Measuring the Cultivated Land Use Efficiency of the Main Grain-Producing Areas in China under the Constraints of Carbon Emissions and Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution

Hualin Xie,Yongrok Choi,Yanwei Zhang

doi:10.3390/su10061932

Hualin Xie, Yongrok Choi + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su10061932

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Abstract

The carbon emissions and agricultural nonpoint source pollution constraints were incorporated into the input–output index system, and the epsilon-based measure (EBM) super efficiency model and global Malmquist–Luenberger (GML) index were used to measure the cultivated land use efficiency and changes in the total factor productivity (TFP) of cultivated land use in the main grain-producing areas in China from 1993–2016. The results indicate that: (1) from 1993 to 2016, the cultivated land use efficiency in the main grain-producing areas in China showed a tendency to fluctuate and increase, with obvious stage characteristics; however, the overall level was not high. (2) There is a significant difference in the cultivated land use efficiency under the constraints of carbon emissions and nonpoint source pollution in the main grain-producing areas in the different provinces, and low-efficiency provinces have higher input redundancy and undesired output redundancy than high-efficiency provinces. It can be observed that input redundancy and undesired output redundancy have a significant negative effect on cultivated land use efficiency. (3) The TFP of cultivated land use under the constraints of carbon emissions and nonpoint source pollution in China’s main grain-producing areas is estimated by the GML index. The results show that the TFP of cultivated land use in the main provinces in the main grain-producing regions is greater than 1, indicating that the productivity levels of all the provinces in China’s main grain-producing areas are increasing. From the perspective of the power sources in each province, global pure technological change (GPTC) and global scale technological change (GSTC) are the main driving forces for the TFP of cultivated land use, while global pure efficiency change (GPEC) and global scale efficiency change (GSEC) are the bottlenecks for increasing the TFP of cultivated land use.

Highlights

As the essence of cultivated land, the foundation of food production is the most basic resource for human survival and development and plays an irreplaceable role in the development of agriculture and the national economy
(2) There is a significant difference in the cultivated land use efficiency under the constraints of carbon emissions and nonpoint source pollution in the main grain-producing areas in the different provinces, and low-efficiency provinces have higher input redundancy and undesired output redundancy than high-efficiency provinces
The results show that the total factor productivity (TFP) of cultivated land use in the main provinces in the main grain-producing regions is greater than 1, indicating that the productivity levels of all the provinces in China’s main grain-producing areas are increasing

Summary

Introduction

As the essence of cultivated land, the foundation of food production is the most basic resource for human survival and development and plays an irreplaceable role in the development of agriculture and the national economy. The long-term use of high-contamination source materials such as fertilizers, pesticides, and agricultural plastic films in the cultivated land use process often leads to soil compaction, degraded cultivation quality, and decreased soil fertility. It is the main cause of soil pollution, in 2014, the National Soil Pollution Survey Communique showed that the rate of over-standard soil sites in Chinese cultivated land was as high as 19.4%. According to the first national census of pollution sources, the total nitrogen emitted from agricultural nonpoint source pollution in 2007 was 2.7046 million tons, and the total phosphorus was 284,700 tons, which accounted for 57.19% and 67.27% of the China emissions for the same period. In the total nitrogen and total phosphorus load that enters Dianchi Lake, agricultural nonpoint source pollutants accounted for 53% and 42%, respectively [6]

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