Abstract
Understanding the manifestations and underlying drivers of agricultural land use change in China is of great importance for both domestic and global food security. However, little is known about the holistic pattern of agricultural land use change across China, especially from the perspective of intensity since the evidence has been gathered mainly through case studies at local levels. This study conducts a systemic review of agricultural land use change and its underlying drivers in China by aggregating 169 relevant case studies from 123 publications. The cases related to intensification and disintensification, which are the two types of agricultural land use change, are generally equal, accounting for 50% of the total number of cases. Intensification and disintensification can be further divided into the same three categories: expansion/contraction of agricultural land, changes in agricultural land use activities and changes in land management intensity. Demographic, economic, technological, and institutional drivers, together with location factors, are frequently noted as significant underlying drivers, while sociocultural drivers and farm(er) characteristics are less frequently recognized. Finally, three major land use change trajectories are summarized mainly concerning rising labor costs and the concomitant increase in off-farm employment, the ecological improvement policy, and advances in agricultural technology.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Bai X, Yan H, Pan L et al., 2015. Multi-agent modeling and simulation of farmland use change in a farming-pastoral zone: A case study of Qianjingou Town in Inner Mongolia, China. Sustainability, 7(11): 14802–14833.
Carpentier A, Gohin A, Sckokai P et al., 2015. Economic modelling of agricultural production: past advances and new challenges. Review of Agricultural and Environmental Studies, 96: 131–165.
Chen H, López-Carr D, Tan Y et al., 2015. China’s Grain for Green policy and farm dynamics: Simulating household land-use responses. Regional Environmental Change, 16(4): 1147–1159.
Chen H, Wu S, Feng X, 2010. Study on the changes of cultivated land and the driving factors in Xinjiang based on RS and GIS. Journal of Natural Resources, 25(4): 614–624. (in Chinese)
Chen Y, Li X, Tian Y et al., 2009. Structural change of agricultural land use intensity and its regional disparity in China. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 19(5): 545–556.
Cheng W, Zhou C, Liu H et al., 2005. The expansion of oasis areas and its eco-environemntal changes during the past 50 years in the Manas River Basin. Science in China Ser. D Earth Sciences, 27(2): 71–76. (in Chinese)
Cui Z, Zhang H, Chen X et al., 2018. Pursuing sustainable productivity with millions of smallholder farmers. Nature, 555: 363–366.
Dong J, Liu J, Yan H et al., 2011. Spatio-temporal pattern and rationality of land reclamation and cropland abandonment in mid-eastern Inner Mongolia of China in 1990–2005. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 179(1–4): 137–153.
Fezzi C, Harwood A R, Lovett A A et al., 2015. The environmental impact of climate change adaptation on land use and water quality. Nature Climate Change, 5(3): 255–260.
Folberth C, Khabarov N, Balkovič J et al., 2020. The global cropland-sparing potential of high-yield farming. Nature Sustainability, 3(4): 281–289.
Hageback J, Sundberg J, Ostwald M et al., 2005. Climate variability and land-use change in Danangou Watershed, China: Examples of small-scale farmers’ adaptation. Climatic Change, 72(1/2): 189–212.
Hao H, Li X, Zhang H et al., 2015. Impact of the opportunity cost of farming labor on the agricultural land marginalization. Journal of Arid Land Resources and Environment 29 (3): 50–56. (in Chinese)
Hao R, Ma L, 2014. Discussion on the farmland abandonment in the semiarid area in Inner Mongolia: A case study of Hollinger County. China Land Science, 28(10): 48–56. (in Chinese)
He J, Lang R, Xu J, 2014. Local dynamics driving forest transition: Insights from upland villages in Southwest China. Forests, 5(2): 214–233.
He W, Yan J, Zhou H et al., 2016. The micro-mechanism of forest transition: A case study in the mountainous areas of Chongqing. Journal of Natural Resources, 31(1): 102–113. (in Chinese)
Hua X, Yan J, Li H et al., 2016. Wildlife damage and cultivated land abandonment: Findings from the mountainous areas of Chongqing, China. Crop Protection, 84: 141–149.
