Sustainable Agricultural Policy Research Articles

KAJIAN SOSIALISASI KEBIJAKAN LAHAN PERTANIAN PANGAN BERKELANJUTAN DI KELURAHAN SETIANAGARA, KECAMATAN CIBEUREUM, KOTA TASIKMALAYA, JAWA BARAT

Setianegara Village, Cibeureum District is one of the areas that has been designated as Sustainable Food Agricultural Land (LP2B) in Regional Regulation No.4 of 2012, socialization activities have been carried out by the local government, but the increase in land conversion is still happening. This study aims to determine how the socialization of sustainable food agricultural land policies in Setianagara Village, Cibeureum District, and to analyze the supporting and inhibiting factors for the realization of the socialization objectives. This research design is qualitative with interview and case study methods. The results of the analysis show that the socialization activities have been carried out from the city level to the sub-district level which was attended by farmers, who became the socializers, namely the Agricultural Service and the LP2B formulating team with the target group of farmers who own rice fields, with presentation methods and pamphlets, which are the objectives, namely as information LP2B land determination and agreement with farmers. The driving factor for the socialization activities was the lack of water availability for land needs, while the inhibiting factor for the achievement of the objectives of the socialization was inadequate implementation of the target group.

Effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the food supply chain

This study’s objective was to analyze institutions’ role in positioning Brazil to reduce uncertainties in food supplies related to COVID-19. We intend to demonstrate that food security must be integrated with food safety. This research is an exploratory study of COVID-19’s effects on food systems using qualitative data. This study demonstrates that public and private policies carried out at the international level are needed to avoid new health crises originated by zoonoses. The integration of public and private policies requires the following strategies: building strong institutions, strengthening the agricultural research and innovation system, public policies for sustainable agriculture, strict sanitary control laws, enhancing cold chains of animal protein production, and encouraging the vertical integration model in animal protein chains. This analytical scheme can be applied in the context of agro-industrial systems from an institutional perspective, allowing research into the effect of crises on agri-food supply chains, as in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as contributing to its prevention. It was found that demands to prevent new pandemics are: an outgrowth of the effective adoption of standard sanitary controls; coordination of agri-food systems; and public policies.

Spatiotemporal variation and influencing factors of nitrogen and phosphorus in lake sediments in China since 1850

Chinese lakes have been affected by climate change, agricultural intensification and population increases since 1850. However, the spatiotemporal variations in nitrogen and phosphorus in lake sediments and the factors influencing these variations are poorly understood. This research analysed the spatiotemporal variations in the mass accumulation rate (MAR) and total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations of sediments since 1850 and the responses of these factors to the influence of natural and anthropic factors through the collection of data from 56 lake sediment samples in China. After 2000, the average MAR value (2794 g/m2/yr), TN concentration (0.35%) and TP concentration (0.96‰) of lake sediments were significantly higher than the average values during 1850–1900 (p < 0.05). During the study period, the MAR of the lake sediments in the eastern plain (EP) was the highest in the country, and the increase was also largest in this region. The TN concentrations of lake sediments in the Northeast Plain (NEP) were the highest in the country, and the TN concentrations of lakes in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau (YGP) underwent the largest increase. The TP concentrations in the sediments of the YGP were higher than the national average during the study period, and the lakes in the NEP had the highest increase in TP concentrations. The result showed climate and lake morphology are important factors controlling the indices in lakes' sediment in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) since 1900. Climate and lake morphology are major impact factors for lakes’ sediment indices in NEP, EP, Mongolia- Xinjiang Plateau (MXP) and YGP in 1900–1950. After 1950, anthropic factors gradually replaced natural factors and became the main factors affecting these four regions and anthropic factors promoted the increase of nutrient concentration in lake sediments. The results of this study show that sustainable agricultural development policies and population policies can help control the quality of nutrients entering lakes, thereby reducing the concentrations of nutrients in lake sediments in the future.

