Agricultural Land Use Change Research Articles

Potential of an Area in Terms of Pro-Climate Solutions in a Land Consolidation Project

Land consolidation plays an important role in promoting changes in agricultural land use and ensuring national food security. Moreover, it allows the land structure in rural areas to be built anew. By changing the spatial structure of the countryside, it is also possible to implement water and drainage measures as well as ecological and landscape measures aimed at improving farming conditions. At the same time, they have an impact on the climate. This study analysed the potential for the implementation of pro-climate solutions that can be applied when implementing a land consolidation project in terms of reducing wind speed, increasing humidity, and affecting carbon dioxide reduction. The analyses used an indicator of the potential for implementing pro-climate solutions based on an overall synthetic index taking into account 11 attributes. The results show that the micro-location potential in the context of the possibility of applying pro-climate solutions is not homogenous. It is affected, e.g., by the soil quality, the state of farming culture of the land in agricultural use, the resource and advancement of natural landscape components, and the local needs of agricultural producers to introduce environmental solutions that will simultaneously have a positive impact on farming conditions. According to research, peri-tree land can cluster, meaning that its character represents a spatial continuity. During the land consolidation process, this continuity should be preserved, especially in areas with inferior soil quality.

Integrated Agricultural Practices and Engineering Technologies Enhance Synergies of Food-Energy-Water Systems in Corn Belt Watersheds.

Interconnected food, energy, water systems (FEWS) require systems level understanding to design efficient and effective management strategies and policies that address potentially competing challenges of production and environmental quality. Adoption of agricultural best management practices (BMPs) can reduce nonpoint source phosphorus (P) loads, but there are also opportunities to recover P from point sources, which could also reduce demand for mineral P fertilizer derived from declining geologic reserves. Here, we apply the Integrated Technology-Environment-Economics Model to investigate the consequences of watershed-scale portfolios of agricultural BMPs and environmental and biological technologies (EBTs) for co-benefits of FEWS in Corn Belt watersheds. Via a pilot study with a representative agro-industrial watershed with high P and nitrogen discharge, we show achieving the nutrient reduction goals in the watershed; BMP-only portfolios require extensive and costly land-use change (19% of agricultural land) to perennial energy grasses, while portfolios combining BMPs and EBTs can improve water quality while recovering P from corn biorefineries and wastewater streams with only 4% agricultural land-use change. The potential amount of P recovered from EBTs is estimated as 2 times as much as the agronomic P requirement in the watershed, showing the promise of the P circular economy. These findings inform solution development based on the combination of agricultural BMPs and EBTs for the cobenefits of FEWS in Corn Belt watersheds.

Changes in agricultural land use and its consequences on crop productivity, diversity, and food availability in an agriculturally developed state of India.

The present study, covering a period of 52years (1966-2017), explores changes in agricultural land use and its consequences on crop productivity, diversity, and food availability in Haryana, an agriculturally developed state of India. The time series data on different parameters (area, production, yield, etc.) were collected from the secondary sources and analyzed with the help of compound annual growth rate, trend tests (simple linear regression and Mann-Kendall), and change point detection tests such as Pettitt, standard normal homogeneity, Buishand range, and Neumann ratio. Apart from above, the relative share of area and yield to total change in output was determined using decomposition analysis. The results revealed that agricultural land use became intensive and underwent significant alteration with multifold shifting in area from coarse cereals (maize, jowar, and bajra) to fine food grains (wheat and rice). The yield of all crops, especially wheat and rice witnessed a significant increase which subsequently led to an upsurge in their production. However, the production of maize, jowar, and pulses recorded negative growth despite of an increase in their yield. The results also revealed manifold increase in use of modern key inputs during the first two periods (1966-1985), but afterwards input use rate slowed down. Additionally, the decomposition analysis revealed that yield effect remained positive in changing the production of all crops, but area contributed positively only in wheat, rice, cotton, and oilseeds. The major findings of this study imply that the production of crops can be enhanced only through improvement in yield because there is no further scope left for horizontal expansion in cultivable area of the state.

