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Decoupling livestock and crop production at the household level in China

Author

Listed:
  • Shuqin Jin

    (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China
    Wageningen University)

  • Bin Zhang

    (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China)

  • Bi Wu

    (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China)

  • Dongmei Han

    (Hebei University)

  • Yu Hu

    (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China)

  • Chenchen Ren

    (Zhejiang University)

  • Chuanzhen Zhang

    (Zhejiang University)

  • Xun Wei

    (University of Science and Technology Beijing)

  • Yan Wu

    (Nanjing Audit University)

  • Arthur P. J. Mol

    (Wageningen University)

  • Stefan Reis

    (UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
    University of Exeter Medical School, Knowledge Spa)

  • Baojing Gu

    (Zhejiang University
    Zhejiang University)

  • Jie Chen

    (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China)

Abstract

Animal manure used to be the major source of additional nutrients and crucial for maintaining soil fertility and crop yield in traditional farming systems. However, it is increasingly not recycled, wasting vital resources and damaging the environment. By using long-term (1986–2017) data from a rural household survey (>20,000 households) across China, here we show that the share of rural households with both crop planting and livestock raising (CPLR) has sharply declined from 71% in 1986 to only 12% in 2017. Compared with households with only crop planting, the CPLR households apply less synthetic fertilizer and more manure per cropland area. However, manure production in one-third of CPLR households has exceeded the nutrient requirement of crop growth on their croplands. Rebuilding the links between livestock and croplands at a regional scale thus provides vital opportunities for the sustainable intensification of agriculture in China.

Suggested Citation

  • Shuqin Jin & Bin Zhang & Bi Wu & Dongmei Han & Yu Hu & Chenchen Ren & Chuanzhen Zhang & Xun Wei & Yan Wu & Arthur P. J. Mol & Stefan Reis & Baojing Gu & Jie Chen, 2021. "Decoupling livestock and crop production at the household level in China," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 4(1), pages 48-55, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:4:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41893-020-00596-0
    DOI: 10.1038/s41893-020-00596-0
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    Cited by:

    1. Hengfei Song & Liangjie Xin & Xiubin Li & Xue Wang & Yufeng He & Wen Song, 2022. "Can Livestock Raising Alleviate Farmland Abandonment?—Evidence from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-18, July.
    2. Ouping Deng & Sitong Wang & Jiangyou Ran & Shuai Huang & Xiuming Zhang & Jiakun Duan & Lin Zhang & Yongqiu Xia & Stefan Reis & Jiayu Xu & Jianming Xu & Wim Vries & Mark A. Sutton & Baojing Gu, 2024. "Managing urban development could halve nitrogen pollution in China," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-16, December.
    3. Tan, Meixiu & Hou, Yong & Zhang, Ling & Shi, Shengli & Long, Weitong & Ma, Yifei & Zhang, Tao & Oenema, Oene, 2022. "Nutrient use efficiency of intensive dairy farms in China – Current situation and analyses of options for improvement," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    4. Yiming Sang & Liangjie Xin, 2023. "Factors Determining Concurrent Reclamation and Abandonment of Cultivated Land on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-17, May.
    5. Kai Tang, 2022. "The Effect of Left-Behind Women on Fertilizer Use: Evidence from China’s Rural Households Engaging in Rural-Urban Migration," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-12, December.
    6. Liu, Min & Xu, Wenli & Zhang, Hangyu & Chen, Huang & Bie, Qiang & Han, Guodong & Yu, Xiaohua, 2022. "Livestock production, greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, and grassland conservation: Quasi-natural experimental evidence," MPRA Paper 115704, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Hao, Zhuo & Shi, Yuanyuan & Zhan, Xiaoying & Yu, Bowei & Fan, Qing & Zhu, Jie & Liu, Lianhua & Zhang, Qingwen & Zhao, Guangxiang, 2024. "Quantifying and assessing nitrogen sources and transport in a megacity water supply watershed: Insights for effective non-point source pollution management with mixSIAR and SWAT models," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 291(C).
    8. Jianxing Chen & Xuesong Gao & Yanyan Zhang & Petri Penttinen & Qi Wang & Jing Ling & Ting Lan & Dinghua Ou & Yang Li, 2023. "Analysis on Coupling Coordination Degree for Cropland and Livestock from 2000 to 2020 in China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-20, June.
    9. Pan, Hengyu & Zheng, Xiangyu & Wu, Rui & Liu, Xincong & Xiao, Shijiang & Sun, Lu & Hu, Tianzi & Gao, Ziyan & Yang, Liping & Huang, Chengyi & Zhang, Xiaohong & Deng, Shihuai & Xiao, Yinlong, 2024. "Agriculture related methane emissions embodied in China's interprovincial trade," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 189(PA).
    10. Díaz de Otálora, X. & Amon, B. & Balaine, L. & Dragoni, F. & Estellés, F. & Ragaglini, G. & Kieronczyk, M. & Jørgensen, G.H.M. & del Prado, A., 2024. "Influence of farm diversity on nitrogen and greenhouse gas emission sources from key European dairy cattle systems: A step towards emission mitigation and nutrient circularity," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    11. Xiao Chen & Zeyuan He & Huarui Wu & Changji Wen & Tao Tao & Xinyu Yang & You Tang & Hongliang Guo & Helong Yu, 2023. "Multi-Objective Optimization of Integrated Crop–Livestock Systems: Exploring Resource Allocation Based on Emergy Evaluation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-17, May.
    12. Zhe Zhao & Xiangzheng Deng & Fan Zhang & Zhihui Li & Wenjiao Shi & Zhigang Sun & Xuezhen Zhang, 2022. "Scenario Analysis of Livestock Carrying Capacity Risk in Farmland from the Perspective of Planting and Breeding Balance in Northeast China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-13, March.
    13. Jinsong Liu & Yuxuan He & Jin Chen & Shan Huang & Yanni Sun, 2024. "Lime Application Reduces Methane Emissions Induced by Pig Manure Substitution from a Double-Cropped Rice Field," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-14, June.
    14. Fang, Guozhu & Zhang, Xiaoheng & Qi, Chunjie, 2021. "Are Integrated Crop-Livestock Systems More Technical Efficiency? Evidence from Small Farmers in China," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315129, International Association of Agricultural Economists.

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