Arable Land Use Research Articles

Experience in Reconstruction of Agricultural Land Use for Balakhna District of Nizhniy Novgorod Gubernia in the 18th–19th Centuries (on the Basis of Cartographic Sources)

Land use and soil cover patterns of arable lands in Balakhna district of Nizhny Novgorod gubernia in the last quarter of the 18th century and in the middle of the 19th century were studied with the use of the General Land Survey plan of Balakhna district (scale 1 : 84000), the map of Nizhny Novgorod gubernia by Mende (scale 1 : 42000), and the State Soil Map (scale 1 : 1 M). The data obtained attested to a steady and considerable decrease in the plowed area during that period. According to the historical materials, at the end of the 18th century, plowland occupied about 1290 km2, or 32% of the entire district (4200 km2). In the middle of the 19th century, the plowed area decreased to about 990 km2 (25%). According to the modern statistical data on land use in Balakhna district (within its boundaries of the 18th–19th centuries), the area of plowed fields is less than 700 km2 (18%). This means that at least 14% of the study area is occupied by the postagrogenic soils. If we take the plowed area of the district in the 18th century for 100%, we can conclude that more than 40% of formerly plowed lands have been transformed into long-term fallows. The absolute predomination of soddy-podzolic soils (Retisols) is typical of the soil cover of Balakhna district. In the course of the reduction of the plowland area from the end of the 18th century to the middle of the 19th century, the percent of different soils composing this area did not change much. In general, the impact of soil quality on the decrease in the plowland area in that period is not observed.

Where Should the Start Zone Be Located for Xiong'an New Area? A Land Use Perspective

Abstract: China announced plans on April 1, 2017 to create Xiong'an New Area, a new economic zone about 110 km southwest of Beijing. The new area of national significance covers the three counties of Xiongxian, Rongcheng and Anxin in Hebei Province, and is home to Baiyangdian, a major wetland in northern China. It will cover around 100 km2 initially (called “Starting Zone”) and will be expanded to 200 km2 in the mid-term and about 2000 km2 in the long term. In this context, it is important to assess the land use pattern for the new area's planning and development. Based on remote sensing interpretation of Landsat OLI images, we examine the current land use features, the potential for built-up land saving and intensive use, and the spatial variation of arable land quality. The results indicate that the arable lands, built-up lands and wetlands account for around 60%, 20% and 10%, respectively. The potential for rural built-up land saving and intensive use is quite large. The arable land quality and use int...

The construction of predictive-mathematical modeling in planning the effective use of arable land at the regional level

The construction of predictive-mathematical modeling in planning the effective use of arable land at the regional level

Four‐year measurement of net ecosystem gas exchange of switchgrass in a Mediterranean climate after long‐term arable land use

AbstractSwitchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a perennial lignocellulosic crop that has gained large interest as a feedstock for advanced biofuels. Using an eddy covariance system, we monitored the net ecosystem gas exchange in a 5‐ha rainfed switchgrass crop located in the Po River Valley for four consecutive years after land‐use change from annual food crops. Switchgrass absorbed 58.2 Mg CO2 ha−1 year−1 (GPP—gross primary production), of which 24.5 (42%) were fixed by the ecosystem (NEE—net ecosystem exchange). Cumulated NEE was negative (i.e. C sink) even in the establishment year when biomass and canopy photosynthesis are considerably lower compared to the following years. Taking into account the last 3 years only (postestablishment years), mean NEE was −26.9 Mg CO2 ha−1 year−1. When discounted of the removed switchgrass biomass, ecosystem CO2 absorption was still high and corresponded to −8.4 Mg CO2 ha−1 year−1. The estimation of the life cycle global warming effect made switchgrass an even greater sink (−12.4 Mg CO2 ha−1 year−1), thanks to the credits obtained with fossil fuels displacement. Water use efficiency (WUE), that is the ratio of NEE to the water used by the crop as the flux of transpiration (ET), corresponded to 1.6 mg C g−1 of H2O, meaning that, on average, 170 m3 of water was needed to fix 1 Mg of CO2. Again, considering only the postestablishment years, WUE was 1.7 mg C g−1 of H2O. In the end, about half of annual precipitation was used by the crop every year. We conclude that switchgrass can be a valuable crop to capture significant amount of atmospheric CO2 while preserving water reserves and estimated that its potential large‐scale deployment in the Mediterranean could lead to an annual greenhouse gas emission reduction up to 0.33% for the EU.