Exploring the role of agricultural subsidy policies for sustainable agriculture Based on Chinese agricultural big data

Agricultural subsidy policy is a policy means for the government to ensure the living standard of agricultural personnel and food security and improve the overall income of agricultural residents. With the gradual complication of the content of agricultural subsidies, the scale of various subsidies has also been improved accordingly. Sustainable agricultural subsidy policy has become the main research topic in the big data analysis environment. The per capita agricultural production still shows a downward trend year by year in the practical application of the concept of modernization policy. Facing this situation, this paper calculates the effect evaluation of agricultural subsidy policy from the way of big data analysis, and studies the optimization of subsidy policy system. The data mining technology in big data analysis method is used to collect the basic characteristics of agricultural energy subsidy policy. The Douglas calculation function is used to analyze the relationship between the amount of agricultural energy subsidies and the total production. The effect of Chinese agricultural subsidy policy is evaluated according to the calculation tools such as gray relationship calculation in big data econometric analysis and nonparametric data analysis DEA. At the same time, compared with the subsidy policies of other countries, it provides help for the optimization of Chinese system.

Development of Novel QAPEX Analysis System Using Open-Source GIS

The Agricultural Policy/Environmental eXtender (APEX) model has been used for farm/small watershed management, and the ArcAPEX interface was developed using the ArcGIS extension. However, the interface requires a paid license and limits dynamic applications that reflect various agricultural farming practices. In this study, a novel APEX model interface using Quantum GIS, the QAPEX analysis system, was developed by incorporating open-source-based GIS software for the simulation of water quality impacts of various best management practices reflecting local farming activities. The watershed delineation process running on the QAPEX interface is more flexible than that on the ArcAPEX interface, which renders simulations on hydrology and water quality with considerable precision. The newly developed system can be used to visually interpret simulation results (e.g., flow and load duration curve functions). Therefore, the open-source-based model can be used to derive data for sustainable agricultural policies, with a focus on the field-level application of management practices.

Sustainable Agricultural Policy Strategies to Support the Existence of Subsistence Agriculture in Lingga Regency

The production of subsistence farmers dominates Lingga's agricultural commodities as an alternative food supply. However, this production helps meet food needs in Lingga Regency. Along with the development of regional development, to meet the needs and regional food security and guard against land conversion activities, it is necessary to protect agricultural land. This article aims to identify the implementation of the Sustainable Food Agricultural Land Protection Program in Lingga Regency, Riau Islands Province. This research is a qualitative study with a study approach that examines the government's efforts to overcome land conversion and support the productivity of subsistence farmers as alternative food suppliers by making policies to protect agricultural land for sustainable food. Research shows that to anticipate the occurrence of land conversion, the local government of Lingga Regency issued two regulations to ensure the protection of sustainable agricultural land and the determination of the area of rice fields. This study still has limitations, namely respondents for primary data sources, especially in farmer groups. As a result, additional research will be conducted to include subsistence farmers and monitor the policy progress of the sustainable Food and agriculture land conservation program in Lingga Regency.

Spatial and Temporal Variations in the Ecological Efficiency and Ecosystem Service Value of Agricultural Land in China

In-depth analysis of spatial and temporal variations in the ecological efficiency of agricultural land has important theoretical and practical significance in achieving the efficient utilization of agricultural land, the coordinated development of natural resources and the environment, and the formulation of sustainable agricultural development policies. By including carbon emissions and pollution as undesired output indicators of agricultural land use, and introducing ecological service values as output indicators, an SBM-Undesirable model which can not only avoid the deviation caused by the difference of radial and angular selection, but also reflect the essence of efficiency evaluation, was used to estimate the ecological efficiency of agricultural land in 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions of China from 2004 to 2017. Spatial and temporal differences were then analyzed. The results show that (1) The ecological efficiency of agricultural land in China decreased overall from 2004 to 2017. (2) The eco-efficiency of agricultural land was highest in the eastern provinces, lowest in the central provinces, and moderate in the western provinces. (3) Among the input indicators, the input redundancy rates of agricultural land, chemical fertilizer input and agricultural film input were too high. (4) China’s agricultural land use has not evolved towards harmonious development of the environment and economy. Due to the excessive use of chemical fertilizers, agricultural films and other factors that cause pollution, there has been a one-sided increase in the economic output of agricultural land, and improvements in ecological value have been inhibited. Based on the research results, feasible suggestions are put forward to improve the ecological efficiency of agricultural land in China.

