Virtual Land Research Articles

Preserving global land and water resources through the replacement of livestock feed crops with agricultural by-products.

While animal-source foods contribute to 16% of the global food supply and are an important protein source in human diets, their production uses a disproportionately large fraction of agricultural land and water resources. Therefore, a global comprehensive understanding of the extent to which livestock production competes directly or indirectly with food crops is needed. Here we use an agro-hydrological model combined with crop-specific yield data to investigate to what extent the replacement of some substitutable feed crops with available agricultural by-products would spare agricultural land and water resources that could be reallocated to other uses, including food crop production. We show that replacing 11-16% of energy-rich feed crops (that is, cereals and cassava) with agricultural by-products would allow for the saving of approximately 15.4-27.8 Mha of land, and 3-19.6 km3 and 74.2-137.8 km3 of blue and green water, respectively, for the growth of other food crops, thus providing a suitable strategy to reduce unsustainable use of natural resources both locally or through virtual land and water trade.

Will the Grain Imports Competition Effect Reverse Land Green Efficiency of Grain Production? Analysis Based on Virtual Land Trade Perspective

To explore new strategies to improve the efficiency of land for grain production in China, this study empirically investigates the relationship between the grain imports competition effect and the efficiency of land for grain production from the perspective of virtual land trade based on the new-new trade theory and induced technological innovation theory. We obtained the following conclusions: (1) Overall, the efficiency of land for grain production showed a slow upward trend from 2003 to 2020, with a growth rate of 27.53%. Among them, the efficiency of land for grain production in the Huang-Huai-Hai and northeast regions has increased by 66.41% and 36.30%, respectively. (2) The grain imports competition effect reduces the profitability of domestic grain production through shocks and forces the improvement of China’s grain production land efficiency. It is caused by the trade-for-competition effect. Importing a large number of grain products with lower land use costs reduces the profits of grain producers in the domestic market through shocks, gradually eliminating producers with less efficient land use, thus forcing the improvement of land use efficiency in domestic grain production. (3) The grain imports competition effect is stronger because the developed livestock industry in the northern region requires the import of large quantities of soybeans and corn, and other virtual land content is much lower than the domestic feed grain. Also, the marginal effect of the grain imports competition effect is stronger due to the presence of more producers with less efficient land for grain production in non-major grain-producing regions, which are more likely to be eliminated by market shocks from imports. This study verifies the applicability of the trade promotion competition effect and induces the technological innovation effect in the field of grain trade, which extends the research boundary of virtual land trade in grain.

Dynamic simulation of the water-land-food nexus for the sustainable agricultural development in the North China Plain

Inter-regional trade of agricultural products based on the flow of agricultural virtual resources is of great importance for sustainable agricultural development. We focused on grain crops (rice, wheat and maize) in the North China Plain (NCP), and used the Penman–Monteith equation to simulate crop water requirements. We further analyzed the flow of virtual land and virtual water associated with the grain trade using an environmentally expanded multi-regional input–output model. The coupling coordination of land, water, and food was evaluated to assess the rationality of regional agricultural production resource allocation. Between 2007 and 2017, agricultural virtual land and virtual water embodied in the grain trade between the NCP and other areas increased by 48.10 % and 34.41 %, respectively, indicating that the NCP is gradually consolidating its position as the main production area and distribution center of crops in China. Agricultural virtual resources in the NCP were mainly transported to the southeast coastal region, with an overall trend of resource movement from north to south. The total supply of agricultural land and water resources markedly increased in the NCP, whereas the transfer of virtual resources across regions showed a decreasing trend. Because of the irrational structure of crop cultivation and unevenness of regional resource allocation, the coupling coordination of the water–land–food nexus in the NCP is much lower than the national average. This study provides important information on the trade flows and coupling relationships of virtual water and land resources of three major food crops, which will help to alleviate resource pressure in agricultural production and promote sustainable agricultural development in the NCP.

