scholarly journals Resilience analysis for agricultural systems of north China plain based on a dynamic system model

2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongjun Li ◽  
Zhijun Liu ◽  
Li Zheng ◽  
Yuping Lei
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
North China Plain ◽  
North China ◽  
System Model ◽  
Agricultural Systems ◽  
Time Step ◽  
The North ◽  
Labor Transfer ◽  
Main Components ◽  
The Cost

This paper presents a case study of resilience theory to understand agricultural systems in the Luancheng County of the North China Plain. A dynanic system model coupled with social, economic and ecological subsystems of agriculture for the Luancheng County was constructed with a time step of one month. The model includes five main components, water resources, profitability, irrigation, crop yield and area. The simulated groundwater table, wheat area and yield, maize area and yield, and rural labor transfer reflected the general trend of the observed data, with calculated determination coefficients higher than 0.88. Resilience of agricultural systems, as indicated by agricultural profitability and food security, were explored for the Luancheng County. Initially, investments in agriculture increased its resilience rapidly. However, with the degradation of resources and the increases in agricultural investment, the cost of agricultural production became too high to gain profit. The rise in population increases the risk of food security. As a result, the resilience of agricultural systems decreased gradually. The Luancheng County is now in the conservation phase of the adaptive cycle. Partial adjustments should be introduced to enhance its resilience and promote the continuing development of the agricultural systems.

Agricultural Sustainability in the Food Bowl of the North China Plain

2005 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 149-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Zhen ◽  
Gopal B. Thapa ◽  
Gaodi Xie
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
North China Plain ◽  
North China ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Farming Practices ◽  
The North ◽  
The North China Plain ◽  
Increase Food Production ◽  
The Cost

The North China Plain (NCP) is the food bowl of the country. To feed the growing population, farmers in the area have been using the land very intensively with high inputs to increase food production. The sustainability of such farming practices has attracted the attention of scholars, planners and decision makers. This study analyses the economic and environmental sustainability of the major cropping systems in the NCP, based on selected site-specific indicators. The information necessary for this study was obtained in 2001 through a survey of 270 farm households from four villages in Ningjin county, soil sample analysis, chemical tests for nitrate concentration in groundwater and crop plants, field observations and discussions with key informants, as well as official reports and publications. The findings of the analysis revealed that all cropping systems in the study area were economically sustainable. However, such achievements have been made at a cost to the environment, degradation of natural resources and risk to human health. If these costs are taken into consideration, all cropping systems in the study area cannot be considered sustainable. The study stresses that farming practices that are economically sustainable should not be promoted at the cost of degrading production resources. There is a need for a policy shift from the promotion of agricultural production to sustainable agricultural production. Several policy measures have been outlined for the promotion of sustainable cropping systems in the NCP.

Balancing GHG mitigation and food security through agricultural recycling systems: Case studies in the North China Plain

2017 ◽  
Vol 157 ◽  
pp. 222-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhejin Li ◽  
Peng Sui ◽  
Xiaolei Yang ◽  
Hongcui Dai ◽  
Xiaolong Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
North China Plain ◽  
North China ◽  
Ghg Mitigation ◽  
The North ◽  
The North China Plain ◽  
Recycling Systems

Case study of developing an integrated water and nitrogen scheme for agricultural systems on the North China Plain

2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 425-437
Author(s):  
Y. Liu ◽  
F. Tao ◽  
Y. Luo ◽  
J. Ma
Keyword(s):  
Winter Wheat ◽  
Production Management ◽  
North China Plain ◽  
North China ◽  
N Fertilizer ◽  
Agricultural Systems ◽  
Summer Maize ◽  
The North ◽  
The North China Plain ◽  
Maize Yields

Abstract Appropriate irrigation and nitrogen fertilization, along with suitable crop management strategies, are essential prerequisites for optimum yields in agricultural systems. This research attempts to provide a scientific basis for sustainable agricultural production management for the North China Plain and other semi-arid regions. Based on a series of 72 treatments over 2003-2008, an optimized water and nitrogen scheme for winter wheat/summer maize cropping system was developed. Integrated systems incorporating 120 mm of water with 80 kg N ha-1 N fertilizer were used to simulate winter wheat yields in Hebei and 120 mm of water with 120 kg N ha-1 were used to simulate winter wheat yields in Shandong and Henan provinces in 2000-2007. Similarly, integrated treatments of 40 kg N ha-1 N fertilizer were used to simulate summer maize yields in Hebei, and 80 kg N ha-1 was used to simulate summer maize yields in Shandong and Henan provinces in 2000-2007. Under the optimized scheme, 341.74 107 mm ha-1 of water and 575.79 104 Mg of urea fertilizer could be saved per year under the wheat/maize rotation system. Despite slight drops in the yields of wheat and maize in some areas, water and fertilizer saving has tremendous long-term eco-environmental benefits.

scholarly journals Will Maize-Based Cropping Systems Reduce Water Consumption without Compromise of Food Security in the North China Plain?

