Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The super-environmental effect of the westward shift of China’s cultivated land patterns

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Environmental Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Due to the policy of balancing the occupation and compensation of cultivated land and uneven regional economic development in China, the cultivated land tends to move from developed area to undeveloped area. China’s undeveloped regions are mainly located in the west, where the climate is more arid and the soil is more barren, and more agrochemical inputs such as fertilizers and mulch films are needed to ensure grain production. Therefore, the westward shift of cultivated land may bring about even faster westward shift of agricultural chemicals, which poses great danger to the already fragile ecological environment in the western region. However, the current research mainly focuses on the spatio-temporal changes of cultivated land, and the research on the environmental effect brought by the spatial movement of cultivated land is still lacking. Based on the cultivated land data and corresponding agrochemical inputs at the provincial level from 2000 to 2020, spatio-temporal statistical models were used to analyze the evolution of cultivated land distribution patterns and the super-environmental effect. The following results were found: (1) the gravity centers of China’s cultivated land area moved to the northwest, with corresponding average annual moving speeds of 1.67 km year−1 during the study period; (2) the gravity centers of agrochemical inputs were also moved westward or north-westward and showed even higher speeds than that of cultivated land area, i.e., mulch film (14.93 km year−1) > fertilizer (6.69 km year−1) > pesticide (5.59 km year−1) > agricultural diesel (3.78 km year−1) > cultivated land area (1.67 km year−1); (3) it was revealed from the spatio-temporal double-difference modeling that the westward shift of cultivated land distribution patterns had increased the relative agrochemical inputs per area in the west, which explained why the westward shift of agrochemical inputs was faster than that of cultivated land. This study has enriched the existing ecological policy evaluation methods theoretically, revealed the super-environmental effect brought by the westward shift of cultivated land patterns under the current policy background, and confirmed that the westward shift of cultivated land will bring the pressure of agricultural non-point source pollution to the western region, which may lead to the destruction of the ecological environment in the western region. In practice, it can provide a decision-making reference for rational agrochemical inputs in the process of grain cultivation and protection of agricultural ecological environment in western China.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

For data access please contact to the corresponding author by email.

References

  • Abhilash PC, Singh N (2009) Pesticide use and application: an Indian scenario. J Hazard Mater 165(1–3):1–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ariken M, Zhang F, Liu K, Fang C, Kung HT (2020) Coupling coordination analysis of urbanization and eco-environment in Yanqi Basin based on multi-source remote sensing data. Ecol Ind 114:106331

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Athey S, Imbens GW (2006) Identification and inference in nonlinear difference-in-differences models. Econometrica 74(2):431–497

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bullock A, King B (2011) Evaluating China’s slope land conversion program as sustainable management in Tianquan and Wuqi Counties. J Environ Manag 92(8):1916–1922

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cao RF, Zhang AL, Wen LJ (2018) Trans-regional compensation mechanism under imbalanced land development: from the local government economic welfare perspective. Habitat Int 77:56–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cao W, Zhou W, Wu T, Wang X, Xu J (2022) Spatial-temporal characteristics of cultivated land use eco-efficiency under carbon constraints and its relationship with landscape pattern dynamics. Ecol Ind 141:109140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen W, Ye X, Li J, Fan X, Liu Q, Dong W (2019) Analyzing requisition–compensation balance of farmland policy in China through telecoupling: a case study in the middle reaches of Yangtze River Urban Agglomerations. Land Use Policy 83:134–146

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chu XL, Zhong LU, Dan WEI, Lei GP (2022) Effects of land use/cover change (LUCC) on the spatiotemporal variability of precipitation and temperature in the Songnen Plain, China. J Integr Agric 21(1):235–248

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deng X, Huang J, Rozelle S, Zhang J, Li Z (2015) Impact of urbanization on cultivated land changes in China. Land Use Policy 45:1–7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dimick JB, Ryan AM (2014) Methods for evaluating changes in health care policy: the difference-in-differences approach. JAMA 312(22):2401–2402

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foley JA, Ramankutty N, Brauman KA, Cassidy ES, Gerber JS, Johnston M, Zaks DP (2011) Solutions for a cultivated planet. Nature 478(7369):337–342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gao J, Chen W, Liu Y (2018) Spatial restructuring and the logic of industrial land redevelopment in urban China: II. A case study of the redevelopment of a local state-owned enterprise in Nanjing. Land Use Policy 72:372–380

