Study on spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of flood and drought disaster impacts on agriculture in China

Abstract

Floods and droughts can reduce agricultural production and affect food security. Therefore, it is necessary to study the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of the impacts of flood and drought disasters (FDD) on agriculture. Based on the affected and destroyed rate of crops, the paper put forward a comprehensive index of FDD and combined multi-methods to analyze disaster spatiotemporal distribution characteristics and causes of FDD on agriculture in China. The results indicated the following: (1) The impact of droughts on crops was significantly higher than that of floods both temporally and spatially. In addition, the impacts of FDD on agriculture showed an overall downward trend from 1978 to 2018. (2) As for spatial distribution, the impact of floods on agriculture was mostly concentrated in Southwest, Central-south and East China, droughts mainly concentrated in Northeast, Northwest and North China, and both the impact of droughts and floods were serious in Northeast China. (3) The gravity center transfer paths of FDD impact on agriculture were opposite, the flood disaster gravity centers shifted to the southwest and northeast, while the droughts were to the northeast and southwest. (4) The positive impacts of human activities on crop losses caused by floods were mainly distributed in Southern China, and as for droughts was in most areas of Northwest, Southwest, Central-south and North China. The research results are expected to provide practical value for agricultural management and efficient governance of FDD.