Aquaculture-planting system (APS) will enhance flood resilience and agricultural sustainability under global warming

Climate change is intensifying extreme precipitation events and flooding, posing unprecedented challenges to agricultural sustainability. Here we evaluate a climate-adaptive agricultural innovation, the aquaculture-planting system (APS) implemented in China’s Jianghan Plain, by integrating multi-temporal Landsat imagery, long-term precipitation records, field-collected sediment samples, and socioeconomic statistics to assess its spatial-temporal expansion, flood resilience, ecological health, and economic performance. Over the past 30 years, this region has transformed 4,386 km² of flood-prone farmland into an integrated network of aquaculture zones that function as artificial wetlands, reaching a total area of 5,678 km² by 2023. Analysis of meteorological data reveals that extreme precipitation events now constitute 60%–70% of total summer rainfall in the region, up from 30% in the 1960s. The APS demonstrates remarkable flood resilience, with capacity to retain approximately 568 million cubic meters of floodwater. Moreover, the system yields significant economic benefits, generating combined net returns that significantly exceed traditional crop farming, with the aquaculture component alone yielding 63,000 CNY ha⁻¹ compared to traditional crop farming’s 25,200 CNY ha⁻¹. Sediment analysis shows that the system maintains ecological health through nutrient recycling while keeping heavy metal concentrations within safe limits. Our findings suggest that the APS offers a viable model for flood-prone agricultural regions seeking to enhance climate resilience while promoting sustainable development.