Low-carbon economic resilience: The inequality embodied in inter-regional trade

The paper integrates low-carbon development into the context of economic resilience, thus proposing “Low-carbon Economic Resilience” (LER). We establish an analysis framework to analyze LER based on regional interactions. The framework indicates that regions achieve LER by transferring the development burden to others, which will result in inter-regional trade inequality. An empirical analysis focused on inter-regional trade in cities of China is carried out to illustrate this framework. We calculate the degree of economic resilience and low-carbon development in cities of China. Then we trace the environmental-economic benefits embodied in virtual built-up land flow in regions. The characteristics of virtual built-up land flow exert an impact on the spatial distribution of regional economic resilience to a certain extent. The results show that, in China, many cities achieved only economic resilience or low-carbon development, while a few cities were able to achieve LER. The latter imported built-up land with high carbon emissions or low economic benefits from others, while developing “high-quality” built-up land themselves, which was reflected in the benefits per hectare of built-up land. The differences in environmental-economic benefits from inter-regional trade cause trade inequality, and major cities are the main beneficiaries, which contributes to their achievement of LER.

Spatiotemporal variations of water, land, and carbon footprints of pig production in China

Pig production not only consumes large water and land, but also emits substantial greenhouse gases. Scholars have used environmental footprint, including water, land, and carbon footprints, to assess the environmental impacts of pig production. However, there is a lack of simultaneous analysis of water, land, and carbon footprints for pig production, particularly in China, the leading pig breeding and consumption country in the world. In this study, we used environmental footprint analysis to develop a water-land-carbon footprint model for pig production system from the life cycle perspective. We also examined virtual water, land and carbon flows embedded in trade. The life cycle of pig production mainly involves feed crop cultivation, feed production, and pig breeding. Then we analyzed the water, land, and carbon footprints of the pig production in China from 1990 to 2018. The findings indicated that both the total water footprint and the total land footprint increased, whereas the total carbon footprints fluctuated over the years. All the unit footprints generally decreased. Feed crop cultivation had a significant impact on the footprints. Regarding the spatial characteristics in China, all the three total footprints were generally higher in the southeast compared to the northwest. While the unit footprints in different provinces exhibited spatial heterogeneity, primarily attributed to the different feed consumptions. Overall, the trade of feed crop shifted virtual water, land and carbon flows from the north to the south, reducing the three total footprints on the whole. To achieve a resource-saving and eco-friendly pig production in China, we proposed some potential recommendations, including improving feed crop cultivation techniques, reducing feed conversion ratio, implementing precision feeding, and managing manure. We hope not only mitigate the environmental impacts of China’s pig production, but also provide references for achieving agricultural sustainability in other regions of the world.

Virtual built‐up land transfers and induced ecosystem service potential loss embodied in China's inter‐regional trade

AbstractInter‐regional trade can potentially extend the management of resources and induced ecological environmental impacts beyond a region's territory along supply chains. We combined environmental‐extended multi‐regional input–output analysis and ecosystem services value (ESV) assessment, to identify the remote connections of construction land use and the induced ecosystem services potential loss in inter‐provincial trade in China from 2007 to 2017. The findings indicated that the virtual construction land flow increased by 0.774 million ha in the eight regions of China during 2007–2017. The Northeast and the Northwest were net exporters while most of the inflow areas were in the more developed areas such as Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei and the Yangtze River Delta. The net regional flow of ecosystem service potential loss (ESPL) in China increased by 352.64 billion yuan. The spatial heterogeneity of ESV in each province led to differences in the inter‐sectoral or inter‐regional flow characteristics of ESPL from embodied construction land use. The outflow areas of ESPL were mostly located in the old industrial bases of the Northeast and Northern Coast, which sacrificed their local ecological service value to meet the development needs of Southern Coast, Southwest China and Beijing–Tianjin. The research results help to clarify ecological and environmental responsibility, improve ecological compensation mechanisms and formulate scientific policies for coordinated protection of ecosystem services.