Drivers of agricultural land-use change in Kashmir valley - an application of mixed method approach

Drivers of agricultural land-use change in Kashmir valley - an application of mixed method approach

Agricultural Land Use Changes as a Driving Force of Soil Erosion in the Velika Morava River Basin, Serbia

The erosion potential model was applied to estimate the soil erosion status of rural settlements during the years 1971 and 2011. We used univariate and bivariate local Moran’s I indices to detect and visualize the spatial clustering of settlements with respect to changes in erosion intensity and agricultural land use, as well as their mutual spatial correlation. The study area was differentiated into four statistically significant clusters using the calculated bivariate local Moran’s I indices. The statistical analysis examined the two largest clusters, i.e., the high–high and low–low clusters, and the results of the research indicate that the first four principal components explained 70.50% and 73.47% of the total variance, respectively. In the high–high cluster, the low rates of erosion reduction (average Index Z = 98) in the most significant types of rural settlements were determined according to demographic indicators (i.e., the higher population vitality and population density, the smaller share of the old population and the lower average age of the population) and the large proportion of arable land and Neogene sediments. In the low–low cluster, high erosion reduction rates were detected (average index Z = 64). In this cluster, the more statistically significant influence of natural conditions in combination with demographic–agrarian processes (i.e., the larger share of the old population, the higher average age of the population, the lower vitality index and deagrarization) were decisive factors in changing erosion intensity.

Recognition of Agricultural Land-Use Change with Machine Learning-Based for Regional Food Security Assessment in Kulon Progo Plains Area

High conversion of agricultural land in Kulon Progo Regency, as such the construction of the Yogyakarta International Airport (YIA) and the Bedah Menoreh road, has resulted in food production and impacted food security, including Kulon Progo plains area. This study aimed to calculate the conversion rate of agricultural land and analyze its impact on food security in the Kulon Progo plains area from 2005 to 2020. The primary materials needed are Kulon Progo administrative maps, Landsat 7 and 8 images, land productivity data, population data, and consumption per capita data. With tools used is Google Earth Engine (GEE), SPSS 25, Google Earth Pro, and ArcGIS 10.3. The method used is calculating the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and machine learning-based classification through GEE to identify land-use change and analyze the state of food security. The study proved that between 2015 and 2020, there was a conversion of paddy fields, with an average rate of 126 ha/year. The existence of new paddy fields influenced this land increase. However, in 2020 there is still food insecurity in Pengasih District, thus caused by the new paddy fields not being optimally used for rice growth. The productivity of the land produced is not optimal. With the availability of agricultural land in 2020 (1382.85 ha), food self-sufficiency will be limited for the next 24.75 years if there is no effort to increase paddy fields.

Multi-Agro: Design and Development of a Cartesian-based SelfPlantation Robot for Home-Scale Gardens with Mobile App

The increasing diversion of agricultural land in Indonesia has not been followed by a decrease in the need for food in society. This change in agricultural land use poses a serious threat to food security. To solve this problem, a home-scale farming tool called Multi-Agro has been developed, which can planting independently and automatically. This tool uses a cartesian method-based robot manipulator to determine the exact coordinate points during the planting, maintenance, and harvesting process of the plants. Plant watering time can be set on the app automatically so that plant health is maintained. In addition, a weed detection system using a camera can also improve plant health. With the automatic system and monitoring that can be accessed through the app, this independent farming becomes more efficient and does not require much time from agricultural actors. Based on the experiment conducted in a real-physical miniature model of home-scale farming it can be concluded that the proposed project has a significant improvement in smart urban farming. Hopefully, this research can help to overcome the increasing need for food even though agricultural land is increasingly limited.

Analysis of Economic Land Value (Land Rent) on Agricultural Land in Deli Serdang Regency

Deli Serdang Regency is a district that in its development is experiencing quite rapid development. Changes in agricultural land use from 2009 - 2019 in Deli Serdang Regency are quite significant. The purpose of this study was to analyze changes in the use of agricultural land between 2009 - 2019, analyzing the economic value of the land and factors that affect the economic value of agricultural land in Deli Serdang Regency. The analysis is based on Geographic Information System (GIS), land economic analysis, and multiple linear regression analysis.

