Comparative Analysis of Influence Factors on Arable Land Use Intensity at Farm Household Level:A Case Study Comparing Suyu District of Suqian City and Taixing City,Jiangsu Province,China

Using data from the farm household survey conducted in 2009,arable land use intensity(ALUI)and its influence factors at farm household level were investigated by the Tobit model.Suyu District of Suqian City and Taixing City of Jiansu Province,China were chosen as the regions for comparison.The results show that:1)On the average, the ALUI,labor intensity,yield-increasing input,and labor-saving input are 15 238.14 yuan(RMB)/ha,192 d/ha, 7233.01 yuan/ha,and 2451.32 yuan/ha in the less economically developed Suyu District,and 13 020.65 yuan/ha,181 d/ha,5871.82 yuan/ha,and 2625.97 yuan/ha in more economically developed Taixing City.The figures indicate that Suyu District has higher ALUI and labor intensity input but lower labor-saving input.2)Comparing all the influence factors,the total arable land area in available and average plot size have bigger effects on arable land intensive use;to a small degree,family′s non-farm income affects labor intensity,yield-increasing input,and labor-saving input;the yield-increasing input decreases significantly when the householder has higher education attainment;the commercialization rates of agricultural products and the planting proportion of cash crops both have unstable influence on ALUI; the share of arable land rented in has few impacts on labor intensity,yield-increasing input,and labor-saving input. 3)There are no differences found in the internal impact mechanism of influence factors on the arable land intensive use behaviors of farm households.However,there are conspicuous disparities in the impact degrees and statistical significance based on varying economic levels.4)Using the results as bases,this study proposes that the government should implement land management and agricultural policies according to local condition.And these policies should decrease land fragmentation to promote scale management of land and arable land use intensification.

Catchment Management and Its Effects on Arable Lands of Zimbabwe: A Look beyond the Fast Track Land Reform Program

This study was carried out in selected districts of Mashonaland East and Central provinces of Zimbabwe in 2011 to determine the effects of soil erosion on arable lands and how this related to catchment management. Results show that the highest contribution is 53% and is obtained from arable land codes 5 and 7. These fields show signs of excessive sheet and gully erosion. The least contribution is 0.8% and this is on arable land codes 3, 4 and 8. These fields have properly done conservation works existing. 33% of the assessed arable lands have conservation works in place whilst 67% are not protected and as such the fields are eroded. Soil erosion results in the washing away of the precious top soil, responsible for plant growth and infiltration of rain or irrigation water. This reduces the usefulness of such affected arable lands as crops grown on it can’t thrive due to lack of soil fertility. The paper recommends that government policies focus more on promoting sustainable land use through integrated catchment area management. This will go a long way in achieving sustainable development in Zimbabwe.

Characteristics and Process of Land Use Changes in the Yangtze River Delta, China

As one of the developing countries China has an arable land per capita far below the world’s average level. With a high-density population and the quick development of economy and urbanization, the Yangtze River Delta shows the typical characteristics of land use in developed regions of China, which are: high land reclamation rate and low arable land per capita; intensive land use and high output value; and rapid increasing of construction land area and fast diminishing of arable lands. The analysis indicates that the process of the arable land changes in the Yangtze River Delta could be divided into four different change stages over the past 50 years.

Marginalization of Arable Land and its Correlation with Rural Labor Migration——A Case of Tongcheng County,Hubei Province,China

Based on the introduction of the connotation of marginalization,the index of diagnosing the marginalization degree is put forward.According to the 685 copies of questionnaires on peasant households in Tongcheng County of Hubei Province and the statistical data of local government,marginalization of arable land and its correlation with rural labor migration in Tongcheng County are studied by using aggregative indicator method,clustering analysis method and correlation analysis method.Result shows that marginalization of arable land has happened two times in Tongcheng County since 1985.Dry land has severer marginalization degree than paddy field.There is significant correlation between marginalization degree of arable land and rural labor migration;and the correlation between marginalization degree and rural labor migration in paddy field is greater than that in dry land.Marginalization of arable land will advance the rural labor migration,while in response to the poor current circulation of lands;the rural labor migration will further deepen the marginalization degree.Marginalization of arable land is one of the important factors affecting the labor migration in rural areas.