An overview of arable land use for the world economy: From source to sink via the global supply chain

As an extension of a previous work (Chen and Han, 2015a), this study explored the arable land use of the world economy from source of exploitation to sink of final consumption via the global supply chain, by means of embodiment accounting that includes the indirect feedbacks associated with both intermediate and primary inputs. In magnitude, the global transfer of arable land use is estimated to be around 40% of the total direct exploitation. The connections as well as imbalances of major economies in intermediate and final trades of arable land use are discussed. Canada, Australia, Argentina, Pakistan and African regions turn out to have a massive deficit of arable land use in both intermediate and final trades. In contrast, the United States, Japan, Mainland China, the United Kingdom, Germany and France obtain a surplus of arable land use in both intermediate and final trades by land displacement in those net exporters. Indices in terms of arable land use self-sufficiency rate by source and that by sink are devised. For India as the biggest source region, around 20% of the arable land resources exploited locally are for final consumption abroad. For the United States as the largest sink region, around 40% of its arable land use originates from foreign regions led by Canada. For Japan as the biggest net importer in both intermediate and final trades, over 90% of its arable land use comes from foreign economies led by African and Asian regions. For sustained development, regions are suggested to be more adapted to the global supply chain based on their behaviors in both intermediate and final trades of arable land use.

Урожайность и экономическая эффективность яровой пшеницы, возделываемой по различным технологиям

Яровая пшеница является доминирующей культурой в структуре использования пашни и посевных площадей в хозяйствах лесостепи Волго-Вятского региона. Важнейшим элементом и первоначальным звеном технологии возделывания любой полевой культуры является обработка почвы. Основным препятствием внедрения минимизации обработки почвы является ухудшение фитосанитарного состояния посевов. Исследование различных технологий обработки почвы и их влияние на урожайность и экономическую эффективность яровой пшеницы проводили на опытном поле Нижегородской области в 2014 – 2016 гг. Сравнивали традиционную зяблевую вспашку на 14 – 16 см и обработку почвы по no-till технологии. Изучали возможность минимизации системы обработки почвы под яровую пшеницу в звене зернотравяного севооборота. Урожайность яровой пшеницы при возделывании по no-till технологии ниже — 1,00 – 1,67 т/га, чем при традиционной зяблевой вспашке — 1,75 – 1,84 т/га. По системе no-till по сравнению с традиционной вспашкой денежно-материальные затраты на 1 га минимальны с внесением и без внесения минеральных удобрений — соответственно 10,21 тыс. и 6,21 тыс. руб./га против 14,21 тыс. и 12,1 тыс. руб./га. Рентабельность по системе no-till, наоборот, выше — 30,85 % с внесением и 28,82 % без внесения минеральных удобрений против 3,59 и 14,66 % соответственно при традиционной зяблевой вспашке. Возделывание яровой пшеницы по ресурсосберегающей no-till технологии экономически эффективнее технологии с традиционной обработкой почвы, несмотря на более высокие показатели пораженности болезнями и засоренности пшеницы.

Reserves use of arable land in Dagestan

Reserves use of arable land in Dagestan

Analyzing the green efficiency of arable land use in China

In this study, a non-radial directional distance function (NDDF) approach is used to evaluate and analyze the green efficiency of arable land use of China's 30 provinces and cities during the period 1995–2013. The study finds that the green efficiency of arable land use in China shows a trend that is first declining and then increasing. Northeast China is the most efficient, followed by the southwestern region, the eastern region, and the northwestern region; the central region has the lowest efficiency. At the provincial level, the green efficiency of arable land use in Guangdong is the highest, followed by Guangxi and Jilin. The green efficiency of arable land use in Heilongjiang, Beijing, and Tibet is relatively low. All the environmentally green production technology leaders come from the northeastern, northwestern, and southwestern regions. The results of an analysis of dynamic efficiency change show that the technology change for arable land use was significantly higher than the efficiency change. This reflects that the country's attempts to improve production technology as well as its policies for the improvement of environmental conditions had played a significant role. Even though these practices are at the expense of short-term efficiency, they are conducive to long-term technological progress.