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gong J, Jiang C, Chen W, Chen X, Liu Y (2018) Spatiotemporal dynamics in the cultivated and built-up land of Guangzhou: Insights from zoning. Habitat Int 82:104–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guo S, Wang Y, Wang Y, Wang M, He P, Feng L (2020) Inequality and collaboration in north China urban agglomeration: Evidence from embodied cultivated land in Jing-Jin-Ji’s interregional trade. J Environ Manag 275:111050

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • He J, Liu Y, Yu Y, Tang W, Xiang W, Liu D (2013) A counterfactual scenario simulation approach for assessing the impact of farmland preservation policies on urban sprawl and food security in a major grain-producing area of China. Appl Geogr 37:127–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang C, Zhao D, Fan X, Liu C, Zhao G (2022) Landscape dynamics facilitated non-point source pollution control and regional water security of the Three Gorges Reservoir area, China. Environ Impact Assess Rev 92:106696

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jiang P, Cheng Q, Zhuang Z, Tang H, Li M, Cheng L, Jin X (2018) The dynamic mechanism of landscape structure change of arable landscape system in China. Agr Ecosyst Environ 251:26–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ju X, Gu B, Wu Y, Galloway JN (2016) Reducing China’s fertilizer use by increasing farm size. Glob Environ Chang 41:26–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ke X, Van Vliet J, Zhou T, Verburg PH, Zheng W, Liu X (2018) Direct and indirect loss of natural habitat due to built-up area expansion: a model-based analysis for the city of Wuhan, China. Land Use Policy 74:231–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kong X (2020) The problem, causes and countermeasures of “non-grain” of cultivated land. China Land 11:17–19 (In Chinese with English abstract)

    Google Scholar 

  • Leslie JE, Weersink A, Yang W, Fox G (2017) Actual versus environmentally recommended fertilizer application rates: implications for water quality and policy. Agr Ecosyst Environ 240:109–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li T, Long H, Zhang Y, Tu S, Ge D, Li Y, Hu B (2017) Analysis of the spatial mismatch of grain production and farmland resources in China based on the potential crop rotation system. Land Use Policy 60:26–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liang L, Chen M, Luo X, Xian Y (2021) Changes pattern in the population and economic gravity centers since the Reform and Opening up in China: The widening gaps between the South and North. J Clean Prod 310:127379

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu YS, Wang JY, Long HL (2010) Analysis of arable land loss and its impact on rural sustainability in Southern Jiangsu Province of China. J Environ Manage 91(3):646–653

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu Y, Fang F, Li Y (2014) Key issues of land use in China and implications for policy making. Land Use Policy 40:6–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu X, Zhao C, Song W (2017) Review of the evolution of cultivated land protection policies in the period following China’s reform and liberalization. Land Use Policy 67:660–669

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu L, Liu Z, Gong J, Wang L, Hu Y (2019a) Quantifying the amount, heterogeneity, and pattern of farmland: implications for China’s requisition-compensation balance of farmland policy. Land Use Policy 81:256–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu Z, Liu Y, Li Y (2019b) Extended warm temperate zone and opportunities for cropping system change in the Loess Plateau of China. Int J Climatol 39(2):658–669

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu Q, Xu B, Liang F, Gao Z, Ning J (2013) Influences of the Grain-for-Green project on grain security in southern China. Ecol Ind 34:616–622

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu H, Xie H, Lv T, Yao G (2019) Determinants of cultivated land recuperation in ecologically damaged areas in China. Land Use Policy 81:160–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mi Q, Li X, Gao J (2020) How to improve the welfare of smallholders through agricultural production outsourcing: evidence from cotton farmers in Xinjiang, Northwest China. J Clean Prod 256:120636

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Qin Y, Liu J, Shi W, Tao F, Yan H (2013) Spatial-temporal changes of cropland and climate potential productivity in northern China during 1990–2010. Food Security 5(4):499–512

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rong Y, Du P, Sun F, Zeng S (2021) Quantitative analysis of economic and environmental benefits for land fallowing policy in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. J Environ Manag 286:112234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sen A, Smith TE (1995) Gravity models of spatial interaction behavior. Springer, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Shen X, Wang L, Wu C, Lv T, Lu Z, Luo W, Li G (2017) Local interests or centralized targets? How China’s local government implements the farmland policy of requisition-compensation balance. Land Use Policy 67:716–724