Targeting sustainable greenhouse agriculture policies in China and Denmark: A comparative study

Greenhouse agriculture has become vitally important in promoting sustainable food supplies globally, especially by encouraging local production and consumption practices. However, it also represents an industry with a high risk for groundwater pollution due to much higher application limits allowed for nitrogen fertilizers compared to conventional agriculture. Although sufficient focus has been placed on characterizing any environmental impacts stemming from agriculture, including greenhouses, the influence of social, economic and political aspects on this process are generally overlooked. This one-sided focus may be partly due to the complexity of environmental systems, i.e. in measuring the state of the system accurately. However, any actions taken by a government, i.e. in the form of policy instruments, will play a key role in ensuring the safety and quality of agricultural products and the surrounding environmental systems. Insufficient knowledge regarding policy and related influential factors may thus slow the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and ultimately inhibit environmental protection. In light of this, a cross-national comparative study was carried out to enable a systematic understanding of Chinese and Danish greenhouse agriculture policy using the agro-environmental DPSIR (Driver, Pressure, State, Impact, Response) indicator framework. We critically examined whether current legislative steps for mitigating anthropogenic sources of N-pollution are suitably aimed at the parameters controlling (driving) specific pressures/impacts on groundwater. The potential for reaction (feedback/responses) within each legislative system, as well as the key gaps in policy responses for monitoring both water and N-fertilizer applied in greenhouses were identified. Notably, most responses are found to target only the pressure component of the framework. This discovery opens the door for the development of additional response mechanisms, which together could result in more sustainable policy measures for greenhouse agriculture that may be more effective, more quickly. Although many countermeasures exist for control of land, water and fertilizer use at the national level in both countries, their deployment depends heavily on effective stakeholder engagement and local-level adoption strategies, indicating a more holistic and multi-objective (less fragmented) policy approach is needed. Importantly, this paper demonstrates an alternative implementation of the DPSIR framework, where comparative study applications may be used to enable mutual learning that may enhance the uptake of disruptive solutions (technological and/or policy advancement), recognizing that incremental change may not be cost-efficient or sustainable especially for regions with critical water issues.

Quantifying global agricultural water appropriation with data derived from earth observations

Agricultural water appropriation has undergone rapid changes in recent decades, but estimates of global water appropriation have not been updated with the latest data and consistent methods. Documenting these changes is challenging given the heterogeneous water use landscape and the growing influence of human activities worldwide, and this complexity cannot be well addressed with the existing methodology, which is subject to large model uncertainties. Here, a spatial analysis and aggregated method was proposed to quantify and refine estimates of global agricultural water appropriation (GAWA) in terms of consumptive freshwater use, with data derived from Earth observations, independent of estimates from hydrological models. The results show the global water appropriation at the pixel scale, in agroecological zones and in the main water-consuming countries, including global maps of rainfed and irrigated cropland evapotranspiration (ET), net water consumption due to irrigation, natural ET and renewable freshwater resources (RFWR), and indicate that agriculture remains the largest user in terms of both water consumption and withdrawals worldwide, representing 87% of global water consumption, with approximately 60% of global freshwater withdrawals devoted to irrigation circa 2015. The percentage of withdrawals devoted to irrigation has decreased in recent decades when compared to the previous estimate of 70%. The results reveal the actual global crop consumptive use (8053.6 km3/yr) of blue and green water and the total human water consumption (8442 km3/yr), which represents the part of the water cycle affected by human intervention, mainly (95.4%) by agriculture. This study reveals that high-resolution irrigated croplands are essential for accurate estimations of water use appropriation and demonstrates that earth observation-derived data can provide a new understanding of global water use landscape. The study can support decision making in sustaining food and water security, and implementing water-adapted sustainable agricultural policies.

Positive impacts of farmland fragmentation on agricultural production efficiency in Qilu Lake watershed: Implications for appropriate scale management

