Wang et al. (2025) High-Resolution Crop Mapping and Suitability Assessment in China’s Three Northeastern Provinces (2000–2023): Implications for Optimizing Crop Layout

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Identification

• Journal: Agronomy
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-11-10
• Authors: Xiaoxiao Wang, Huafu Zhao, Guiqin Zhao, Xuzhou Qu, Congjie Cao, Jiacheng Qian, Sheng Fu, Tao Wang, Huiqin Han
• DOI: 10.3390/agronomy15112587

Research Groups

Not explicitly mentioned in the provided text.

Short Summary

This study mapped the distribution of rice, maize, and soybean in Northeast China from 2000 to 2023 using satellite imagery and a Random Forest classifier, and assessed crop suitability with a multi-criteria evaluation and MaxEnt model, identifying significant shifts in cultivation and mismatches between actual distribution and suitability.

Objective

• To generate long-term, high-resolution maps of multi-crop distribution (rice, maize, soybean) in Northeast China and evaluate their suitability to understand cropping dynamics, optimize land use, and promote sustainable agriculture.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: The three northeastern provinces of China (regional scale).
• Temporal Scale: 2000 to 2023 (24 years).

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Random Forest classifier, Multi-criteria evaluation model, MaxEnt model.
• Data sources: Multi-source satellite imagery (Landsat, Sentinel-2), environmental variables (climate, topography, soil, hydrology, anthropogenic factors).

Main Results

• The six crop classification maps achieved an average overall accuracy of 91.05% and a Kappa coefficient of 0.857.
• The cultivation area of all three crops expanded, with maize showing the largest increase, followed by soybean and rice; the dominant conversion was from soybean to maize.
• Suitability areas were ranked as soybean (376,692 km²) > maize (329,056 km²) > rice (311,869 km²), with substantial spatial overlap, particularly between maize and soybean, indicating strong competition.
• In 2023, highly suitable zones accounted for 57.39% of rice, 39.69% of maize, and 28.89% of soybean cultivation, suggesting a closer alignment between actual distribution and suitability for rice, weaker for maize, and weakest for soybean, whose suitable zones were often displaced by rice and maize.

Contributions

• Provides long-term, high-resolution multi-crop distribution maps and a suitability assessment framework for Northeast China.
• Offers scientific insights for optimizing crop allocation and informing cultivated land protection strategies, addressing the impact of climate change and human activities on cropping structures.

Funding

Not explicitly mentioned in the provided text.

Citation

@article{Wang2025HighResolution,
  author = {Wang, Xiaoxiao and Zhao, Huafu and Zhao, Guiqin and Qu, Xuzhou and Cao, Congjie and Qian, Jiacheng and Fu, Sheng and Wang, Tao and Han, Huiqin},
  title = {High-Resolution Crop Mapping and Suitability Assessment in China’s Three Northeastern Provinces (2000–2023): Implications for Optimizing Crop Layout},
  journal = {Agronomy},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.3390/agronomy15112587},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15112587}
}