The Quagmire of Ideologies: An Ethnography of Kurdish Virtual Life-World on Facebook

ABSTRACT Using critical virtual ethnography, this article deals with the virtual life-world of Iranian Kurds on Facebook. We used a Constructivist grounded theory approach (as a data analysis method) to understand how Facebook is used as a space to reproduce Kurdish identity with semantic symbols and cultural patterns that are shared amongst Kurds. We argue that these common cultural patterns and meanings on Facebook have become ideological with the dominance of major ideologies that interpret ‘self’ and ‘other’ based on their particular interpretation of Kurdish identity and history. Any individual or group not fitting into this narrative is excluded from the Kurdish virtual society. As a major ideology, Kurdish nationalism assumes that the Kurds had a glorious ethnic history in the past, which was stolen by the ‘other’, paving the way for further oppressing the Kurds until the present. Different Kurdish ideologies on Facebook believe the ‘other’ must be destroyed to break this oppression chain. Each ideology interprets this ‘other’ differently. We show how Kurdish Facebook has become a virtual colonial land, a quagmire of ideologies, where subjects are colonised in different ways.

Virtual Land and Water Flows and Driving Factors Related to Livestock Products Trade in China

Agricultural trade, which involves the exchange of virtual water and land resources, can effectively regulate the allocation of resources among countries while enhancing the well-being of resource-rich and resource-poor nations. China’s animal products trade market concentration is greater, and the livestock industry consumes more water than other agricultural sectors. In order to alleviate the pressure on China’s domestic water and land resources and to ensure that Chinese residents have access to animal products, this article examines the trade situation and drivers of virtual water and land resources related to Chinese animal products trade. This study used the heat equivalent method to measure the virtual water and land flows of the import and export of beef, pork, and mutton from 1992 to 2018, which is followed by the gravity model to investigate the factors impacting China’s flow of virtual land and water related to livestock products trade. We found that the economic development and the agricultural resources of exporters, as well as China’s agricultural employment rates, have a stable beneficial impact on China’s livestock imports. The population of importing nations, China’s cultivated land area, and the livestock production index of importers and exporters have a positive impact on the export of livestock products from China. Our results remain robust following a series of additional tests.

Toward constructing an eco-account of cultivated land by quantifying the resources flow and eco-asset transfer in China

As an artificial and natural coupling system, cultivated land effectively link the socio-ecosystem by appearing the mixed outcomes from human’s interactions with nature including resource consumption, food security, urban growth, environmental pollution emission, land use change, and developmental policies. However, there still exists many problems that the impacts of human activities on environment are hard to assess and the responsibilities are difficult to allocate when discussing the cultivated land protection, despite the towards constant efforts. This paper tries to construct an eco-account of cultivated land by integrating resources utilization into socio-economic activities, as it indeed provides assistance to practical issues and also is a global trend of environmental-economic accounting. To achieve this, the multi-regional input-output table was used as the important tool that can be considered as the proxy of socio-economic system. The cultivated land is regarded to be embodied and transferred in the economic trade of products and services. We quantify the ecological footprint and ecosystem services flows of cultivated land, build the link between the actual consumption and the physical depletion, and identify the supplier and demander of cultivated land among regions in China. The results show that: 1) The embodied cultivate land in the final consumption presents difference in terms of 31 regions and consumption categories. The developed areas having higher virtual cultivated land consumption and dependence upon others. 2) The north China is mainly the supplier and south is the demander of cultivated land, and the major resources transfer flow is from the north to south and west to east of China. 3) By assessing the eco-value of cultivated land, a revised matrix table containing the account of cultivated land eco-asset transfer for each region is constructed. The framework of this paper can provide aid of assigning responsibilities concerning cultivated land protection and offer a new view to help find a practicable avenue to the eco-compensation or integrated utilization of cultivated land.