Land-Use Change Dynamics of Agricultural Land within Belgrade–Novi Sad Highway Corridor: A Spatial Planning Perspective

At the global level, there is an awareness of the need to protect agricultural land from permanent physical loss through land-use change. Preservation of high-quality agricultural land is currently at the center of the international debates, including those of food safety. The main aim of this paper is to provide quantitative analysis of agricultural land-use change dynamics within the area of the Belgrade–Novi Sad highway corridor, as a distinct route that connects two largest cities in Serbia. The results in land-use change and the accompanying contextual aspects are observed between 1990 and 2018, i.e., within the four research periods: 1990–2000, 2000–2006, 2006–2012 and 2012–2018, using GIS-based analysis. The research methodology used Corine Land Cover and Urban Atlas data and revealed dynamics relating to the most influential land take directions during the ca. 30 years by the means of the land take indicator. The results were complemented with the qualitative content analysis of spatial and regulatory urban plans for the study area, as one of the land-use management instruments in Serbia. The findings indicate that the most intense agricultural land-use change to non-agricultural land occurred in the period 1990-2000 due to various drivers (vicinity of large cities, illegal construction, developed transport infrastructure), but also distinguish the role of spatial and urban planning documentation in promoting the new land take.

Environmental Impacts of Urbanization Encroachment in the Lowlands of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Urban encroachment due to urban sprawl and unchecked expansion in built-up areas is one of the top challenges developing countries such as Pakistan face. The fertile agricultural land is continuously converting into built-up areas reducing the capacity of food production and bringing down the livelihood opportunities associated with agricultural land. Pakistan is an agricultural country with extensive fertile areas. The GDP share of agriculture is more than 20%, and it engages more than half of the country’s total labor force, producing a handsome foreign exchange. However, this fertile and productive land is now altering due to urbanization encroachment. The primary purpose of this study was to assess the level of urbanization encroachment and its temporal dynamics in the lowlands of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The sample area of District Peshawar was selected for this purpose. First, the study’s objective was to detect the district’s temporal dynamics in the land-use pattern. Secondly, the quantification of agricultural land converted to built-up in District Peshawar was also considered. The study of urbanization encroachment in temporal dynamics focused on the conversion of agricultural land-use change using high-resolution satellite images (Arc GIS 10.5), a detailed questionnaire survey, and interviews, and focus group discussions were conducted to obtain more profound insight into the study area. SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences), ANOVA, and regression models were applied where needed. For the agricultural land investigation, data from the landowners were also incorporated to learn the size of the lands they currently hold. To claw out the fragmentation of the land, the previous status of the land, its selling, purchasing, and the causes thereof, have also been probed. The results show that 46.35 sq. km of the land area has been built-up since the first census in 1981. In 2019, it increased by 173.3049 sq. km in District Peshawar against the total area of 1257 sq. km. In the sample area, the fertile agricultural land shows a change five times greater than the population increase. The land is continuously reduced and utilized for different purposes. The land values also appeal to the land owners for handsome returns, which is another crucial factor of urban encroachment over the fertile agricultural area. A proper and active regularity authority is recommended, and policies for land transformation from agriculture to built-up coverings should be formed. Decentralization of facilities, subsidies, and incentives to the farmers are recommended to slow down the speed of land conversion.

Spatial heterogeneity of long-term environmental changes in a large agricultural wetland in North China: Implications for wetland restoration

Understanding long-term environmental changes and man-land interactions within wetlands is important for their ecological maintenance and restoration. However, there has been little focus on the spatial heterogeneity of environmental variations of wetlands, especially large agricultural wetlands, which hinders the development of targeted management programs for specific areas. We conducted a multi-proxy study of the sediments of a typical agricultural wetland, Lake Baiyangdian in North China, to assess the spatial heterogeneity of environmental changes over the past 70 years. The results reveal that the environmental changes in Lake Baiyangdian were spatially heterogeneous, mainly reflected by the response to hydrological variations before the 1970 s, and by changes in trophic level and land cover transitions since the 1990 s, which are strongly linked to changes in agricultural land use. Pollen and grain-size analyses revealed the large-scale spatial heterogeneity of changes in the sedimentary environment. Areas with greater openness, shallower water depths, and proximity to inflowing rivers were generally more sensitive to hydrological processes and provided regional records of environmental change. In contrast, populated areas far from inflows tended to capture more local changes related to anthropogenic impacts. Intensive agricultural activity has led to a continuous increase in nutrient enrichment and significant land cover transitions in Lake Baiyangdian, mainly the loss of natural wetland. Variations in Humulus pollen were a key indicator of these anthropogenic impacts. Hydrological processes and land use changes were together responsible for the spatial heterogeneity of the environmental variations in Lake Baiyangdian over the last 70 years, indicating the dominant role of human impacts on the spatio-temporal pattern of the evolution of this wetland ecosystem, and the complexity of its environmental management.