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shi Y, Matsunaga T, Yamaguchi Y, Li Z, Gu X, Chen X (2018) Long-term trends and spatial patterns of satellite-retrieved PM2. 5 concentrations in South and Southeast Asia from 1999 to 2014. Sci Total Environ 615:177–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith LED, Siciliano G (2015) A comprehensive review of constraints to improved management of fertilizers in China and mitigation of diffuse water pollution from agriculture. Agr Ecosyst Environ 209:15–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Song W, Pijanowski BC (2014) The effects of China’s cultivated land balance program on potential land productivity at a national scale. Appl Geogr 46:158–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tefera T, Elias E, van Beek C (2020) Determinants of smallholder farmers’ decisions on fertilizer use for cereal crops in the Ethiopian highlands. Exp Agric 56(5):677–687

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang X (2013) Spatio-temporal changes in agrochemical inputs and the risk assessment before and after the grain-for-green policy in China. Environ Monit Assess 185(2):1927–1937

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang L, Zheng W, Tang L, Zhang S, Liu Y, Ke X (2021) Spatial optimization of urban land and cropland based on land production capacity to balance cropland protection and ecological conservation. J Environ Manag 285:112054

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu W, Shibasaki R, Yang P, Tan G, Matsumura KI, Sugimoto K (2007) Global-scale modelling of future changes in sown areas of major crops. Ecol Model 208(2–4):378–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu Y, Shan L, Guo Z, Peng Y (2017) Cultivated land protection policies in China facing 2030: dynamic balance system versus basic farmland zoning. Habitat Int 69:126–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xu B, Niu Y, Zhang Y, Chen Z, Zhang L (2022) China’s agricultural non-point source pollution and green growth: interaction and spatial spillover. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29:60278–60288

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang J, Huang X (2021) The 30 m annual land cover dataset and its dynamics in China from 1990 to 2019. Earth Syst Sci Data 13:3907–3925

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang X, Chen F, Lin X, Liu Z, Zhang H, Zhao J, Li K, Ye Q, Li Y, Lv S, Yang P, Wu W, Li Z, Lal R, Tang H (2015) Potential benefits of climate change for crop productivity in China. Agric for Meteorol 208:76–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang B, Wang Z, Zou L, Zou L, Zhang H (2021) Exploring the eco-efficiency of cultivated land utilization and its influencing factors in China’s Yangtze River Economic Belt, 2001–2018. J Environ Manage 294:112939

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang W, Zhang D, Luo G (2022) A novel framework for evaluating the effect of vegetation restoration via grazing exclusion by fencing: a case-study from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Land Degrad Dev 33(14):2619–2634

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zambon I, Serra P, Salvati L (2019) The (Evolving) urban footprint under sequential building cycles and changing socio-demographic contexts. Environ Impact Assess Rev 75:27–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang D, Jia Q, Xu X, Yao S, Chen H, Hou X (2018) Contribution of ecological policies to vegetation restoration: a case study from Wuqi County in Shaanxi Province, China. Land Use Policy 73:400–411

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Y, Long H, Wang MY, Li Y, Ma L, Chen K, Zheng Y, Jiang T (2020) The hidden mechanism of chemical fertiliser overuse in rural China. Habitat Int 102:102210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang M, Zhang C, Kafy AA, Tan S (2021) Simulating the relationship between land use/cover change and urban thermal environment using machine learning algorithms in Wuhan city, China. Land 11(1):14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang M, Tan S, Zhang X (2022) How do varying socio-economic factors affect the scale of land transfer? Evidence from 287 cities in China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29:40865–40877

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zheng W, Ke X, Zhou T, Yang B (2019) Trade-offs between cropland quality and ecosystem services of marginal compensated cropland——a case study in Wuhan, China. Ecol Ind 105:613–620

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zheng W, Li S, Ke X, Li X, Zhang B (2022) The impacts of cropland balance policy on habitat quality in China: a multiscale administrative perspective. J Environ Manag 323:116182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou Y, Li X, Liu Y (2021) Cultivated land protection and rational use in China. Land Use Policy 106:105454

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Great thanks to Prof. Shougeng Hu and Han Zhang, thank them for their assistance in methodology.

Funding

This study benefited from joint financial support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 42071416) and Key Research & Development Plan of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (No. 2021BEG03001).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Administration, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430070, China

    Chao Wang & Daojun Zhang

  2. College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, China

    Chao Wang

  3. Key Laboratory for Rule of Law Research, Ministry of Natural Resources, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Daojun Zhang

Authors
  1. Chao Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Daojun Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

CW and DZ conceived the study, and the authors have thanked all persons who contributed to the study.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daojun Zhang.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wang, C., Zhang, D. The super-environmental effect of the westward shift of China’s cultivated land patterns. Environ Earth Sci 82, 572 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-023-11265-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-023-11265-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation