Agricultural Land Abandonment in the Hill Agro-ecological Region of Nepal: Analysis of Extent, Drivers and Impact of Change

Agriculture is the mainstay of Pakistan’s economy. However, it has been noticed that farmers are increasingly giving up agriculture in favor of non-agricultural activities. This study was conducted in the Khairpur district of Sindh province, which is part of the Indus Plains in Pakistan. The main purpose of the study was to investigate the current and future land use change (LUC) trends and to study farmers’ perceptions of the causes and consequences of LUC and agricultural land abandonment (ALA) in the study area. The study used field survey data and secondary data obtained from the government sources. The results show that agricultural land in the region has decreased by about 9% in the past two decades. Survey data analysis confirms this because more than 80% of farmers believe that agricultural land in the area has declined over time. In addition, farmers believe that socioeconomic and environmental changes are the main reasons for LUC and ALA. We used a logistic regression model to determine the factors that influence farmers’ decisions to sell agricultural land for other uses. The results show that the age, income, land ownership, farm inheritance by successors, social networks and lack of basic facilities in the study area are the main determinants of farmers’ decisions to sell agricultural lands. In particular, farmers’ integration into the social network and their belief that the farm will be inherited by heirs reduces the possibility of selling land. As for the consequences of LUC and ALA, the results indicate that farmland prices, weeds infestation, urban diffusion, and pressure on existing infrastructure have increased in the study area. In addition, the results show that the prospects of farming in the area remain grim as most farmers indicated that they were willing to abandon agricultural lands in favor of other revenue generation activities. The study suggests that policymakers should pay close attention to controlling rapid LUC and ALA to keep lands green.

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No evidence of increased fire risk due to agricultural land abandonment in Sardinia (Italy)

Natural Hazards and Earth System Science ◽

10.5194/nhess-12-1333-2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 12 (5) ◽

pp. 1333-1336 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

C. Ricotta ◽

D. Guglietta ◽

A. Migliozzi

Keyword(s):

Rural Areas ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Plant Biomass ◽

Fire Hazard ◽

Fire Behavior ◽

Land Abandonment ◽

Fuel Load ◽

Short Paper ◽

Ignition Probability ◽

Fire Ignition

Abstract. Different land cover types are related to different levels of fire hazard through their vegetation structure and fuel load composition. Therefore, understanding the relationships between landscape changes and fire behavior is of crucial importance for developing adequate fire fighting and fire prevention strategies for a changing world. In the last decades the abandonment of agricultural lands and pastoral activities has been the major driver of landscape transformations in Mediterranean Europe. As agricultural land abandonment typically promotes an increase in plant biomass (fuel load), a number of authors argue that vegetation succession in abandoned fields and pastures is expected to increase fire hazard. In this short paper, based on 28 493 fires in Sardinia (Italy) in the period 2001–2010, we show that there is no evidence of increased probability of fire ignition in abandoned rural areas. To the contrary, in Sardinia the decreased human impact associated with agricultural land abandonment leads to a statistically significant decrease of fire ignition probability.

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An Assessment and Spatial Modelling of Agricultural Land Abandonment in Spain (2015–2030)

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12020560 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 560 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Carolina Perpiña Castillo ◽

Eloína Coll Aliaga ◽

Carlo Lavalle ◽

José Carlos Martínez Llario

Keyword(s):

Agricultural Land ◽

Natura 2000 ◽

Spatial Modelling ◽

Land Abandonment ◽

Research Centre ◽

The European Union ◽

Northern Spain ◽

Joint Research ◽

Protection Measures ◽

High Nature Value Farmland

This article presents a study based on the outputs from the LUISA Territorial modelling platform (Joint Research Centre of the European Commission) focused on regional and local future projections of land abandonment between 2015 and 2030. Spain is taken as representative of one of the countries highly affected by agricultural land abandonment in the European Union. The most relevant factors driving land abandonment (biophysical, agroeconomics, farm structure and demographic) are described and mapped. Results from the analysis reveal that the Galicia region, northern Spain (Asturias, Cantabria, Gipuzkoa, Bizkaia), north-eastern Spain (Aragón region), central Pyrenees/Ebro basin (Huesca, Navarra, Lleida) and south-eastern Spain (Murcia, Almería, Alicante, Málaga) are expected to undergo important abandonment processes. The study also concludes that land abandonment within mountainous, high nature value farmland and Natura 2000 areas is lower compared to the outside area without conservation and protection measures.

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Multi-scale assessment and spatial modelling of agricultural land abandonment in a European peripheral region: Galicia (Spain), 1956–2004

Land Use Policy ◽

10.1016/j.landusepol.2011.08.008 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 29 (3) ◽

pp. 493-501 ◽

Cited By ~ 60

Author(s):

E. Corbelle-Rico ◽

R. Crecente-Maseda ◽

I. Santé-Riveira

Keyword(s):

Agricultural Land ◽

Spatial Modelling ◽

Peripheral Region ◽

Land Abandonment ◽

Multi Scale ◽

Scale Assessment

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Agricultural land abandonment in Mediterranean environment provides ecosystem services via soil carbon sequestration

The Science of The Total Environment ◽

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.10.123 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 576 ◽

pp. 420-429 ◽

Cited By ~ 57

Author(s):

Agata Novara ◽

Luciano Gristina ◽

Giovanna Sala ◽

Antonino Galati ◽

Maria Crescimanno ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Carbon Sequestration ◽

Soil Carbon ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Soil Carbon Sequestration ◽

Land Abandonment ◽

Mediterranean Environment

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Determinants of agricultural land abandonment in post-Soviet European Russia

Land Use Policy ◽

10.1016/j.landusepol.2012.06.011 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 873-884 ◽

