Spatial–Temporal Evolution of the Coupling Coordination Degree between Water and Land Resources Matching and Cultivated Land Use Eco-Efficiency: A Case Study of the Major Grain-Producing Areas in the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River

Abstract

Improving the coupling coordination degree between water and land resources matching (WLRM) and cultivated land use eco-efficiency (CLUE) is crucial to ensuring national food security and constructing an ecological civilization. This study is based on the data of 71 prefecture-level cities in the major grain-producing areas in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River from 2008 to 2020. The unit area water resource method, the slacks-based measurement (SBM)-undesirable, the Theil–Sen median analysis, the Mann–Kendall trend test, the coupling coordination degree model, and the spatial autocorrelation model are adopted to measure and analyze the WLRM, the CLUE, and the coupling and coordination level, and their spatial–temporal evolution characteristics quantitatively. Results show the following: (1) From 2008 to 2020, the average value of WLRM in the study areas is 18,200 m3/hm2, which is at a medium level, and the provinces show the characteristics of “high in the south and low in the north, with decreasing gradients”. (2) The annual average of CLUE is 0.777, which is in the medium level, and each province has the remarkable characteristics of “one high and four low”. (3) The coupling coordination degree of WLRM and CLUE is in the primary coordination level, which shows a significant positive correlation in space. In the local perspective, it shows the agglomeration characteristics of “high in the south and low in the north, nodule distribution”. In the future, the neighboring prefecture-level cities should actively build a synergistic mechanism for agricultural development, strengthen the reasonable use of water and land resources and pollution control techniques, drive the transformation of low–low aggregation areas to high–high aggregation areas, and improve the overall coordination of the study areas. This approach aims to promote the construction of ecological civilization and guarantee grain security and sustainable development of agriculture in China.

Relationship of Cooperative Management and Green and Low-Carbon Transition of Agriculture and Its Impacts: A Case Study of the Western Tarim River Basin

“…The equilibrium test results of the PSM matching (Table 7) show that after matching, the pseudo R 2 and LR chi2 significantly decreased, the B value was less than 25%, and the R values were in the range of 0.5-1. According to Caliendo and Kopeinig [1], the worse the explanatory capacity of the pos-match variables on the probability of project participation, the smaller the difference in the variables between the treatment group and the control group after matching (i.e., the lower the pseudo R 2 and LR chi2 of the logit model based on the postmatching sample estimate, the worse the significance of the test results of the explanatory variables), and the higher the matching quality. According to Rubin [39], when the B value is lower than 25% and R is between 0.5 and 2, the equilibrium hypothesis is fully met.…”

“…Obviously, agricultural carbon emissions have become an important source of greenhouse gases. In response to the calls for carbon emission reduction and green agricultural development, scholars have introduced carbon emissions from cultivated land use as an environmental constraint to measure cultivated land use efficiency and proposed the LUEE based on the traditional economic efficiency of cultivated land use [1][2][3]. Previous research on LUEE has focused on two aspects: efficiency measurement and impact factor analysis.…”

“…Previous research on LUEE has focused on two aspects: efficiency measurement and impact factor analysis. The widely used measurement methods are the modified SBM based on data envelopment analysis (SBM-DEA) [1,4,5] and the super-SBM [6]. Carbon emissions [6,7] and non-point-source pollution [8] have usually been used as undesired outputs for measurement.…”

The Impact of Environmental Regulation on Cultivated Land Use Eco-Efficiency: Evidence from China

“…The 19th National Congress of the CPC provided a comprehensive summary and key deployment strategy for ecological civilization construction and environmental protection. Under the guidance of the requirements of ecological civilization construction and the concept of green agricultural development, the Chinese government issued a series of environmental regulations and policies, aiming to promote the coordinated development of land use and ecological environment protection [5]. However, the following questions remain unanswered: How effective has the development of cultivated land utilization been in China's agricultural sector?…”