Use of arable land with agroecological assessment of soils

Growing crop production with ignoring the quality of arable land leads to lower crop yields and unreasonable costs. There are areas of waterlogged, marshy, eroded soils or soil with low humus content and low available form for plant of nutrients in intensive use of land, that is leased or owned by modern agricultural companys. These lands have different area and configuration of soil contours and it is the cause of complicated planning of the fields’ boundaries. The purpose of representing data in this article is the justification of the rational use of arable land on condition detailed analysis of soil properties. Because the land management is the basis for optimization of agricultural production in a certain area. In order to obtain indicative results, the territory with complex structure of soil cover and with soils, which differ greatly in their physical and chemical properties and conditions of soil formation, was chosen as the object of research. Soil conditions were analyzed by natural indicators such us groundwater levels, granulometric composition of soil, nutrients concentration that are available for plants, acidity of soils. The explored area has flat relief with moderate climate and insufficient humidification in separate periods. Soils’ parent material: alluvial deposits, loess loam, deluvial deposits. There are 11 groups of soils on the research area of 1272.4789 ha. Among them Haplic Chernozem, Albic Luvisol, Gleyic Chernozem, Mollic Gleysol, Luvic Greyic Phaeozem, Endogleyic Arenosol and Histic Gleysol. The Gleysols occupy a large area of surveyed land (106 hectares). These soils have a very poor water-air mode and suffer from drought or waterlogging in some periods. In order to achieve the purpose of the work an existing methodology for the soils grouping into classes for the suitability of growing agricultural crops was used. Also the scale of soil evaluation for the Ruzhinsky agricultural region was applied. The article represents data of soil classification into classes of suitability by ten classification items. It is established that not the whole area of arable land is suitable for growing wheat. The estimated yield of winter wheat was calculated on the basis of soil's properties. Winter wheat is the demanding plant to soil and climate condition. This is the cause there are low productivity of this plant on clay soil types and soils that have sandy granulometric composition. The estimated yield of winter wheat on Histic Gleysol and Mollic Gleysol is 6.8 centner/ha and on Endogleyic Arenosol is 12.5 centner/ha. Inclusion such tapys of soils in fields area leads to a decrease the yield of winter wheat crops. This is difficult for land use in case low fertility soils are situated in higher quality soils’ area. This situation is inherent territory of Polisya and south part of Ukrainian Lisostep zone. As a result of researchi it was realized that Haplic Gleysol occupy small areas (between 0.1-0.3 ha). These soils are located near Endogleyic Arenosol that don’t suffer from excessive moisture and need another approach of land use. The importance of taking into account the properties of soils is proved. The approach of land use of arable land is proposed. Keywords . S uitability of soils, groups of soils, wheat crop, land use .

Structural insights into the mechanism of inhibition of AHAS by herbicides

Acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS), the first enzyme in the branched amino acid biosynthesis pathway, is present only in plants and microorganisms, and it is the target of >50 commercial herbicides. Penoxsulam (PS), which is a highly effective broad-spectrum AHAS-inhibiting herbicide, is used extensively to control weed growth in rice crops. However, the molecular basis for its inhibition of AHAS is poorly understood. This is despite the availability of structural data for all other classes of AHAS-inhibiting herbicides. Here, crystallographic data for Saccharomyces cerevisiae AHAS (2.3 Å) and Arabidopsis thaliana AHAS (2.5 Å) in complex with PS reveal the extraordinary molecular mechanisms that underpin its inhibitory activity. The structures show that inhibition of AHAS by PS triggers expulsion of two molecules of oxygen bound in the active site, releasing them as substrates for an oxygenase side reaction of the enzyme. The structures also show that PS either stabilizes the thiamin diphosphate (ThDP)-peracetate adduct, a product of this oxygenase reaction, or traps within the active site an intact molecule of peracetate in the presence of a degraded form of ThDP: thiamine aminoethenethiol diphosphate. Kinetic analysis shows that PS inhibits AHAS by a combination of events involving FAD oxidation and chemical alteration of ThDP. With the emergence of increasing levels of resistance toward front-line herbicides and the need to optimize the use of arable land, these data suggest strategies for next generation herbicide design.

Microbial bio-fuels: a solution to carbon emissions and energy crisis.