The Feasibility of Monitoring Great Plains Playa Inundation with the Sentinel 2A/B Satellites for Ecological and Hydrological Applications

Playas are ecologically and hydrologically important ephemeral wetlands found in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Urbanization, changes in agricultural land use and irrigation practices, and climate change all threaten playas. While variations in playa inundation on the Great Plains of North America have been previously analyzed by satellite using annual and decadal time scales, no study to our knowledge has monitored the Great Plains playa inundation area using sub-monthly time scales. Thousands of playas smaller than ~50 m in diameter, which were not previously identified by the Landsat satellite platform, can now be captured by higher resolution satellite data. In this preliminary study, we demonstrate monitoring spatial and temporal changes in the playa water inundation area on sub-monthly times scales between September 2018 and February 2019 over a region in West Texas, USA, using 10 m spatial resolution imagery from the Sentinel-2A/B satellites. We also demonstrate the feasibility and potential benefits of using the Sentinel-2A/B satellite retrievals, in combination with precipitation and evaporation data, to monitor playas for environmental, ecological, groundwater recharge, and hydrological applications.

Scenarios of future land use/land cover changes: impacts on cropland use in Šiauliai region (Lithuania)

Agricultural systems supply a wide range of ecosystem services. Projecting future agricultural land-use changes is key to anticipating the potential impacts of human activities. In this work, we assessed future agricultural land-use changes, using the Dinamica-EGO platform, under three scenarios: A0-(business-as-usual), A1-(sustainable agriculture), and A2-(agricultural intensification) for 2040 in the Šiauliai region (Lithuania). Spatial autocorrelation was evaluated by using a Moran’s I index and the spatial patterns with the Getis analysis and landscape metrics. The results showed that croplands will increase 29.6% in the A0, 14.95% in the A1, and 29.63% in the A3 scenario. According to the Getis results, cold spots are in the surrounding of Šiauliai city, and hot spots in the northeast of the Šiauliai region. It was verified a high cropland fragmentation in A1 and low fragmentation in A0 and A2 scenarios. These results are critical for land management to understand cropland impacts under different scenarios.

Agricultural Land Withdrawals in Relation to Sustainable Land Use in Slovakia

The area of ​​agricultural land withdrawn for non-agricultural purposes is gradually increasing worldwide, which is mainly due to the conflicting interests of entities that are interested in the use of this natural resource. Between 2009 and 2020, agricultural land in the area of ​​more than 16,000 ha was withdrawn in Slovakia for non-agricultural purposes. It can be considered a threat that the purpose of withdrawal is mostly industrial and subsequently housing, from which it is possible to predict the continuing intensification of industrial production and the growing agglomeration of regional cities. The role of the state in this regard is to introduce tools for its protection so that its production as well as ecological functions are ensured in a sustainable way. The aim of the paper is to evaluate changes in agricultural land use in Slovakia in the context of analysis of implementation tools aimed at protecting agricultural land, using descriptive and regression analysis of available primary and secondary sources. The result thus points to the increased need of protection and reduction of the rate of withdrawal of agricultural land from the agricultural land fund (at least within the highest quality groups with the highest impact for individual withdrawal purposes), more specifically the land belonging to groups 2 and 3, in order to stabilize the agro-sector, which is vital in terms of its functions, among other things, as well as in the field of biodiversity protection, food self-sufficiency and landscape maintenance. The protection of agricultural land as a component of the environment is not a priority interest of state policy, and therefore its implementation is vague and non-conceptual in terms of current progress and the needs of the society.

