Characteristics and process of the cultivated land use transformation in Hebei Province since 1949

Abstract: The rapid transformation of cultivated land use has posed a severe challenge to national food security in recent years. It is a high demand to promote the management mode of cultivated land resources in China. In this study, an index evaluation and trend analysis were adopted to clarify the transformation characteristics and evolution of cultivated land utilized in Hebei Province of China since 1949. Some dominant indicators (such as the area of cultivated land use, the type of structure), and some recessive indicators (such as the intensity of cultivated land use, the function, and management mode) were also constructed to determine the types of cultivated land use. The change characteristics of cultivated land use were also depicted in the study area from 1949 to 2019. The types of cultivated land use were diagnosed to determine the induced paths of transformation in the different periods using the turning point. Finally, the transformation characteristics were determined to clarify the evolution of cultivated land utilization. The results showed that: 1) The types of cultivated land use presented outstanding transformation characteristics. Specifically, the area of cultivated land use was changed from rapid to slow reduction. The utilization structure of cultivated land was characterized by more than 50 % of irrigated land, and then gradually evolved from dry land to irrigated land. The intensity of cultivated land utilization showed a trend of stable development after the rapid increase, and then the transformation into balanced development after reaching the highest intensity. The management mode of cultivated land was driven by the policy and gradually transformed from the family decentralized management to small farmers, land transfer, and land trusteeship. The utilization function of cultivated land showed an upward-downward-upward evolution, indicating the leading function of cultivated land from the social to production function. 2) The types of cultivated land use were transformed significantly with the development of society and economy. The structure and function of cultivated land use were fully transformed in 1975 and 1995, which were earlier than the transformation stage of social-economy development from the primary to the middle-advanced stage. The transformation of cultivated land use areas, management mode, and utilization intensity were completed in 2011, 2002, and 2008, respectively, which were later than the transformation stage. 3) The population growth, regional development policies, social development, and technological progress, farmers' land use behavior were the important evoked pathways of regional cultivated land use transformation. Among them, the change in cultivated land-use patterns was attributed to the decision-making on the scarcity of cultivated land resources in the regional development policies. There was strong mutual feedback between the population growth/migration and cultivated land use transformation. Social development and technological progress posed a great impact on the transformation of cultivated land utilization through the recessive types. Farmers' land use behavior and decision-making were the micro factors of cultivated land use transformation. Finally, the protection policies of cultivated land use were formulated for the current transformation stage. The specific path was determined to control the structural change of cultivated land use types, in order to promote rural development using the large-scale management of cultivated land.