Farmland fragmentation can be influenced by factors that operate at different scales. It is not only a spatial boundary pattern of farmland use and management rights shaped by macro policies but also a self–organisation process that determines the utilisation and management of farmland units. Farmland fragmentation is generally considered ineffective for improving agricultural production efficiency, whilst its positive effects are ignored by policymakers because the forms, scenarios and causes of farmland fragmentation are not clearly defined. The historical process and various heterogeneous conditions in the Qilu Lake watershed, Yunnan Province, China make the area an interesting case to investigate the relationship between farmland fragmentation and agricultural production efficiency. Using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) images and a field survey, we (i) determined forms, scenarios and the causes of existing farmland fragmentation; (ii) measured the level of farmland fragmentation and agricultural production efficiency; and (iii) analysed the impact of farmland fragmentation on agricultural production efficiency by using the Tobit regression model. The results indicate that the forms of farmland fragmentation include physical (internal, use and location) and tenure (ownership/usership) fragmentation in the Qilu Lake watershed. The average plot size, the number of plots and the distance amongst plots all indicate that the physical and tenure fragmentation is serious and heterogeneous. Farmland fragmentation in the Qilu Lake watershed is the result of self–organisation and appropriate scale management adaptation. The distribution of farmland ownership and usership as a response to regional characteristics of topography, natural disasters and dense population in a farmland scare area leads to the initial stage of location fragmentation. Internal and use fragmentation caused by planting multiple crops can adapt to the local heterogeneous ecological conditions, high population density, imperfect markets and market–oriented agricultural systems. The resilient practice is considered to be an effective risk management strategy that can promote agricultural production. Land transfer related to usership fragmentation has no effect on agricultural productivity in the Qilu Lake watershed. In addition, the social attributes of households also impact agricultural production efficiency. Our findings have two key policy implications, namely, (i) expanding the semantics of farmland fragmentation helps design policies for environment–friendly farmland utilisation and promote sustainable watershed development, and (ii) environmental and agricultural macro policies should give equal consideration to the negative and positive effects of farmland fragmentation as resilient solutions of appropriate scale management.

A Prediction Model Optimization Critiques through Centroid Clustering by Reducing the Sample Size, Integrating Statistical and Machine Learning Techniques for Wheat Productivity

Machine learning algorithms are rapidly deploying and have made manifold breakthroughs in various fields. The optimization of algorithms got abundant attention of researchers being a core component for deploying the machine learning model (MLM) abled to learn the parameters in significant ways for the given data. Modeling crop productivity through innumerable agronomical constraints has become a crucial task for evolving sustainable agricultural policies. The cross-sectional datasets of 26430 (D1) crop-cut experiments are taken by 2nd-stage area frame sampling, collected from crop reporting service. This research is taken as follows: firstly three more effective numerical optimized datasets are generated (D1, D2, and D3) from D1 by taking the centroid points of features which decrease the sample size; secondly MLM is integrated with the traditional statistical models (TSMs) for multiple linear regression (MLR), and thirdly decision tree regression (DTR) and random forest regression (RFR) are deployed to get the optimized models able to predict the wheat productivity well with 75% datasets to train and 25% to test the model using the evaluation metrics (R2, RMSE), information criterion (AIC) with weights (AICW), evidence ration (E.R), and decompositions of prediction error. The MLR outperformed for MLM than TSM. The performance capability of MLM and TSM got upswing for generated datasets. RFR got optimized and superperformed for D1, D2, D3, and D4. This study demonstrated strong evidences for deploying MLM for prediction of wheat productivity as an alternative of traditional statistical modeling.

Sustainability Dimensions Assessment in Four Traditional Agricultural Systems in the Amazon

Although traditional agriculture carried out by ethnic groups is considered for its high biodiversity and important for food security and sovereignty, few studies have investigated the potential of these systems in the interest of promoting a sustainable agricultural development policy according to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Using the FAO's Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture (SAFA) methodology, this study analyzed the sustainability of four traditional agricultural systems, three indigenous (Waorani, Shuar, and Kichwa) and one migrant settler populations in the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve (YBR) and identified synergies and trade-offs among the dimensions of sustainability. The results showed different dynamics in all dimensions of sustainability-specifically, trade-offs in the dimensions of good governance with environmental integrity and social well-being, economic resilience, and social well-being. It was identified that the differences in terms of sustainability are narrowing between the indigenous Shuar people's traditional agricultural systems and those of migrant settlers, which provides policymakers with specific information to design sustainable development policies and rescue traditional agricultural systems in the Amazon region.

Geographic information system-assisted site quality assessment for hazelnut cultivation using multi-criteria decision analysis in the Black Sea region, Turkey.

