Spatial Distribution and Changes of the Realizable Triple Cropping System in China

Li Jiang, Xin Chen, Fei Lun, Zhihua Pan, Jiaheng Niu, Chenyang Ding, Lijun Meng, Guoliang Zhang, Charles Peter Mgeni, Stefan Sieber and Pingli An
Additional contact information
Li Jiang: College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Xin Chen: College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Fei Lun: College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Zhihua Pan: College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Jiaheng Niu: College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Chenyang Ding: College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Lijun Meng: College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Guoliang Zhang: College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China
Charles Peter Mgeni: Sustainable Land Use in Developing Countries, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF e.V), Eberswalder Straße 84, 15374 Müncheberg, Germany
Stefan Sieber: Sustainable Land Use in Developing Countries, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF e.V), Eberswalder Straße 84, 15374 Müncheberg, Germany
Pingli An: College of Land Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 6, 1-18

Abstract: Exploiting the full potential of the realizable triple cropping system (RTCS) is one of the most effective methods for increasing land productivity, thus promoting food security. However, insufficient attention is paid to the spatial distribution of the RTCS in China. Here, a method is developed to assess the RTCS in China, considering terrain, climatic conditions, crop climatic-ecological suitability, and the spatial changes in the RTCS between 1951 and 2010. Results indicate that a decrease of 19 Mha was caused by topographic correction, while climate change increased the same area by 14 Mha. Based on crop climatic-ecological conditions, the suitability of the RTCS was indicated for 1068 counties. The boundary of the RTCS moved northward by 100–200 km in the Middle-Lower reaches of the Yangtze River, but southward by approximately 250 km in Yunnan Province. The area of the RTCS is 135 Mha distributed across 775 counties in Southern China. These findings are useful for guiding the policy of cultivated land use in Southern China. The approach can be adopted elsewhere to determine the RTCS for sustainable land use and increasing land productivity.

Keywords: terrain; climate change; crop climatic-ecological suitability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/6/1654/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/6/1654/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:6:p:1654-:d:215196

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().