long-term natural resource management. A literature review reveals that conservation agriculture, agroforestry, and forest land use types are compatible in the management of natural resources in the area, while settlements have to be integrated to accommodate the existing situation. The integration of GIS and AHP produced a plan that consists of conservation agriculture that covers the majority of the study area (50%) and is generally found in the foothills of the mountains up to land mapping unit 3. Agroforestry is the second-largest land use, accounting for 19% of the study area and being concentrated in the second and third land mapping units. Settlements, which occupy 17% of the study area and are mostly located at the foothills of the mountain, are the third most covered land use. Finally, forest land use is distributed at the top of the research area, inside land mapping units 4 and 5, and accounts for 13% of the total study area. According on the findings of this study, a sustainable land use plan is recommended. Economic activity that could assist in the management of natural resources would be advantageous to both parties. Planning of the mountainous slopes within urban areas that are not designated as conservation zones should be done with great care, and only economic activities that assist management of natural resources should be permitted.

The aim of the artice. Taking into account the urgent need of rebuilding the national economy and energy system after the war destruction on the principles of green energy transition, it is extremely important to develop the startup movement in the field of alternative &amp; renewable energy. The active implementation of the principles of an innovation-oriented circular economy requires significant and well-thought-out reforms in both economic relations and technology advancement. In this context, it is important to actively implement the concept of sustainable development, ensure the promotion of environmentally friendly goods and services on the market, and minimize the consumption of traditional fossil fuels, as well as the use of agricultural land for growing fuel crops. Thus, the purpose of the study is to analyze the innovativeness of business processes of national startups in the field of green alternative energy and to substantiate the peculiarities of business planning of environmentally friendly startup projects in the context of the green energy transition (also associated with the concepts of the renewable energy transition and the green deal). Analysis results. The paper explores business processes in the field of green startups, describes in detail the author's Bioenergy-Startup project, and substantiates its Business Model Canvas. The Bioenergy-Startup project has a positive environmental and economic effect and makes it possible to significantly reduce toxicant emissions from vehicle engines and diesel-fueled boiler plants. The project is also aimed at greening the country's economy by reducing the technogenic load on agricultural land through the use of fat-containing production waste, promoting the rational use of natural resources, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as the emissions of so-called black carbon. Using the Bioenergy-Startup project as an example, the authors proposed a framework for implementing a startup, starting from the creation of the Business Model Canvas and taking into account the levels of technological innovation and risks. In creating this framework, the authors took into account, in particular, the Customer Development and Lean Startup methodologies, the work of domestic scientists, as well as their own experience in the field of innovative entrepreneurship. During the implementation of the Bioenergy-Startup project, one of the main tasks from the marketing point of view was to create and communicate to the target audience significant competitive environmentally friendly advantages that are not only consistent with the concept of sustainable development and a green (circular) economy but also provide an opportunity to save valuable natural resources, promote the decarbonization of industry and transport, prevent climate change on the planet, etc. Conclusions and directions for further research. To accomplish this task, the authors have developed a marketing strategy for promoting the innovative products of the Bioenergy-Startup, as well as a specific algorithm for promoting the startup's innovative products, a schematic representation of which is given in the paper.

Food systems have been framed as a “wicked problem” due to the complex socio-ecological impacts they foster, ranging from contributing nearly a quarter of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions to a myriad of social impacts (e.g., health, food safety, and food security). In the European green transition for food systems, multiple actors are involved. However, farmers play a unique and critical role as agricultural land managers and navigators of social, political, and environmental factors. Using cover cropping and intercropping as examples, we illustrate the complexities arising when decision-making and governance at multiple levels lead to tradeoffs and unexpected consequences at the farm scale. Amid complexity, we propose a conceptual model to address the question: how is an agricultural green transition best fostered? We find that changes are incremental, transformative or both depending on the level of analysis. Additionally, incoherence in agronomic recommendations across academic disciplines and policy agendas creates challenges at the farm scale that trickle up and can thwart sustainable agricultural land use. Although transdisciplinarity and knowledge production with farmers through co-creation are essential for food system transformation and can be part of the solution, it is crucial to examine the nature of change processes and to consider how knowledge and innovation are adopted. By balancing top-down and bottom-up approaches and distributing burden from the farm scale to governance and food systems, a more transformative green transition for European food systems with coherence across multiple agroecological objectives could be achieved.

Based on the global distribution of land and soil quality and the world population, future trends in the agricultural use of land and soil resources are mainly constrained by loss of fertile land caused by insufficient soil management and through urbanization and industrialization. Due to this problem, sustainable land use for the production of food and fiber will be under threat. Due to this fact, this paper was reviewed to examine the influence of absenteeism of policy frame work of land resource management on land productivity and ecosystem. The reviewed paper showed that absenteeism of policy frame work had a significant effect on land productivity and ecosystem. Due to absenteeism of policy frame work there was inappropriate farming practices adopted at individual farmer. The adopted practices includes farming on steep slopes, deforestation and overgrazing, limited soil and water conservation measures, limited application of organic matter, burning of dung and crop residues influences. Hence, due to the above in appropriate farming practices, the land resources were faced a problem including, soil erosion by water and wind and further severe forms of soil degradation, such as loss of organic matter, contamination and loss of soil biodiversity, compaction, salinization, flooding, nutrient mining, desertification, drying of lakes, loss of biodiversity and these problems were resulted in low productivity of land and ecosystem as well. Hence, to improve land productivity and the ecosystem, appropriate technologies with to respective to land use system for the improvement of the productive capacity of the land should be implemented very well. Therefore, for effective land resources management, policy framework of land resource management should be developed and implemented for successful improvement of land productivity and ecosystem at the national level.