Cropland concentration powers sustainable intensification of agriculture in China

Over the past few decades, China’s cropland configuration has changed markedly, with important implications for food security and agricultural sustainability. Here we examine how cropland spatial-temporal concentration relates to agricultural intensification across China from 2000 to 2020. We mapped cropland distribution for five benchmark years using Google Earth Engine platform and 234,804 Landsat images and quantified cropland landscape configuration. These data were combined with provincial statistics on crop yield, fertilizer application, irrigation water use, and agricultural machinery power. We find that cropland experienced a contraction phase from 2000 to 2015 followed by a recovery phase after 2015. During contraction, increases in crop production commonly coincided with rising fertilizer and machinery inputs, whereas during recovery these inputs declined in most regions, alongside increased cropland contiguity. Overall, agricultural intensification in China became more sustainable by reducing reliance on fertilizer and machinery inputs and placing greater emphasis on cropland-use efficiency and environmental protection. Agricultural intensification in China became more sustainable from 2000 to 2020 by reducing reliance on fertilizer and machinery and focusing on resource efficiency and environmental protection, based on remote sensing and landscape index analysis.