Increasing energy demand, limited fossil fuel resources and climate change have prompted development of alternative sustainable and economical fuel resources such as crop-based bio-ethanol and bio-diesel. However, there is concern over use of arable land that is used for food agriculture for creation of biofuel. Thus, there is a renewed interest in the use of microbes particularly microalgae for bio-fuel production. Microbes such as micro-algae and cyanobacteria that are used for biofuel production also produce other bioactive compounds under stressed conditions. Microbial agents used for biofuel production also produce bioactive compounds with antimicrobial, antiviral, anticoagulant, antioxidant, antifungal, anti-inflammatory and anticancer activity. Because of importance of such high-value compounds in aquaculture and bioremediation, and the potential to reduce carbon emissions and energy security, the biofuels produced by microbial biotechnology might substitute the crop-based bio-ethanol and bio-diesel production.

Camel production in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Economic and environmental impacts

This research aimed to analyse the impact of land use elements, meteorological year (MY) (temperatures changes) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions on camel numbers, prices and products, the study was adopted two sets of data termed as economic data and environmental data. Secondary data through 1991-2016 years is approved with supportive primary data, which designed by researchers via personal interviews of the camel producers were used. Simple descriptive, matrix correlations and multiple linear regressions tools techniques were used to analyse the data. The study results confirmed that, all the owners of the camel are men. Furthermore, the percentages of the camel share to the total livestock are positively correlated with camel numbers (r = 0.964, P< 0.01). However, the land use has a significant influence on camel share to total livestock and camel numbers. Increases in the agricultural and arable land use were resulted in a reduction of the camel numbers (r = -.458, P < 0.01 and r =-.814, P < 0.05; respectively). Moreover, the changes in MY had inverse effect on camel numbers (â = -14839.52) and milk production (â = -1898.19). Camel numbers, producersÂ’ prices and camel production were significantly affected by CO2 emissions from industrial and energy sources. It concluded that, land use had highly significant impact on camel share to the total livestock population; however, climatic change significantly affects camel numbers, and camel production. Further studies of the camel economics knowledge were recommended.

Estimating carbon stocks in young moraine soils affected by erosion

In this paper the storage potential of soils within a heterogeneous structured hummocky young moraine region for organic carbon is discussed with respect to climate change and erosion. Erosion is discussed to be either a global terrestrial CO2 sink or a source. In hummocky young moraine regions of North East Germany water and tillage erosion are steadily changing factors since the beginning of arable landuse in ancient times. For such topographically complex landscapes the knowledge on soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics and the limits of carbon storage are still limited. Our objective is to combine data collected during former soil erosion studies with recent findings on (i) soil property and (ii) estimated “optimal” SOC data to predict the SOC storage related to tillage and crop rotation, among others. Classified catenae were analysed for texture, SOC, CO3-C, nutrient contents, and depth of weathering. Optimal SOC contents were estimated on the fine sized particle content. Arable soil at convex slope positions of steep catenae show 4 time smaller SOC stocks as compared to respective forest soils and to arable soils at concave position. Our findings suggest changes in SOC stocks to be almost exclusively related to decomposable carbon pools. Comparison of estimated optimal with measured SOC contents in soils at such positions indicated that such soils could potentially store a surplus of 0.6 to 0.8gkg−1. SOC protection at convex positions is limited by soil texture, and frequent truncation of the respective soil profiles. Whereas truncation followed by downhill transfer may bury SOC at sedimentation/concave positions resulting in long-term SOC storage as far as decomposition is prevented by site conditions.

Global arable land transfers embodied in Mainland China’s foreign trade

The process of globalization increases spatial separation of basic resources in terms of demand and supply across multiple countries/regions, thereby leading to the shift of environmental pressure mainly triggered by population expansion and economic growth via global supply chains. To comprehensively analyze Mainland China’s arable land use issues, the present work illustrates its arable land transfers embodied in foreign trade based on a multi-regional input-output analysis. In total, the trade volume of Mainland China’s arable land transfers is revealed in magnitude up to 70% of its direct arable land area. With a distinction between production- and consumption-based transfers, Mainland China exports 27.18Mha (million hectares) of embodied arable land to other economies, while it imports 48.35Mha of embodied arable land, making it a large force for agricultural industry development and arable land utilization in regions such as ASEAN, EU27, and Africa. The relations, pressures, and structures of embodied arable land related to Mainland China are clearly depicted from the global perspective. With detailed embodied arable land transfer profiles, it is practical to comprehensively analyze Mainland China’s arable land utilization via supply chains from the global perspective for essential policy implications in reasonably reshaping Mainland China’s economic structures and trade patterns.