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 2946
Author(s):  
Jia Yang ◽  
Jixiao Cui ◽  
Ziqin Lv ◽  
Mengmeng Ran ◽  
Beibei Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Winter Wheat ◽  
Water Consumption ◽  
North China Plain ◽  
North China ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Summer Maize ◽  
The North ◽  
Spring Maize ◽  
Supply Capacity

The winter wheat–summer maize double cropping system caused overexploitation of groundwater in the North China Plain; it is unsustainable and threatens food security and the overall wellbeing of humankind in the region. Finding water-saving cropping systems without compromising food security is a more likely solution. In this study, six alternative cropping systems’ water conservation and food supply capacity were compared simultaneously. A combined water footprint method was applied to analyze the cropping systems’ water consumption. The winter wheat–summer maize system had the largest water consumption (16,585 m3/ha on average), followed by the potato/spring maize, spinach–spring maize, rye–spring maize, vetch–spring maize, pea/spring maize, soybean||spring maize and mono-spring maize cropping systems. For the groundwater, the spinach–spring maize, pea/spring maize, soybean||spring maize systems showed a higher degree of synchronization between crop growth period and rainfall, which could reduce use of groundwater by 36.8%, 54.4% and 57.6%, respectively. For food supply capacity, the values for spinach–spring maize, pea/spring maize, soybean||spring maize systems were 73.0%, 60.8% and 48.4% of winter wheat–summer maize, respectively, but they showed a better feeding efficiency than the winter wheat–summer maize system. On the whole, spinach–spring maize may be a good option to prevent further decline in groundwater level and to ensure food security in a sustainable way.

Ensuring water security, food security, and clean water in the North China Plain – conflicting strategies

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 63-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiqin Wang ◽  
Yukun Hu ◽  
Ruiqiang Yuan ◽  
Wenzhao Feng ◽  
Yun Pan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
North China Plain ◽  
North China ◽  
Water Security ◽  
Clean Water ◽  
The North ◽  
The North China Plain

scholarly journals The cost of ending groundwater overdraft on the North China Plain

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 5931-5966 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Davidsen ◽  
S. Liu ◽  
X. Mo ◽  
D. Rosbjerg ◽  
P. Bauer-Gottwein
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
River Basin ◽  
North China Plain ◽  
North China ◽  
Management Problem ◽  
The North ◽  
Groundwater Overdraft ◽  
The North China Plain ◽  
Surface Water And Groundwater ◽  
The Cost

Abstract. Over-exploitation of groundwater reserves is a major environmental problem around the world. In many river basins, groundwater and surface water are used conjunctively and joint optimization strategies are required. A hydroeconomic modelling approach is used to find cost-optimal sustainable surface water and groundwater allocation strategies for a river basin, given an arbitrary initial groundwater level in the aquifer. A simplified management problem with conjunctive use of scarce surface water and groundwater under inflow and recharge uncertainty is presented. Because of head-dependent groundwater pumping costs the optimization problem is non-linear and non-convex, and a genetic algorithm is used to solve the 1-step-ahead sub-problems with the objective of minimizing the sum of immediate and expected future costs. A real-world application in the Ziya River Basin in northern China is used to demonstrate the model capabilities. Persistent overdraft from the groundwater aquifers on the North China Plain has caused declining groundwater tables, salinization and infiltration of \\hack{\\break} wastewater. The model maps the opportunity cost of water in different scenarios, and the cost of ending groundwater overdraft in the basin is estimated to be 5.47 billion CNY yr−1. The model can be used to guide decision makers to ensure long-term sustainability of groundwater and surface water resources management in the basin in an economically optimal way.

scholarly journals Monitoring Cropping Intensity Dynamics across the North China Plain from 1982 to 2018 Using GLASS LAI Products

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (19) ◽  
pp. 3911
Author(s):  
Yan Zhao ◽  
Jianzhong Feng ◽  
Lei Luo ◽  
Linyan Bai ◽  
Hong Wan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
North China Plain ◽  
North China ◽  
Cropping System ◽  
Lower Latitude ◽  
Cultivated Land ◽  
Cropping Intensity ◽  
The North ◽  
The North China Plain ◽  
Sample Points

China is a large grain producer and consumer. Thus, obtaining information about the cropping intensity (CI) in cultivated land, as well as understanding the intensified utilization of cultivated land, is important to ensuring an increased grain production and food security for China. This study aims to detect and map the changes in CI over a period of 36 years across China’s core grain-producing area—the North China Plain (NCP)— using remotely sensed leaf area index (LAI) time series data acquired by the Global LAnd Surface Satellite (GLASS) products. We first selected 2132 sample points that consisted entirely, or almost entirely, of cultivated cropland from all pixels; the biennial LAI curves for the sample points were then extracted; the Savitzky‒Golay filter and second-order difference algorithm were then applied to reconstruct the biennial LAI curves and obtain the number of peaks in these curves. In addition, the multiple cropping index (MCI) was calculated to represent the CI. Finally, the spatial distribution of the CI of cultivated land on the NCP was mapped from 1982 to 2018 using a geo-statistical kriging approach. Spatially, the results indicate that the CI of cultivated land over the NCP exhibits a distinct spatial pattern that conforms to “high in the south, low in the north”. The single cropping system (SCS) mainly occurred in the higher latitude area ranging from 37.04°N to 42.54° N, and the double cropping system (DCS) mainly existed in the lower latitude area between 31.95° N and 39.97° N. Temporally, the CI increased over the study period, but there were some large fluctuations in CI from 1982 to 1998 and it maintained relatively stable since 2000. Across the NCP, 68.14% of cultivated land experienced a significant increase in CI during the 36-year period, while only 3.87% showed a significant decrease. We also found that, between 1982 and 2018, the northern boundary of the area for DCS underwent a significant westward expansion and northward movement. Our results show a good degree of consistency with statistical data and previous research and also help to improve the reliability of satellite-based identification of CI using low spatial resolution LAI products. The results provide important information that can be used for analyzing and evaluating the rational utilization of cultivated land resources; thus, ensuring food security and realizing agricultural sustainability not only for the NCP, but for China as a whole. These results also highlight the value of satellite remote sensing to the long-term monitoring of cropping intensity at large scales.

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