Globalization of forest land use: Increasing threats on climate-vulnerable regions

Given the increasing influence of international trade on regional land use, this paper presents a comprehensive overview of forest land use across global supply chains by means of embodiment accounting based on EXIOBASE 3 database, with a specific focus on the climate vulnerability and adaptation readiness of supply chain agents. Globally, 2268.3 million hectares (Mha) of forest land was exploited for forestry in 2015, while 30% was associated with export production, mainly sourced from Russia, Canada, Africa, South America and tropical and subtropical Asia-Pacific and linked to the final consumption of developed (e.g. the EU, the USA and Japan) and emerging (e.g. China and India) economies. During 2000–2015, forest land exploited in climate-vulnerable regions rose to 689.4 Mha, contributing over 50% of the overall increase in global forest land exploitation. Forest land use displaced from China and India to these regions increased by 2.6 and 3.3 times, respectively, due to escalating imports from tropics and subtropics (especially Asia-Pacific), where the readiness to take adaptation actions was also low. For the EU and the USA, virtual forest land use sourced from these regions remained large in absolute magnitude despite decreasing import volume. Therefore, transnational mutual efforts are needed to secure local forestry of climate-vulnerable regions, improve the resilience of global supply chains and mitigate negative influence on other sustainable development goals supported by forest ecosystems.

THE LAW OF TRANSACTIONS OF VIRTUAL LAND SALE AND PURCHASE IN METAVERSE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF FIQH MU’AMALAH

ABSTRACT One of the modern lifestyles that is starting to spread in society is individual consumption of the Metaverse digital world. Something interesting about the Metaverse is the virtual land that owned by users can be profitable when sold, rented and invested so that users can potentially profit from price increases. In addition, Metaverse runs on blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, which in turn can provide a truly free market. But behind all the tempting advantages, virtual land sale and purchase transactions still has not received legal status in Islam. Because there are still immature virtual land properties to be used as an object of sale and purchase. Likewise with the crypto used for transactions. Therefore, by using a qualitative method, the researcher discusses the law of buying and selling virtual land in the Metaverse by examining binding laws on the Fiqh Mu'amalah contained in the primary data to analyze the transaction law for virtual land buying and selling transactions in the Metaverse. The findings of this study indicate that crypto, the currency used for transactions on the Metaverse platform, does not fulfill the requirements as a currency or commodity to be traded in Islam. This is because crypto is volatile and has no supporting assets. And also regarding virtual land as an object of sale and purchase, there is an element of maysir in the transaction because the price of land depends solely on luck which is influenced by the fluctuations in the value of cryptocurrencies in circulation. Apart from that, virtual land in the form of NFT is also gharar because it cannot be presented in real terms. The researcher hopes that this research can become a reference for Islamic law in the discussion of Fiqh Mu'amalah. And the researcher hopes that further researchers can perfect the deficiencies contained in this discussion. Keywords : Virtual Land, Metaverse, Crypto, Sale and Purchase, Fiqh Mu’amalah

Visualizing economic drivers of virtual land trade: A case study of global cereals trade

Exploring virtual land trade (VLT) embodied in the global agricultural trade enables us to uncover potential risks to economy, environment, and food security within the trade structure. Using the bilateral trade data for the periods of 1988–1990, 1998–2000, 2008–2010, and 2018–2020, we created halfcircle diagrams depicting how virtual land of cereals is traded between countries of different income levels. The diagrams show that the global trend of virtual land in cereal products was being exported from high-income to low-income countries. Initially, a few wealthy countries dominated exports, and in later periods, middle-income countries joined major exporters. There has been a significant increase in the number of countries participating in VLT. Halfcircle diagrams are a useful tool for visualizing overall trends of VLT in relation to a potential driver.

Solo Criado em São Paulo: terra virtual produzindo espaço e desigualdade

Abstract Created Land as a concept has been increasingly raising questions for Urbanism and Law. This article aims to present and discuss, under the urban and legal perspectives, the nature, dimensions and developments of Created Land in the city of São Paulo. This approach is important because it fosters a discussion on the commodification of such virtual land, which, used with a redistributive purpose, is at risk of working in reverse through income generation and transfer.