Cited By ~ 208

Author(s):

Alexander V. Prishchepov ◽

Daniel Müller ◽

Maxim Dubinin ◽

Matthias Baumann ◽

Volker C. Radeloff

Keyword(s):

Agricultural Land ◽

European Russia ◽

Land Abandonment

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Abandonment and Recultivation of Agricultural Lands in Slovakia—Patterns and Determinants from the Past to the Future

Land ◽

10.3390/land9090316 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (9) ◽

pp. 316 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Robert Pazúr ◽

Juraj Lieskovský ◽

Matthias Bürgi ◽

Daniel Müller ◽

Tibor Lieskovský ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Landsat Imagery ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

Boosted Regression Trees ◽

Land Abandonment ◽

Agricultural Land Use ◽

Open Market ◽

The European Union ◽

National Capital

Central and Eastern Europe has experienced fundamental land use changes since the collapse of socialism around 1990. We analyzed the patterns and determinants of agricultural land abandonment and recultivation in Slovakia during the transition from a state-controlled economy to an open-market economy (1986 to 2000) and the subsequent accession to the European Union (2000 to 2010). We quantified agricultural land-use change based on available maps derived from 30-m multi-seasonal Landsat imagery and analyzed the socioeconomic and biophysical determinants of the observed agricultural land-use changes using boosted regression trees. We used a scenario-based approach to assess future agricultural land abandonment and recultivation until 2060. The maps of agricultural land use analysis reveal that cropland abandonment was the dominant land use process on 11% of agricultural land from 1986 to 2000, and on 6% of the agricultural land from 2000 to 2010. Recultivation occurred on approximately 2% of agricultural land in both periods. Although most abandoned land was located in the plains, the rate of abandonment was twice as high in the mountainous landscapes. The likelihood of abandonment increased with increased distance from the national capital (Bratislava), decreased with an increase of annual mean temperatures and was higher in proximity to forest edges and on steeper slopes. Recultivation was largely determined by the opposite effects. The scenario for 2060 suggests that future agricultural land abandonment and recultivation may largely be determined by climate and terrain conditions and, to a lesser extent, by proximity to economic centers. Our study underscores the value of synergetic use of satellite data and land-use modeling to provide the input for land planning, and to anticipate the potential effects of changing environmental and policy conditions.

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Intensity and Driving Forces of Land Abandonment in Eastern Poland

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app10103500 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (10) ◽

pp. 3500 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Wojciech Zgłobicki ◽

Kamil Karczmarczuk ◽

Bogusława Baran-Zgłobicka

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Agricultural Production ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Driving Forces ◽

Arable Land ◽

Land Abandonment ◽

Farm Size ◽

Study Objective

Agricultural land is an important natural resource and forms the basis for food production. Global and local socio-economic and environmental changes are often the driving forces of changes in land cover and land use. Land abandonment in rural areas is one of the processes observed in Europe today and usually leads to increased afforestation. The intensity of this process in Central Europe is linked to the political and economic changes that took place at the end of the 20th century. The study objective was to identify the natural and socio-economic factors of this process in Lublin Province—a major region of agricultural production in Poland. From 1990 to 2018, over 130,000 ha were excluded from agricultural use, which represents 7% of the arable land in 1990. Land abandonment showed considerable spatial differences when comparing different counties: its magnitude ranged from 4% to 13% of the county area. At the same time, due to the specific type of land use in the province (small farm holdings divided into several fields), the intensity of land abandonment was underestimated when based on overview data (CORINE). It was observed that the intensity of this process was correlated with the natural conditions (topography, soils) for agricultural production and the socio-economic characteristics (area of arable land, forest cover changes, farm size) of the counties as well as the absorption of Common Agricultural Policy funds.

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Land Use Classification of VHR Images for Mapping Small-Sized Abandoned Citrus Plots by Using Spectral and Textural Information

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13040681 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 681 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sergio Morell-Monzó ◽

María-Teresa Sebastiá-Frasquet ◽

Javier Estornell

Keyword(s):

Random Forest ◽

Vegetation Index ◽

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index ◽

Agricultural Land ◽

Majority Voting ◽

Land Abandonment ◽

Land Use Classification ◽

Blue Band ◽

Lower Accuracy

Agricultural land abandonment is an increasing problem in Europe. The Comunitat Valenciana Region (Spain) is one of the most important citrus producers in Europe suffering this problem. This region characterizes by small sized citrus plots and high spatial fragmentation which makes necessary to use Very High-Resolution images to detect abandoned plots. In this paper spectral and Gray Level Co-Occurrence Matrix (GLCM)-based textural information derived from the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) are used to map abandoned citrus plots in Oliva municipality (eastern Spain). The proposed methodology is based on three general steps: (a) extraction of spectral and textural features from the image, (b) pixel-based classification of the image using the Random Forest algorithm, and (c) assignment of a single value per plot by majority voting. The best results were obtained when extracting the texture features with a 9 × 9 window size and the Random Forest model showed convergence around 100 decision trees. Cross-validation of the model showed an overall accuracy of the pixel-based classification of 87% and an overall accuracy of the plot-based classification of 95%. All the variables used are statistically significant for the classification, however the most important were contrast, dissimilarity, NIR band (720 nm), and blue band (620 nm). According to our results, 31% of the plots classified as citrus in Oliva by current methodology are abandoned. This is very important to avoid overestimating crop yield calculations by public administrations. The model was applied successfully outside the main study area (Oliva municipality); with a slightly lower accuracy (92%). This research provides a new approach to map small agricultural plots, especially to detect land abandonment in woody evergreen crops that have been little studied until now.

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