Decreasing farm number benefits the mitigation of agricultural non-point source pollution in China

Fan, Liangcong; Yuan, Yuemei; Ying, Zechun; Lam, Shu Kee; Liu, Lu; Zhang, Xinchao; Liu, Hongbin; Gu, Baojing

doi:10.1007/s11356-018-3622-6

Cited by 49 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…However, the observed response of CPLR share to changes in farmland size and the manure use in croponly households provides two potential pathways. First, increase farmland size through policy regulation such as the Land Transfer System (LTS) or reform of land tenure system 15 . Such a change could trigger increases in farmers' income with both extra income from livestock production and increase in farm size 13 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Within contrast to large-scale farming in Europe (> 30 ha) or the US (>150 ha), the average cropland size is only around 0.5 ha per rural household in China 13 . Application patterns of synthetic fertilizers and manure in large-scale farming are substantially different from those on smallholder farms 14,15 . How these differences affect the coupling/decoupling of livestock and croplands is not well understood and requires further studies.…”

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Decoupling livestock and crop production at the household level in China

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Decoupling livestock and crop production at the household level in China

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“…Nevertheless, communication with local agricultural technicians may moderate the differences in agricultural performance due to farmers' educational level (Table 2). Investing in agricultural technician advice has been proven to be an effective approach to mitigate agricultural pollution (Fan et al 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reforming smallholder farms to mitigate agricultural pollution

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et al. 2021

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China’s agriculture is dominated by smallholder farms, which have become major sources of negative environmental impacts including eutrophication, formation of haze, soil acidification, and greenhouse gas emissions. To mitigate these environmental impacts, new farming models including family farming, cooperation farming and industrial farming have emerged in recent years. However, whether these new farming practices would improve the economic and environmental performance as compared to the current smallholder farming has yet to be verified on ground level. In this paper, by using pilot farming cases within the watershed of Tai Lake, we found that alternative farming models produced 7% more crop yield, while using 8% less fertilizer, leading to an 28% decrease in pollutant emission per hectare. These alternative farming models have a 17% higher fertilizer use efficiency and 50% higher profit per hectare. Compared to smallholder farming, these alternative farming practices invest 27% more resources into agricultural facilities, including advanced machinery, and have a younger, better educated labor force as a consequence of a larger farm size and more specialization. These input changes substantially increase fertilizer use efficiency and reduce agricultural pollution. Policy arrangements to support and facilitate the uptake of these farming models will further promote the green development and sustainable intensification of agricultural production.

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“…12 and 13) 18 . As a critical pathway to the modernization and sustainable development of agriculture, large-scale farming has a positive impact on the farmers' net profits and economic, technical and labour efficiency [22][23][24][25][26][27] , as well as environmental protection through the decreased use of fertilizers and pesticides 18,21,28 . Existing studies have also found that, with the increase of farm size, farmers tend to use more fixed inputs (for example, machinery and knowledge) compared with non-fixed inputs (for example, fertilizers and pesticides) to increase crop yields 22 .…”

Section: Increase In Agricultural Productivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Urbanization can benefit agricultural production with large-scale farming in China

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Urbanization has often been considered a threat to food security since it is likely to reduce the availability of croplands. Using spatial statistics and scenario analysis, we show that an increase in China's urbanization level from 56% in 2015 to 80% in 2050 would actually release 5.8 million hectares of rural land for agricultural production-equivalent to 4.1% of China's total cropland area in 2015. Even considering the relatively lower land fertility of these new croplands, crop production in 2050 would still be 3.1-4.2% higher than in 2015. In addition, cropland fragmentation could be reduced with rural land release and a decrease in rural population, benefiting large-scale farming and environmental protection. To ensure this, it is necessary to adopt an integrated urban-rural development model, with reclamation of lands previously used as residential lots. These insights into the urbanization and food security debate have important policy implications for global regions undergoing rapid urbanization.

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Decreasing farm number benefits the mitigation of agricultural non-point source pollution in China

Cited by 49 publications

References 38 publications

Decoupling livestock and crop production at the household level in China

Decoupling livestock and crop production at the household level in China

Reforming smallholder farms to mitigate agricultural pollution

Urbanization can benefit agricultural production with large-scale farming in China

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