European blue and green infrastructure network strategy vs. the common agricultural policy. Insights from an integrated case study (Couesnon, Brittany)

Urbanization and agricultural intensification are the main drivers of biodiversity losses through multiple stressors, especially habitat fragmentation, isolation and loss. Designing Blue and Green Infrastructure Networks (BGIN) has been recommended as a potential tool for land-use planning to increase ecosystem services while preserving biodiversity. All municipalities in France are required to perform BGIN planning. This article focuses on the Couesnon watershed (Brittany, France) and the participatory process used to define and analyze five possible pathways of future land-use and land-cover changes that included implementation of BGINs. Impacts on biodiversity were estimated by quantifying the change in landscape connectivity of woodlands, grasslands and wetlands. The effectiveness of BGIN policies was assessed by comparing current landscape connectivity (2018) to those in possible futures. Landscape connectivity referred to functional connectivity for three indicator species (Abax parallelepipedus, Maniola jurtina and Arvicola sapidus) across three landscape features: woodlands, grasslands and wetlands, respectively. Results allowed impacts of urban and agricultural land-use changes to be identified in terms of extent and quality. If BGIN policies were applied effectively to control the expansion of gray infrastructure, they would help increase the area and the quality of grassland and woodland connectivity by no more than 2%. Agricultural land-use and land-cover changes could have more impact on the extent of grassland (−82% to +38%) and wetland (−49% to +47%) connectivity. Current and future trends for hedgerows implied a decrease in woodland connectivity of 9.8–33.8%. Impacts on the quality of landscape connectivity is not proportional with the extent, as a decrease of the latter can have relatively more negative impacts on the former, and inversely. The study highlights that the BGIN strategy can preserve landscape connectivity effectively in urban ecosystems, where human density is higher, but can be threatened by agricultural intensification.

Agricultural Structures Management Based on Nonpoint Source Pollution Control in Typical Fuel Ethanol Raw Material Planting Area

Increasing the promotion and application of biofuel ethanol has been a national strategy in China, which in turn has affected changes in the raw material planting structure. This study analyzed the effects of agricultural land-use changes on water quality in a typical maize fuel ethanol raw material planting area. The results revealed that an increase in cultivated land and construction land would also increase the load of TN (total nitrogen) and TP (total phosphorus), while an expansion in forest land would reduce the load. As for crop structures, maize might have a remarkable positive effect on TN and TP, while rice and soybean performed in no significant manner. Furthermore, scenarios under the carbon neutralization policy and water pollution control were carried out to forecast the nonpoint source pollutants based on the quantitative relations coefficients. It was proven that maize planting was not suitable for vigorous fuel ethanol development. Reducing maize area in the Hulan River Basin was beneficial to reducing nonpoint source pollution. However, the area of maize should not be less than 187 km2, otherwise, the food security of the population in the basin would be threatened. Under the change in fuel ethanol policy, this study could provide scientific support for local agriculture land-use management in realizing the carbon neutralization vision and set a good example for the development of the fuel ethanol industry in other maize planting countries.

Mechanism of Response of Watershed Water Quality to Agriculture Land-Use Changes in a Typical Fuel Ethanol Raw Material Planting Area-A Case Study on Guangxi Province, China.

Speeding up the promotion and application of biofuel ethanol has been a national strategy in China, which in turn has affected changes in the raw material planting structure. This study analyzed the response mechanism of water quality to agriculture land-use changes in a cassava fuel ethanol raw material planting area. The results revealed that an increase in cultivated land and construction land would lead to a rise in the load of TN (total nitrogen) and TP (total phosphorus), while an expansion in forest land and grassland area would reduce the load. As for crop structures, corn would have a remarkable positive impact on TN and TP, while rice and cassava performed in an opposite manner. Furthermore, scenarios under the carbon neutralization policy were carried out to forecast the nonpoint source pollutants based on the quantitative relations coefficients. It was proven that cassava planting was suitable for vigorous fuel ethanol development, but the maximum increase area of cassava should be 126 km2 to ensure economic benefits. Under the change in fuel ethanol policy, this study could provide scientific support for local agriculture land-use management in realizing the carbon neutralization vision and also set a good example for the development of the cassava fuel ethanol industry in other cassava-planting countries.

