Urbanization and the Change of Fertilizer Use Intensity for Agricultural Production in Henan Province

Li Jiang,Zhihui Li

doi:10.3390/su8020186

Abstract

China’s urbanization has resulted in significant changes in agricultural land use. However, understanding of the linkages between urbanization and fertilizer use intensity is limited. Using county-level panel data for Henan Province, 1995–2008 and panel econometric models, we investigate the impact of urbanization and other socioeconomic factors on fertilizer use intensity, with a focus on the two key processes related to urbanization—shrinking agricultural land area and increasing urban wages. Our results show that declining agricultural land per capita is associated with greater fertilizer use intensity. Urban wages is positively correlated with fertilizer use intensity. We also find that GDP per capita and per capita expenditure of government for agriculture both positively contribute to the increase of fertilizer use intensity, which is consistent with expectations. Our results imply that other than land conversion, urbanization contains some positive influences on land use sustainability. However, on the other hand, urbanization contributes to agriculture-based environmental pollution by increasing the level of fertilizer use in agricultural production.

Highlights

China has experienced a rapid urban growth since its economic reforms in the 1980s, which has resulted in large-scale expansion of the urban areas and the massive loss of cultivated land [1,2]
The research questions that we ask include: What is the influence of urbanization on fertilizer use intensity and what is the underlying mechanism? What is the impact of increasing income on fertilizer use intensity? What is the impact of agricultural financial support on fertilizer use intensity? Relying on panel econometric models, we intend to derive more insights into the links between urbanization and fertilizer use intensity, and to provide policy implications concerning the efficiency and sustainability of land use
We hypothesize that the change of fertilizer use intensity is due to the effects of two key factors associated with urbanization and other important socioeconomic factors documented in the literature

Summary

Introduction

China has experienced a rapid urban growth since its economic reforms in the 1980s, which has resulted in large-scale expansion of the urban areas and the massive loss of cultivated land [1,2]. The launch of the Grain for Green Program in 1999 has largely contributed to the accelerated rate of decline of cultivated area in the beginning of the 21 century [5] Both agricultural land conversion and agricultural land use intensity affect food production [6,7]. Understanding how urbanization affects fertilizer use intensity is critical for effective land use management and planning that can balance the pressure between urban growth and agricultural land use and production This could facilitate a better evaluation of the environmental impacts associated with agricultural intensification and promote fertilizer efficiency improvement and a more sustainable way of land use. The research questions that we ask include: What is the influence of urbanization on fertilizer use intensity and what is the underlying mechanism? What is the impact of increasing income on fertilizer use intensity? What is the impact of agricultural financial support on fertilizer use intensity? Relying on panel econometric models, we intend to derive more insights into the links between urbanization and fertilizer use intensity, and to provide policy implications concerning the efficiency and sustainability of land use

Study Area

Literature Review on Theories of Agricultural Land Use Intensity

Empirical Models and Variable Specifications

Results

Conclusions