Hua X, Yan J, Zhou C et al., 2013. Marginalization of agricultural land use in hilly areas and its explanation from the livelihood strategy of farmers: A case study on Youyang County. Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Pekinensis, 49(6): 1047–1055. (in Chinese)
Huang J, Ridoutt B G, Sun Z et al., 2020. Balancing food production within the planetary water boundary. Journal of Cleaner Production, 253.
Jiang L, Deng X, Seto K C, 2013. The impact of urban expansion on agricultural land use intensity in China. Land Use Policy, 35: 33–39.
Jiang M, Li X, Xin L et al., 2019. Paddy rice multiple cropping index changes in Southern China. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 29(11): 1773–1787.
Karelakis C, Tsantopoulos G, 2017. Changing land use to alternative crops: A rural landholder’s perspective. Land Use Policy, 63: 30–37.
Kennedy C M, Hawthorne P L, Miteva D A et al., 2016. Optimizing land use decision-making to sustain Brazilian agricultural profits, biodiversity and ecosystem services. Biological Conservation, 204: 221–230.
Lai Z, Chen M, Liu T, 2020. Changes in and prospects for cultivated land use since the reform and opening up in China. Land Use Policy, 97: 104781.
Li P, Feng Z, Jiang L et al., 2012. Changes in rice cropping systems in the Poyang Lake Region, China during 2004–2010. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 22(4): 653–668.
Li S, 2017. An etimation of the extent and risk assessment of cropland abandonment in mountainous regions of China [D]. Beijing: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. (in Chinese)
Li S, Li X, 2017. Global understanding of farmland abandonment: A review and prospects. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 27(9): 1123–1150.
Li X, Wang X, 2003. Changes in agricultural land use in China: 1981–2000. Asian Geographer, 22(1/2): 27–42.
Liu C, Huang L, 2014. Analysis on changes of land use inputs and their willingness of land use for farmers. Transactions of the Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering, 30(20): 297–305.
Liu C, Li X, 2006. Regional disparity in the changes of agricultural land use intensity in China during 1980–2002. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 16(3): 286–292.
Liu H, Yu G, Wang Q et al., 2012. Characteristics of farmers’ land use behaviors in metropolises suburb: A case study in Sujiatun District of Shenyang City, Liaoning Province. Resources Science, 34(5): 879–888. (in Chinese)
Liu J, Kuang W, Zhang Z et al., 2014. Spatiotemporal characteristics, patterns and causes of land use changes in China since the late 1980s. Acta Geographia Sinica, 69(1): 3–14. (in Chinese)
Liu M, Hu Y, Chang Y et al., 2007. Landscape change and its spatial driving force of farmlands in Wenchuan County of Minjiang River upper reach. Chinese Journal of Applied Ecology, 18(3): 569–574. (in Chinese)
Lu Y, Zhang Y, Cao X et al., 2019. Forty years of reform and opening up: China’s progress toward a sustainable path. Science Advances, 5: eeau9413.
Lu Z J, Song Q, Liu K B et al., 2017. Rice cultivation changes and its relationships with geographical factors in Heilongjiang Province, China. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 16(10): 2274–2282.
Maieryemu Y, Maimaiti S, Aishan T et al., 2017. Spatial-temporal characteristics of cropland in the Ugan-Kuqa river delta oasis. Scientia Agricultura Sinica, 50(18): 3506–3518. (in Chinese)
Meyfroidt P, Roy Chowdhury R, de Bremond A et al., 2018. Middle-range theories of land system change. Global Environmental Change, 53: 52–67.
Ministry of Agriculture of China (MAC), 2014. Bulletin of the cultivated land quality grade. available at: http://www.moa.gov.cn/govpublic/ZZYGLS/201412/t20141217_4297895.htm. (in Chinese)
Piao S, Ciais P, Huang Y et al., 2010. The impacts of climate change on water resources and agriculture in China. Nature, 467(7311): 43–51.