Detecting the linkage between arable land use and poverty using machine learning methods at global perspective

Eradicating extreme poverty is one of the UN’s primary sustainable development goals(SDG).Arable land is related to eradicating poverty(SDG1)and hunger(SDG2).However,the linkage between arable land use and poverty reduction is ambiguous and has seldom been investigated globally.Six indicators of agricultural inputs,crop intensification and extensification were used to explore the relationship between arable land use and poverty.Non-parametric machine learning methods were used to analyze the linkage between agriculture and poverty at the global scale,including the classification and regression tree(CART)and random forest models.We found that the yield gap,fertilizer consumption and potential cropland ratio in protected areas correlated with poverty.Developing countries usually had a ratio of actual to potential yield less than 0.33 and fertilizer consumption less than 7.31 kg/ha.Overall,crop extensification,intensification and agricultural inputs were related to poverty at the global level.

Physico-Chemical Properties and Enzyme Activities of the Arable Soils in Lhasa,Tibet,China

An understanding of the physical,chemical,and biological properties of a soil provides a basis for soil use and management.This paper reports the major physico-chemical properties and enzyme activities of the soils of Lhasa's main arable lands and the factors that influence these soil properties.Composite and core samples were taken from the three main arable soil types(alluvial soil,subalpine arable steppe soil,and subalpine arable meadow soil) and were analysed using standard methods.The bulk density and the ventilation porosity ratio of the soils were close to the recommended values for arable lands,and the dominant soil texture was sandy.The soil moisture release rates were arable steppe soil > alluvial soil > arable meadow soil.Soil organic matter content,Cation-Exchange Capacity(CEC),total and available nitrogen content,and catalase activity of the arable meadow soil were higher than those of the alluvial and the arable steppe soils,while soil pH in the arable meadow was lower.Most of the measured properties did not show a significant variance among these three soils.However,the measured indices(apart from the total potassium) indicate that there are notable differences among the three types of soil.The results implied that the utilisation patterns of the arable soil or human activities,such as tillage practices and fertiliser applications,have a substantialeffect on the soil properties in this region.Our results suggest that the cultivation practices in the region have apparently positive impact on the soil organic matter,nutrient contents and bulk density probably due to the sound fertiliser management such as the applications of farmyard manure and chemical fertilisers.However,intense cultivation practices lowered the activity of most soil enzymes.The results demonstrate that the choice of soil management strategy had a significant impact on the soil physicochemical and biological properties in the region studied.

Holistic identification and assessment of environmental risks of arable land use in two grain producing areas of China

Taking two typical grain producing areas of southern(Dongting Lake Region)and northern China(Shandong Province)as examples,this study used fault tree analysis and parametric estimation to provide a comparative analysis for environmental risks of intensive arable land use.The results show that(1)in the risks of eutrophication,toxicity,soil structure,greenhouse effect and air pollution,the greenhouse effect was the most prominent with the highest discharge;(2)the Dongting Lake Region discharged less pollutants annually than did Shandong Province,while surpassing Shandong in cumulative pollutant discharge in 2007-2018;(3)the spatial distribution of environmental risk in the Dongting Lake Region was mostly concentrated in the northern area,whereas that in Shandong Province displayed a scattered pattern;(4)in the Dongting Lake Region,Yueyang,Changde,and Yiyang were high environmental risk cities in 2007-2018,whereas in Shandong Province,Zaozhuang,Heze,Liaocheng,and Dezhou exhibited higher comprehensive environmental risk indexes in 2007-2008,while Rizhao replaced them in 2018.The results indicated that ago-production material use must be controlled,reasonable zoning for areas posing environmental risks must be employed and cities with high environmental risk must be dynamically monitored to prevent the intensification of environmental risks of arable land use.

Land use in agricultural landscapes with chernozems contaminated after Chernobyl accident: Can we be confident in radioecological safety of plant foodstuff?