Created Land in the city of São Paulo: virtual land producing space and inequality

Resumo O Solo Criado enquanto conceito tem cada vez mais colocado questões para o urbanismo e para o direito. O presente artigo tem por objetivo apresentar e problematizar, sob as perspectivas urbanística e jurídica, a natureza, as dimensões e os desdobramentos do Solo Criado na cidade de São Paulo. A importância da abordagem consiste em fomentar uma discussão sobre a mercantilização dessa terra virtual que, utilizada com propósito redistributivo, tem risco de funcionar às avessas por meio da geração e transferência de renda.

The inter-provincial trade inequality in China: An assessment of the impact of changes in built-up land and carbon storage

Inter-regional trade contributes to the expansion of built-up land and carbon storage loss, which results in inequality in unequal exchange. Revealing this inequality can help socio-environmental sustainability be better achieved. This paper uses a multi-regional input-output model to analyze the virtual built-up land flows embodied in the inter-provincial trade in China, and calculates the carbon storage loss caused by the expansion of built-up land. The inter-provincial trade inequality in China is discussed subsequently. The results show that regional unfair trade exists in China, and less developed regions are in an inferior position. Compared to less developed regions, developed regions obtain more benefits from inter-provincial trade, in both economic and environmental aspects. Regionally, the expansion of built-up land mainly occurs in the eastern and southern regions, which lost much carbon storage, especially Guangdong and Yunnan. Coastal regions had a high built-up land utilization efficiency, followed by the central regions. The built-up land interactions are mainly concentrated in the central and eastern regions, and the degree of trade participation in less developed regions is low.

An Essential Elements in Virtual Land Buying Transactions as Digital Asets in Metaverse Based onn Indonesian Positive Law

Virtual land as a blockchain-based digital asset in the metaverse is becoming popular and is considered to have high investment potential. There are no ordinance governing the ownership and the trading transaction (buying and selling) of virtual land in Indonesia, giving rise to debates regarding the fulfillment of the essential elements of trading virtual land which consists of objects and prices. Consider, the determination of a thing included in the object is based on the provisions in the law of objects conforming to the Civil Code which is closed. In addition, the price used in trading is stated in cryptocurrency, even though based on Article 35 of Central Bank of Indonesia Regulation Number 18/40/PBI/2016 and Article 8 paragraph 2 of Central Bank of Indonesia Regulation Number 19/12/PBI/2017 have explained the prohibition on payment with cryptocurrency or virtual currency. Whether or not the essential elements in a transaction can result in the transaction being declared null and void. The normative-juridical method uses secondary data, including: primary, secondary and tertiary legal materials. In addition, this research utilizes the legal and conceptual approach used by this research. The results indicated that the object element in the virtual land trading transaction in the metaverse has been fulfilled, but the price element is not fulfilled thus the framework of the agreement that should be embedded in the virtual land transfer transaction using cryptocurrency is swap assets, not trading.

Study of Virtual Land Measurement and Influencing Factors of Cotton Trade in China

Based on China’s current cotton industry development situation, cotton trade scale and cotton trading partner countries, the researchers measure and analyze the total import and export volume of cotton on the virtual land between 1980 and 2021, calculate the virtual land content of cotton imported and exported to China from these countries based on their respective cotton yield per area, analyze the reasons for the net import of virtual land in China’s cotton trade and use Multiple Linear Regression on Stata to discuss the factors that influence the net import of virtual land in China’s cotton trade. The research results find out that China is the net importer of virtual land in the cotton trade and the trade is highly geographically concentrated. Domestic supply meeting demand tends to be the cotton consumption trend, and the net import of cotton virtual land is affected by both external and internal factors. Finally, the researchers suggest that China should promote the diversity of cotton import in the context of securing cotton import, raise global cotton trade efficiency through establishing standardized cotton tariffs, accelerate multilateral free trade, build premium global cotton value chain, establish friendly international relations, actively implement the cotton “go global” strategy and stimulate domestic market liberalization.