Qin Y, Zhang X, 2016. The road to specialization in agricultural production: Evidence from rural China. World Development, 77: 1–16.
Sang G, Ou Y, Chen Y, 2007. Analysis of cultivated land abandoning in developed areas of non-agricultural economy in Zhejiang Province Journal of Anhui Agricultural Sciences, 35(5): 1459–1461. (in Chinese)
SFC, 2018. China Forestry Development Report 2017. Beijing: China Forestry Publishing House. (in Chinese)
Sheng Y, Ding J, Huang J, 2019. The relationship between farm size and productivity in agriculture: Evidence from maize production in northern China. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 101(3): 790–806.
Sjögersten S, Atkin C, Clarke M L et al., 2013. Responses to climate change and farming policies by rural communities in northern China: A report on field observation and farmers’ perception in dryland of north Shaanxi and Ningxia. Land Use Policy, 32: 125–133.
Song B, Robinson G M, Zhou Z, 2017. Agricultural transformation and ecosystem services: A case study from Shaanxi Province, China. Habitat International, 69: 114–125.
Song W, Liu M, 2016. Farmland conversion decreases regional and national land quality in China. Land Degradation & Development, 28(2): 459–471.
Su S, Zhou X, Wan C et al., 2016. Land use changes to cash crop plantations: Crop types, multilevel determinants and policy implications. Land Use Policy, 50: 379–389.
Tang H, Zhang X, Yang D et al., 2011. Dynamic change and driving forces of cultivated land use in Sangong River Basin in recent 60 yeas. Arid Land Geography, 34(5): 843–850. (in Chinese)
Taylor M J, Aguilar-Støen M, Castellanos E et al., 2016. International migration, land use change and the environment in Ixcán, Guatemala. Land Use Policy, 54: 290–301.
Tian Q, Brown D G, Zheng L et al., 2015. The role of cross-scale social and environmental contexts in household-level land-use decisions, Poyang Lake region, China. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 105(6): 1240–1259.
Tian Y, Li X, Ma G et al., 2010. Influences of labor emigration from agriculture on the production abandonment of cultivated land in ecological sensitive areas. China Land Science, 24(7): 4–9.
van Vliet J, de Groot H L F, Rietveld P et al., 2015. Manifestations and underlying drivers of agricultural land use change in Europe. Landscape and Urban Planning, 133: 24–36.
Wang C, Zhen L, Du B, 2017a. Assessment of the impact of China’s sloping land conservation program on regional development in a typical hilly region of the Loess Plateau: A case study in Guyuan. Environmental Development, 21: 66–76.
Wang G, Liu Y, Li Y et al., 2014. Dynamic trends and driving forces of land use intensification of cultivated land in China. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 25(1): 45–57.
Wang X, 2020. Consumption of cropland with high yield and low irrigation water intensity by urban expansion in China during 2000–2015. Ecological Indicators, 117.
Wang X, Li X, Fischer G et al., 2015. Impact of the changing area sown to winter wheat on crop water footprint in the North China Plain. Ecological Indicators, 57: 100–109.
Wang X, Li X, Tan M et al., 2017b. Hierarchical determinants of winter wheat abandonment in the North China Plain: A case study of Xingzhuangzi village in Hebei Province. NJAS — Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences, 80: 49–56.
Wang X, Li X, Xin L et al., 2016. Ecological compensation for winter wheat abandonment in groundwater over-exploited areas in the North China Plain. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 26(10): 1463–1476.
Wang X, Xin L, Tan M et al., 2020. Impact of spatiotemporal change of cultivated land on food-water relations in China during 1990–2015. Science of the Total Environment, 716: 137119.
Wu Y, Xi X, Tang X et al., 2018. Policy distortions, farm size, and the overuse of agricultural chemicals in China. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), 115(27): 7010–7015.
