Land consolidation zoning of Northern Guangdong for suitable mechanization transformation in hilly and mountainous areas based on limiting factors

Abstract: Land consolidation zoning is one of the most important ways for fitting large-medium farm machinery to promote agricultural mechanization and rural revitalization in hilly and mountainous areas. Therefore, reclamation planning is of great significance to effectively allocate resources in modern mechanized agriculture. Taking the hilly and mountainous area of northern Guangdong of China as the research area, this study aims to construct the evaluation index system of mechanization potential for large-medium farm machinery in a cultivated land using limiting factors. Two dimensions were also selected, including agricultural machinery accessibility and operation convenience. An improved obstacle degree model was used to identify the dominant limiting factors of cultivated land consolidation for fitting large-medium farm machinery. The improvement difficulty was then determined, according to the restriction degree and difficulty coefficient of dominant limiting factors. A suitable mechanized improvement zoning of cultivated land was delimited using the improvement potential and difficulty. A regional improvement strategy was finally proposed for the study area during this time. The results showed that: (1) There was obviously spatial differentiation of cultivated land consolidation for fitting large-medium farm machinery in the study area. The high potential improvement area was mainly distributed in the hilly areas, whereas, the low potential improvement area was mainly distributed in the basin areas. (2) The insufficient number of cultivated land construction was found to significantly restrict the mechanization for the relatively scattered and irregular shape of plots. (3) The difficulty distribution areas were generally consistent with the potential for improvement. The areas with greater difficulty were the mountainous areas with obvious limitation of the machine-ploughing track, where less difficulty was observed in the basins; particularly those were subjected to the land contiguous conditions and irregular shapes. (4) The priority area presented a great potential and small difficulty, indicating an obvious restriction from the contiguity and regular shape of the land. Additionally, there were limited potential and difficulty in the minor consolidation areas. Land consolidation can also be carried out using simple projects, such as the merging of fields. There were also high potential and difficulty in the comprehensive consolidation areas. Correspondingly, there were several limiting factors with a relatively large degree of restriction. It also needed to be remedied using comprehensive engineering during this time. Additionally, the ideal mechanization production was found in the backup improvement area, where the potential was small and difficult in the study area. It is necessary to invest a lot to further improve the mechanization level of cultivated land. (5) Special planning is highly urgent to formulate the relevant technical standards for the mechanization of cultivated land. Different types of cultivated land consolidation need to formulate the fitting large-medium farm machinery, according to local conditions, such as interconnection plots, horizontal strip fields, horizontal terraces, gentle slope dry land, and terrace dry land. (6) The remediation zoning was support to spatial guidance of cultivated land consolidation for fitting large-medium farm machinery using the potential and difficulty of remediation, particularly on selecting targeted objects of cropland mechanized remediation. The finding can also provide a promising reference for similar areas to carry out the cultivated land consolidation for fitting large-medium farm machinery.