Data Mining Algorithm Testing For SAND Metaverse Forecasting

Metaverse is a technology that allows us to buy virtual land. In the future life in the real world can be duplicated into the Metaverse to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and a world without being limited by space and time. To buy land in the Metaverse, one can be done by using SAND. SAND is a crypto asset from a game called The Sandbox which functions as a transaction tool where in that game we can buy land and build it for various purposes just like we can store our Non-Fungible Tokens there. Metaverse is a digital business that will promise in the future because it offers easy and fast transactions. This study aims to compare the exact algorithm for making predictions about the SAND cryptocurrency used to buy Metaverse land. 7 algorithms are being compared, namely Deep Learning, Linear Regression, Neural Networks, Support Vector Machines, Generalized Linear Models, Gaussian Process, and K-Nearest Neighbors. The research method used is Knowledge Discovery in Databases. The research results show that the Support Vector Machines Algorithm has the most optimal Root Means Square Error value, root_mean_squared_error: 0.022 +/- 0.062 (micro average: 0.062 +/- 0.000). Based on this comparison, the Support Vector Machines Algorithm is suitable for predicting SAND Metaverse prices.

An Estimation of Virtual Trades of Embedded Water and Land through Sri Lankan Seasonal Crops’ Trades to Improve the Cropping Preferences

Due to the increase in population, growing urbanization, and higher demands for processed and unprocessed foods, resources related to food production have become scarce. Water and land can be considered as the primary resources to determine the crop production potential of a country. Ideally, countries that lack water and land resources can import these in virtual form. Sri Lanka is a country rich in water resources that faced bankruptcy recently. This study analyzes and explores the potential for use of land–water resources in Sri Lanka. A comprehensive framework is generated to identify the virtual land–water trade by considering ten major imports and nine major export crops in Sri Lanka. Consequently, the top ten imports/exports and top ten import/export trade partners are identified. The analysis reveals that Sri Lanka is a heavily import-dominant country, having seven times higher imports compared to exports. The country imports wheat, which is 82% of its import crops, and the same crop is the largest export (85% of crop export). Compared to its trade partners, Sri Lanka has sufficient water resources, but availability of arable land is limited. Banana is the largest export of the country, which involves higher embedded water and less land, matching the resource availability to Sri Lanka, whereas the trade partners are expected to continue importing the crop due to their water and land stress conditions. Finalization of the long-awaited agriculture policy of the country is strongly recommended.

The Impact of Climate Change on China and Brazil’s Soybean Trade

In the recent past, China has expanded its grain production to achieve high food security and increased its partial dependence on imported agricultural commodities, of which soybean supply is highly import-dependent. This study systematically reviews the past trends in China’s soybean demand, Brazil’s soybean production and export, factors contributing to the soybean trade between China and Brazil, and future uncertainty in China’s demand and Brazil’s supply under climate change. We find that recently China imported ~64% of soybean from Brazil, while ~73% of Brazil’s soybean exports were destined for China, making them key stakeholders in their international soybean trade. China’s accession to the World Trade Organization, China–Brazil trade cooperation, and diversion from trade with the USA have played a pivotal role in China’s increasing soybean imports from Brazil. China’s soybean import has brought increasing virtual land to China (from 3.57 million hectares (Mha) in 2005 to 19.63 mha in 2020). This growing virtual land import could be one of the reasons behind Brazil’s soybean harvested area, which increased from 22.95 Mha in 2005 to 37.19 Mha in 2020. In the future, climate change impacts on soybean production in Brazil can seriously affect China’s soybean imports from Brazil and its domestic food security. We analyze these effects using a climate-crop–economic modeling approach, where yield changes from the crop model are incorporated into the economic model as lower land productivity. Our results show that Brazil’s future soybean production and gross exports can drop up to 13.1% and 15.2% under the highest emissions scenario (RCP8.5). Consequently, China would face a decrease in its soybean imports from Brazil (−9.94 Mt). Due to these import reductions, China’s domestic soybean supply will be reduced (−9.94 Mt). There would also be some reduction in China’s meat supply and a drop in China’s consumer welfare. Our results can contribute to devising policies to ensure China’s food security and promote global sustainable development goals.