Xia M, Zhang Y, Zhang Z et al., 2020. Modeling agricultural land use change in a rapid urbanizing town: Linking the decisions of government, peasant households and enterprises. Land Use Policy, 90.
Xie H, Liu G, 2015. Spatiotemporal differences and influencing factors of multiple cropping index in China during 1998–2012. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 25(11): 1283–1297.
Xin L, Li X, 2009. Changes of multiple cropping in double cropping rice area of southern China and its policy implications. Journal of Natural Resources, 24(1): 56–63. (in Chinese)
Xin L, Wang J, 2014. Driving factors of fast-growing forest planting and its policy implications: Based on the household survey in two cities of Shandong Province. Journal of Natural Resources, 29(12): 1991–2000. (in Chinese)
Xu D, Guo S, Xie F et al., 2017. The impact of rural laborer migration and household structure on household land use arrangements in mountainous areas of Sichuan Province, China. Habitat International, 70: 72–80.
Xu H, Huang X, Zhong T et al., 2014. Chinese land policies and farmers’ adoption of organic fertilizer for saline soils. Land Use Policy, 38: 541–549.
Xu J, Yang Y, Fox J et al., 2007. Forest transition, its causes and environmental consequences: Empirical evidence from Yunnan of Southwest China. Tropical Ecology, 48(2): 137–150.
Xu Z, Chau S N, Chen X et al., 2020. Assessing progress towards sustainable development over space and time. Nature, 577(7788): 74–78.
Yan F, Zhang S, Kuang W et al., 2016a. Comparison of cultivated landscape changes under different management modes: A case study in Sanjiang Plain. Sustainability, 8(10): 1071.
Yan J, Yang Z, Li Z et al., 2016b. Drivers of cropland abandonment in mountainous areas: A household decision model on farming scale in Southwest China. Land Use Policy, 57: 459–469.
Yin R, Liu C, Zhao M et al., 2014. The implementation and impacts of China’s largest payment for ecosystem services program as revealed by longitudinal household data. Land Use Policy, 40: 45–55.
Yu B, Song W, Lang Y, 2017. Spatial patterns and driving forces of greenhouse land change in Shouguang City, China. Sustainability, 9: 359.
Zeng Z, Estes L, Ziegler A D et al., 2018. Highland cropland expansion and forest loss in Southeast Asia in the twenty-first century. Nature Geoscience, 11(8): 556–562.
Zhai R, Liu Y, 2009. Dynamic evolvement of agricultural system and typical patterns of modern agriculture in coastal China: A case of Suzhou. Chinese Geographical Science, 19(3): 249–257.
Zhang Y, Li C, Wang T et al., 2015. County-level patterns of cropland and their relationships with socio-economic factors in northwestern China. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 203: 11–18.
Zhang Y, Li X, Song W, 2014. Determinants of cropland abandonment at the parcel, household and village levels in mountain areas of China: A multi-level analysis. Land Use Policy, 41: 186–192.
Zhao Y, Li X, 2016. Spatial correlation between type of mountain area and land use degree in Guizhou Province, China. Sustainability, 8(9): 849.
Zhou D, Wang X, Shi M, 2017. Human driving forces of oasis expansion in Northwestern China during the last decade: A case study of the Heihe River Basin. Land Degradation & Development, 28(2): 412–420.
Zhu H, Li Y, 2011. An empirical analysis of the causes of farmland expansion in Northwest China. Progress in Geography, 30(5): 615–620. (in Chinese)
Zuo L, Zhang Z, Carlson K M et al., 2018. Progress towards sustainable intensification in China challenged by land-use change. Nature Sustainability, 1(6): 304–313.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Foundation
National Key Research and Development Program of China, No.2017YFE0104600; National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.41930757
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wang, X., Li, X. China’s agricultural land use change and its underlying drivers: A literature review. J. Geogr. Sci. 31, 1222–1242 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-021-1894-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-021-1894-0