Developing land suitability models for strategically critical agricultural products to expand sustainable agricultural policies and sensitive agriculture management has become a significant trend. This study aims to improve a unique land suitability model for hazelnut cultivation by applying the criteria set (7 main criteria, 35 sub-criteria) including qualitative and quantitative reasons, integrated fuzzy analytic hierarchy process, inverse distance weighting, multi-criteria decision analysis, geographic information system, and weighted linear combination approaches. The model developed in the present study was applied and tested in Ünye District of Ordu Province, where hazelnut production in the Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey is an important economic activity. While 71.17% of the study area is classified as very highly suitable, highly suitable, and moderately suitable, 28.83% of the study area has marginally suitable and unsuitable properties for hazelnut cultivation. Generally, it was determined that the coastal parts of the study area were the most suitable areas for hazelnut growing. The hazelnut land suitability model's two main criteria impacting the final score values are climatic and topographic conditions, respectively. Heavy metal pollution and physical, chemical, and fertility conditions related to soil properties followed these, respectively. The first ten sub-criteria with the highest weight value were determined as elevation, annual average temperature, annual average precipitation, aspect, annual average relative humidity, nickel (pollution), slope, annual average maximum temperature, lead (pollution), and soil depth, respectively. Existing hazelnut cultivation areas were used to test the model. Of the existing cultivation areas, 75.59% coincided with the very highly suitable, highly suitable, and moderately suitable classes presented in this study, while 17.15% were in marginally suitable and 7.26% in unsuitable classes. The study results reveal that the hazelnut land suitability model developed is suitable in mild climate conditions. Using this model as a general transition model will be beneficial to test it in areas containing similar climatic conditions and various soil properties. This study will create a rational background in ensuring the sustainable food production system and security, agricultural land use planning, strategic planning and management of the hazelnut plant, increasing agricultural productivity and income, and the ecosystem.

Possibilities of using nanotechnology to improve spring rapeseed germ quality in the context of integrated production requirements

Sustainable agricultural policies are leaning towards the use of silver and copper nanocolloids (AgNK, CuNK), which are the most widely used compounds among nanomaterials in various fields, especially in the agricultural sector. Plants are an essential component of the ecosystem and the most important source of food for humanity, therefore, it is important to understand the effects of nanocolloids silver and copper on plant growth and development. This article presents the effects of the above nanocolloids on plants, in terms of the elemental content of a food product in the form of dried rapeseed sprouts obtained from a field crop with a foliar spray containing silver and copper metal nanocolloids.

Effects of agricultural activities on energy-carbon-water nexus of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Energy, carbon, water and their interactions determine agricultural production efficiency and sustainability. On the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), agricultural activities threaten the ecological security of the region, and agriculture itself is susceptible to climate change. In this study, we applied an energy-carbon-water nexus framework to assess the carbon emissions, water utilization, and energy flow, and their links with agricultural production on the QTP, using emergy analysis, footprint analysis (carbon footprint and water footprint) and a coupling model. The results showed that agricultural activities on the QTP released 2.17 × 1010 kgCO2-eq and absorbed 6.00 × 1010 kgCO2-eq, using 3.24 × 1022 sej of emergy and 8.19 × 109 m3 of water in 2018. Meanwhile, the energy-carbon-water nexus of agricultural production on the QTP was imbalanced, and the environmental footprint revealed large spatial heterogeneity at county scale. The coupling interaction among the energy-carbon-water nexus in agricultural production was investigated based on the coupling coordination model. Five categories of coupling interaction were identified by the degree of coordination. The largest emitter was agricultural input, especially electricity and nitrogen fertilizer, accounting for 24% and 7% of the total on average, respectively. With regard to emergy flows, renewable organic resources, accounted for 47%, making them the predominant in emergy inputs. The green water footprint (water from natural rainfall) at 51% was higher than the blue water footprint (water from irrigation) at 49%. More measurements to reduce carbon emission and improve the efficiency of energy usage and water usage are needed, such as optimizing planting patterns and structures, promoting cleaner energy, improving the efficiency of agrochemical use and proposing reasonable spatial planning for regional ecological development. Our findings provide a systematic reference for energy-carbon-water nexus analysis and sustainable agricultural development policy for decision-makers on the QTP.

Effects of Meteorological Parameters on Surface Water Loss in Burdur Lake, Turkey over 34 Years Landsat Google Earth Engine Time-Series

The current work aims to examine the effect of meteorological parameters as well as the temporal variation on the Burdur Lake surface water body areas in Turkey. The data for the surface area of Burdur Lake was collected over 34 years between 1984 and 2019 by Google Earth Engine. The seasonal variation in the water bodies area was collected using our proposed extraction method and 570 Landsat images. The reduction in the total area of the lake was observed between 206.6 km2 in 1984 to 125.5 km2 in 2019. The vegetation cover and meteorological parameters collected that affect the observed variation of surface water bodies for the same area include precipitation, evapotranspiration, albedo, radiation, and temperature. The selected meteorological variables influence the reduction in lake area directly during various seasons. Correlations showed a strong positive or negative significant relationship between the reduction and the selected meteorological variables. A factor analysis provided three components that explain 82.15% of the total variation in the data. The data provide valuable references for decision makers to develop sustainable agriculture and industrial water use policies to preserve water resources as well as cope with potential climate changes.

