Abstract
Since the 1990s, China has entered the middle phase of urbanization which leads to the existence of significant geographic concentration of agricultural land use. The average value of regional concentration degree of ten representative crops in China was 59.03%, showing a high degree of geographic concentration in farming. Some typical agriculture provinces in farming have arisen. The degree of geographic concentration in farming has been enhanced, with the average degree of regional concentration of ten crops increasing considerably by 3.83% in 2009 compared to that in 1990 (55.20%). The spatial growing center of farming was found to move westward and northward during 1990–2009. Meanwhile food production concentrated in the Northeast China and main producing area, and cash crops production concentrated in Northwest China. Off-farm employment of rural labor force, commercialization of agricultural product and regional comparative advantage are the main driving forces of geographic concentration of agricultural land use. Governmental policies with regional differences should be considered to promote further development of agriculture.
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Yuluan ZHAO obtained his B.S. degree in Geography, Guizhou Normal University and M.S. degree in Human Geography, Wuhan University. He is a candidate of Ph. D. in Physical Geography in the Department of Land Cover Change & Land Resources, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His area of expertise includes land use planning, land sensor, land use/land cover change and land system model.
Dr. Xiubin Li obtained his Ph.D. in the Department of Geography from the University of Hong kong, M.S. degree in the Institute of Geographic Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Bachelor’s degree in Geography, Beijing Normal University. He is currently a professor in the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research fields include land use and land cover change.
Dr. Liangjie XIN earned his B.A. and M.S. degrees from Shandong Normal University, and received Ph.D. from Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2009. He is an assistant researcher at the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research areas include three broad emphases: 1) agricultural land use changes and the effects; 2) land carrying capacity and food security; and 3) rural sustainable development.
Dr. Haiguang HAO obtained his Ph.D. in Physical Geography Sciences from the Institute of Geographic Science and Natural Resources Research (IGSNRR), Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is currently a post-doctoral in the IGSNRR. His main fields of scientific interest include changes of the agricultural labor and agricultural land use, and their impacts on environment in ecological fragile areas.
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Zhao, Y., Li, X., Xin, L. et al. Geographic concentration and driving forces of agricultural land use in China. Front. Earth Sci. 6, 48–56 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-012-0303-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-012-0303-5