Modelling regional cropping patterns under scenarios of climate and socio-economic change in Hungary

Impacts of socio-economic, political and climatic change on agricultural land systems are inherently uncertain. The role of regional and local-level actors is critical in developing effective policy responses that accommodate such uncertainty in a flexible and informed way across governance levels. This study identified potential regional challenges in arable land use systems, which may arise from climate and socio-economic change for two counties in western Hungary: Veszprém and Tolna. An empirically-grounded, agent-based model was developed from an extensive farmer household survey about local land use practices. The model was used to project future patterns of arable land use under four localised, stakeholder-driven scenarios of plausible future socio-economic and climate change. The results show strong differences in farmers' behaviour and current agricultural land use patterns between the two regions, highlighting the need to implement focused policy at the regional level. For instance, policy that encourages local food security may need to support improvements in the capacity of farmers to adapt to physical constraints in Veszprém and farmer access to social capital and environmental awareness in Tolna. It is further suggested that the two regions will experience different challenges to adaptation under possible future conditions (up to 2100). For example, Veszprém was projected to have increased fallow land under a scenario with high inequality, ineffective institutions and higher-end climate change, implying risks of land abandonment. By contrast, Tolna was projected to have a considerable decline in major cereals under a scenario assuming a de-globalising future with moderate climate change, inferring challenges to local food self-sufficiency. The study provides insight into how socio-economic and physical factors influence the selection of crop rotation plans by farmers in western Hungary and how farmer behaviour may affect future risks to agricultural land systems under environmental change.

The sustainable arable land use pattern under the tradeoff of agricultural production, economic development, and ecological protection-an analysis of Dongting Lake basin, China.

To find a solution regarding sustainable arable land use pattern in the important grain-producing area during the rapid urbanization process, this study combined agricultural production, locational condition, and ecological protection to determine optimal arable land use. Dongting Lake basin, one of the major grain producing areas in China, was chosen as the study area. The analysis of land use transition, the calculation of arable land barycenter, the landscape indices of arable land patches, and the comprehensive evaluation of arable land quality(productivity, economic location, and ecological condition) were adopted in this study. The results showed that (1) in 1990-2000, the arable land increased by 11.77%, and the transformation between arable land and other land use types actively occurred; in 2000-2010, the arable land decreased by 0.71%, and more ecological area (forestland, grassland, and water area) were disturbed and transferred into arable land; (2) urban expansion of the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan city cluster (the major economy center of this area) induced the northward movement of the arable land barycenter; (3) the landscape fragmentation and decentralization degree of arable land patches increased during 1990-2010; (4) potential high-quality arable land is located in the zonal area around Dongting Lake, which contains the Li County, Linli County, Jinshi County, Taoyuan County, Taojiang County, Ningxiang County, Xiangxiang County, Shaoshan County, Miluo County, and Zhuzhou County. The inferior low-quality arable land is located in the northwestern Wuling mountainous area, the southeastern hilly area, and the densely populated big cities and their surrounding area. In the optimized arable land use pattern, the high-quality land should be intensively used, and the low-quality arable land should be reduced used or prohibitively used. What is more, it is necessary to quit the arable land away from the surrounding area of cities appropriately, in order to allow more space for urban expansion. This study could provide guidance for sustainable arable land use by both satisfying the future agricultural production and the local economic development, which can be used for the other major grain-producing areas in this rapid developing country.