Linkages between land-use change and groundwater management foster long-term resilience of water supply in California

Study RegionWe created a 270-m coupled model of land-use and groundwater conditions, LUCAS-W[ater], for California’s Central Coast. This groundwater-dependent region is undergoing a dramatic reorganization of groundwater management under California’s 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). Study FocusUnderstanding land-use and land-cover change supports long-term sustainable water management. Anthropogenic water demand has depleted groundwater aquifers worldwide, while future water shortages will likely affect land-use change, creating system feedbacks. Our novel participatory approach fused changes in land-use and associated water use from county-scale data to local water agencies’ estimates of total sustainable supply, scaling up local hydro-geologic knowledge from heterogeneous aquifers and diverse management approaches to a regional level. We assessed five stakeholder-driven scenarios with the same historic rates of urban and agricultural land-use change, but different water and land-use management, analyzing how management strategies altered both the spatial pattern of development and subsequent water sustainability from 2001 to 2061. New Hydrological Insights for the RegionTransformative strategies using demand-side interventions that coupled water availability to land-use more effectively achieved long-term sustainability than adaptive strategies using supply-side interventions to increase water supplies. Limiting water withdrawals within SGMA regulated basins resulted in leakage of development into unregulated basins, increasing groundwater pumping there. Protecting ecosystems, farmlands, and recharge areas from development reduced leakage into undeveloped basins without negatively affecting water sustainability.

A Land-Use Change Model to Support Land-Use Planning in the Mekong Delta (MEKOLUC)

Agricultural land-use changes pose challenges for land managers in terms of ensuring the implementation of local land-use plans. This paper aims to build a land-use change model named MEKOLUC (Mekong Delta land-use change) for simulating land-use changes under the impacts of socioeconomic factors (profitability of land-use types, societal impacts on neighborhoods) and environmental factors (soil, salinity, persistence of salinity). The salinity diffusion map was generated using GAMA software and employed Markov cellular automata to depict the spread of salinity under the influence of dike and sluice gate system operations. The land-use decision-making process was based on multi-criteria selection of the main factors, which were land suitability, land convertibility, density of land use in the neighborhood and profitability of land-use patterns. The input data for the case study were historical land-use maps from 2005, 2010 and 2015 of Soc Trang, a coastal province in the Mekong Delta. The model was calibrated using a land-use map from 2010 (with kappa = 0.86) and was verified with land-use maps from 2015 and 2020 with deviations from 0 to 19%. The simulated results showed that shrimp–rice farming areas have been shrinking, even though these are recommended as sustainable farming systems. Inversely, intensive rice crops tended to change to rice–vegetable crops, vegetable crops or perennial fruit trees, which are projected to be well adapted to climate and salinity intrusion by 2030. This case study shows that the developed model is an essential tool for helping land managers and farmers build land-use plans.

Which sustainability objectives are difficult to achieve? The mid-term evaluation of predicted scenarios in remote mountain agricultural landscapes in Slovakia

The Poloniny National Park (Poloniny) is a forest/grassland-dominated ecosystem, peripherally located on the Slovakian border with Ukraine and Poland, with low population density, economic insufficiency and high natural and cultural values. Three different scenarios for agricultural landscape development were outlined for Poloniny in 2005 under the BioScene project and their likely contributions to achieving participatory-selected sustainability objectives were assessed. Our current research aims to evaluate the recent trends in achieving these sustainability objectives in a socio-ecological context and within the scope of the 2005 scenarios. In addition, we searched for generic and site-specific interventions that could halt the collapse of the socio-ecological system of such landscapes, paying attention to tourism which has appeared to be a promising factor in the region’s socio-economic progress in recent times. We employed information from key planning documents, statistical data on demography, changes in agricultural land use, changes seen from geo-tagged photos, and two questionnaire surveys with local stakeholders. The first survey included feedback on achieving the 2005 sustainability objectives and perceived changes in land use and management; the second aimed to find out the number of accommodated visitors in recent years. Based on sustainability appraisal, we conclude that there has been a mixed impact on biodiversity and natural resources, and a negative or stagnating trend for most social and economic aspects, especially social infrastructure for promotion of local job creation and maintaining the local population. Furthermore, changes in agricultural land use reflect farming activities optimised to local biophysical conditions and toward reaching farm efficiency under the conditions set by the Common Agricultural Policy. Nevertheless, ecotourism was found to be an opportunity in stimulating multi-functional and sustainable landscape management: ecotourism has significantly expanded in the last few years, especially due to local initiatives, and has been further accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, its long-term maintenance is uncertain since its linkage to the well-being of the local community is absent. For achieving this objective, we recommend systematic design of targeted rural policy which respects the needs and character of peripheral mountain regions, provides better conditions for sustainable farming, especially in connection with nonproduction benefits from agricultural landscape such as recreation and biodiversity, and considers local actions and knowledge.