Unraveling the Causal Mechanisms for Non-Grain Production of Cultivated Land: An Analysis Framework Applied in Liyang, China

Abstract

The excessive use of cultivated land for non-grain production activities is considered a threat to grain security. This study presents an analysis framework on unraveling the causal mechanisms for non-grain production of cultivated land. We apply the analysis framework in Liyang, which is located in the Yangtze River Delta and is also an important “national grain base” county of China. We first determine four non-grain production categories as immediately recoverable (IMR), simple-engineering recoverable (SER), engineering recoverable (ENR), and irrecoverable (IR) based on the effect of non-grain activities on the degree of soil damage of the cultivated land, especially the difficulty of restoring the capacity for grain production. Then, we analyze the spatial pattern features for non-grain production of four given categories at the village scale. Furthermore, we reveal the mechanisms of the four categories using multiple linear regression modeling with geophysical, demographic, economic, and policy variables. The results show that the total non-grain area of cultivated land in Liyang is 28,158.38 hectares, and the non-grain rate is 48.09%, ranging from 10.59% to 96.75% among villages. The IMR, SER, ER, and IR rates are 11.81%, 17.76%, 15.07%, and 3.45%, respectively. There is also a significant neighborhood effect among the four categories, indicating that non-grain production activities have a stimulating effect on the surrounding operators of cultivated land. Farming conditions such as the proportion of irrigated farmland and economic variables such as the tourism scale have stronger effects on non-grain production than demographic variables. Policy variables, especially the cultivated land transfer policy, neither inhibit nor promote non-grain production. Based on these findings, we make policy suggestions for reducing non-grain production activities and protecting cultivated land. This analysis framework contributes to a new perspective for unraveling the causal mechanisms and making categorical governance decisions of non-grain production on cultivated land at the village level.

Spatio-Temporal Evolution and Multi-Scenario Simulation of Non-Grain Production on Cultivated Land in Jiangsu Province, China

“…NGP takes away the cultivated land for grain production, which may lead to a shortage of grain planting areas and thus trigger a decline in grain production and quality [14]. Furthermore, the shift to non-grain crops can alter the irrigation and drainage systems [6], making them more suitable for the growth of non-grain crops or even causing complete destruction. Some non-grain crops, like fast-growing poplar and eucalyptus, can contribute to soil infertility and acidification [10].…”

“…Consequently, they selectively choose crops based on profitability, leading to a significant portion of cultivated land being allocated for non-grain production (NGP) [4]. This disorderly expansion of NGP not only threatens food security by causing shortages and imbalances in grain supply, but also contributes to the degradation of cultivated land quality and environmental issues resulting from changes in land utilization practices [5][6][7][8]. Recognizing the implications of NGP, the Chinese Government has acknowledged its significance.…”

Effects of Payments for Ecosystem Services and Livelihoods on Non-Grain Agricultural Land Use

“…However, how to reconcile the protection and restoration of natural landscapes with the maintenance of food security remains one of the greatest challenges that both decisionmakers and academic communities encounter in the 21st century [4]. Rapid urbanization with the increasing imbalance in economic development between urban and rural areas has raised global concerns about non-grain agricultural land use (NGALU), a phenomenon where farmland used for grain production is converted into land uses with non-grain agricultural activities (e.g., cash crops and nursery plantation, farmland abandonment) [5,6], which has been addressed in China's public policy [7]. Under the context of agricultural restructuring, NAGLU could affect food production by altering the quality of soil conditions [8] and could contribute to forest transition, which characterizes the shift of forest cover from shrinkage to expansion over time [9,10] and triggers variations in forest ES, such as freshwater provision, flood mitigation, and soil retention, which are strongly associated with ecological security and human wellbeing at the local and regional levels.…”

Spatial Heterogeneity and Driving Mechanisms of Cultivated Land Intensive Utilization in the Beibu Gulf Urban Agglomeration, China

“…In some areas, the proportion of grain crop-sown area has decreased and, the density of land has increased [35]; these changes will limit the effectiveness of CLIU. Second, from the perspective of input-output data, scholars have analyzed the causes and mechanisms of the nonagricultural transformation of farmland and believe that improving farmland irrigation facilities and increasing grain planting subsidies can increase enthusiasm for grain growth [36]. To construct a framework for the interaction between cultivated land fertility and comprehensive utilization fertility, an evaluation index system was established, and the Tapio decoupling model was used to study the decoupling relationship between nongrain production and CLIU in China from in spatial and temporal dimensions [37].…”