Effect of land use on some soil chemical properties and P fractions in south-western Nigeria

Land use directly or indirectly affects the soil chemical properties and phosphorus fractions. Two different land use types were studied. Soil chemical analysis and phosphorus fractionation of the soils was then done and the results were highly significant (p&lt;0.001). Total C, N and P were low under the arable land use as compared to the tree crop while exchangeable Ca and Mg was higher under the arable land use than in the tree crop farmland. Micronutrients were generally low irrespective of the land use. The loosely bound P i.e. saloid bound P was more under arable farmland as compared to the tree crop farmland while there was more residual P in the tree crop farmland than the arable farmland. A positive relationship existed between the soil chemical properties and P fractions under the arable land use but a negative relationship was observed between the soil chemical properties and P fractions under the tree crop land use. In other words, cultivation as practiced in on arable lands significantly increased the labile P fractions as evident in increase in the loosely bound P and the secondary nutrients while P tends to be bound i.e. residual P in soils cropped with trees and rich in the macronutrients. . Although, irrespective of the land use type,an equilibrium reaction existed between the readily and non-readily available P fractionsin order to increase P in soils and make the essential macronutrients available, it is recommended that the land be cultivated.Keywords: Soil phosphorus, P fractions, soil chemical parameters, arable land use, tree crop land use

Changes in arable land in response to township urbanization in a Chinese low hilly region: Scale effects and spatial interactions

Rapid urbanization leads to losses in arable land; quantitatively analyzing the impact of urbanization on arable land is significant for arable land management. However, changes in arable land due to urbanization with scale and neighborhood effects remains poorly understood at the town scale. In this study, high-resolution historical land use data, landscape metric analysis and spatial regression were integrated to quantify the impacts of urbanization on arable land use change (abandonment and conversion) at spatial scales of 300 m–3300 m using a block size increment of 200 m and at the catchment scale in the town of Jinjing in subtropical central China. Arable land abandonment was the predominant type of arable land change and presented strong spatial autocorrelations at each spatial scale. Arable land was converted to tea fields because agricultural structure transformations were occurring around the urban cores, and the amount of arable land converted to residential land accounted for only a small proportion of the total arable land loss and had no spatial autocorrelation. The significance and robustness of the arable land changes impacted by urbanization had obvious scale effects and strong neighborhood effects in nearby regions. Compared with block scales, the catchment scale is an optimal scale for assessing the influence of urbanization and applying planning policy. Our results highlight the significance of incorporating spatial interactions in urbanization research, which can generate less biased estimations and consequently lead to proper policy implication and recommendations. In addition, multi-scale comparisons are helpful for better understanding the relationships between arable land changes and urbanization and provide further insights into the harmonious development of rural settlements and urban cores to preserve arable land.

New resource-saving design of the sowing device for fodder crops

The creation of a solid fodder base is based on the rational use of arable lands for meadows and pastures. In the system of measures to strengthen feed production, a selection of reliable, high-yielding fodder crops that can become a source of inexpensive and high-grade fodder, as well as the development and introduction into production of highly efficient agricultural machinery that provides the implementation of new technologies for sowing, growing, harvesting the process of harvesting quality forage, balanced on all elements of nutrients. A sowing device has been developed that allows without additional material and time costs to pass from the dotted sowing to the combined method without using additional sowing discs. The structural features of the device prevent seed from crushing and crumbling. The developed method and design of the pneumatic sowing device for the combined sowing of two crops in the same row with the same intervals between the seeds and their placement at different depths of the embankment allows to obtain savings in sowing areas, improve the environmental situation of the environment, by reducing the number of passes of the unit and obtaining a balanced feed for animal protein to simplify the design, making it easy to use and financially profitable. With such a sowing device it is possible to transfer relatively easily from the combined sowing to the dotted and, conversely, without additional costs (including temporary ones), which gives significant savings in terms of material and time indices. The seeder, equipped with pneumatic sowing devices of a new design, makes it possible to obtain fodder with the content of digested protein to 105-110 g, which increases milk yield per cow to 3000 kg per year.

Drivers Behind Farmers’ Willingness to Terminate Arable Land Use Contracts

AbstractThe shortage of land resources has become a serious problem in China's rapid urbanisation. A recognised method for solving arable land resource shortage problems is to encourage marginal farmers to terminate their arable land use contracts with the government so that they can be transferred to farmers with better prospects. This paper analyses the drivers behind farmers’ willingness to terminate their arable land use contracts based on survey data from agricultural households in Guanzhong, Shaanxi Province, China, using a multivariable logistic model. Results show that households led by male householders, with large families, fewer agricultural labourers, more plots of land, including family members with non‐agricultural skills training and including family members who are covered by rural residents’ health insurance, are more likely to terminate their contracts.