Potential impacts of sustainable agricultural practices on smallholders' behavior in developing countries: Evidence from Togo

AbstractTo limit global warming, advocacy has increased in support of lowering greenhouse gas emissions. For instance, in agriculture, the use of compost and bio‐fertilizer is increasingly promoted. Therefore, this paper aims at investigating how sustainable agricultural policies may influence land use and farm income in the context of global climatic change. Thus, a mathematical programming model with a representative risk‐neutral and profit‐maximizing economic agent is applied, using survey data on 423 farmers in Togo, a West African country. The findings indicate that a combination of a subsidy and a credit policy appear to be the best incentive to promote the adoption of sustainable practices and to increase farm income. Therefore, a combination of subsidy and credit policy should be implemented to foster the adoption of sustainable practices and improve farmers' welfare.

The impact of incentives on the decision to transfer agricultural land functions to non-agricultural uses

The influence of incentives on landowner’s decision-making regarding land-use change is an intriguing consideration when developing sustainable agricultural land policies. Owners of agricultural land in rural areas with varying characteristics and varying agricultural yields each year have varying views on changing or maintaining their land. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of incentives on people’s attitudes toward maintaining or selling land (land-use change from agricultural land to non-agricultural land). This study employed a descriptive analysis to calculate the impact of incentives from the government on the decision to change or keep the land. The responses of 500 respondents were categorized as follows: 20-46.67 in favor of land change, 46.67-73.33 neutral, and 73.4-100 in favor of maintaining land. The analysis revealed that additional factors influence the decision to sell or maintain the land. However, some villages seek to preserve land through government incentives.

Implementable Factors for Sustainable Agricultural Policy in Metro City

Conservation of agricultural land for food sovereignty is one of the SDGs' agenda. In Indonesia, this objective is stated in the Sustainable Food Agricultural Land (LP2B) policy outlined in Law No. 41/2009, which followed by regulations below to the level of the Regional Regulation. In the Metro City, this is stated in Regional Regulation No. 21/2016 to be the basis for a policy of protection of 1,567.5 hectares of paddy fields. This regulation aims to support food sovereignty and maintain the ecological balance of the environment. The problem arises because the paddy fields designated by LP2B are private land so that not all owners are willing to implement this policy. This study aims to analyze the factors that affect the level of willingness of landowners with a quantitative approach by analyzing land data with multiple linear regression analysis techniques. A sample of 513 parcels was taken from the Farmers Owning Farmers population of 6,060 HHs based on Agricultural Survey data, BPS Lampung 2018. In general, from the results of the analysis, the highest coefficient on object characteristics was variable land productivity while the characteristics of subjects were multifunctional knowledge of paddy fields.

Trends in Misuse of Agricultural Lands in Erzurum Plain of Eastern Turkey

Natural resource conservation, sustainable land management, adaptation to climate change, and increasing ecosystem resistance are the main research issues in the last decades. The objective of this study was to assess the quantity and the trends in misuse of agricultural lands within the 8-year period (2010-2018) in Erzurum, the 4th largest province of Turkey. A total of 488 454 hectares of agricultural land, of which 143 842 hectares are “the most suitable for cultivated agriculture-S1” and 344 612 hectares “suitable for cultivated agriculture-S2”, were defined for Erzurum province. These two classes of agricultural lands occupy 19.6% of the province's total land assets. The amount of land occupied in Erzurum plain in the period of 2000-2018 is 13 161 decares. Approximately 40% of the occupied land (3 833 decares) are in I and II. Class lands. Some of the physical and chemical properties of the soil change depending on the landuse changes in productive agricultural lands for various reasons. These changes also affect the amount of carbon capture in soils, making soils vulnerable to the effects of climate changes. In this context, it is necessary to develop sustainable agricultural land use policies. Legal and institutional arrangements to be made should primarily aim to protect agricultural lands and increase their productivity.