Agricultural land use in the area of the post-Chemobyl Plavsk radioactive hotspot (Tula region,Central Russia) has raised a problem of radioecological safety of obtained plant foodstuff.Verification of 137Cs activities and inventories in components of 'soil-plant' systems of the territory has been conducted in 2014-2017 in 10 agrosystems and 2 semi-natural meadows.It was revealed that density of 137Cs contamination of arable chernozems and alluvial calcareous soils nowadays varies in a range 140-220 kBq/m2 and exceeds radiation safety standard by^3.5-6 times.Deep plowing of the arable soils up to 30-cm in 1986-1987 resulted in decreasing of 137Cs inventories in rooting zone by ≈ 70% for crops cultivated with shallow disk plowing (wheat,barley),and by ≈ 35% for crops cultivated with middle plowing (buckwheat,amaranth,white mustard).The investigated plants and their compartments can be grouped on the basis of transfer factor values as follows:maize (stems and leaves)> amaranth> bromegrass > vegetation of dry meadow,galega,sunflower (seeds),vegetation of wet meadow > maize (grain),soybean (pods),barley (grain),buckwheat (grain),potatoes (tubers)> white mustard (seeds),wheat (grain).It is noticeable that generative plant compartments are characterized by less 137Cs activities in comparison with stems and leaves;and that 137Cs root uptake is not coincide with total flux of mineral nutrients in 'soil-plant' systems.In sum,137Cs soil-to-plant transfer in the area of the Plavsk radioactive hotspot is characterized by considerable discrimination,so 137Cs activities in plants are completely in accordance with national standards.

基于质量、数量和经济发展水平的耕地占用税征收标准研究

耕地质量是决定耕地生产能力高低的关键因素,是国家粮食安全的重要保障。然而,2007年修订的《中华人民共和国耕地占用税暂行条例》在确定各地税额时仅考虑了耕地数量和经济发展情况,忽略了耕地质量因素,且仅规定了每省的平均税额,过于笼统。基于此,本文将耕地质量纳入征税依据之中,并测算出一套全国县域尺度的耕地占用税征收标准。从耕地质量、数量和经济发展三个角度出发,构建了耕地占用税征收等别指标体系(即耕地质量等别、人均耕地面积等别和城镇土地等别),采取全国农用地分等数据、区域城镇土地等别数据和全国统计数据,进行了相关技术方法验证和县级尺度耕地占用税征收等别和标准的测算。研究结果表明,测算的征收等别结果满足"质量越高越稀缺的资源越应该被保护,经济越发达征收税额应越高"的原则;对比分析测算税额与现行税额后,发现55%的区县的耕地占用税测算结果相对现行税额有所提高,这主要是由于将耕地质量等别纳入指标体系,且权重较大,使得全国不同区县的耕地占用税征收标准有不同程度的提高或降低,并建议各地区在实际执行时,以测算税额为基础,乘以适当的系数进行调整。本研究对于国家确定基于质量的耕地占用税提供理论和方法依据。

保护我国耕地质量的财税政策研究

耕地质量保护事关国家粮食安全和农业生态安全。当前在影响耕地质量的诸多因素中,农业生产造成的对耕地的污染和城镇化过程中对优质耕地的占用是导致耕地整体质量进一步下降的两大主要因素,而现行的财税政策在一定程度上对农业污染的控制起到逆向调节作用,同时也更易引发城镇化耕地占补平衡过程中"占优补劣"情况的发生。因此,进一步完善现行财税政策,有效控制农业污染,抑制城镇化耕地占用中的"占优补劣"现象,对于保护耕地质量具有重要的现实意义。

我国耕地占用税从价计征改革及其从价税率的调整测算——基于资源税全面深化改革背景下的讨论

在城市化快速推进的过程中,完善耕地占用税、加强耕地保护,对于我国促进环境可续性发展和保障粮食生产安全具有重要意义。本文在建立资源有偿使用制度和改革资源税的背景下,提出耕地占用税税率应由从量定额转向从价定率。在清费立税的基础上,按照税费统筹原则,测算了从价计征下基本税率的参考水平。