The effect of terrain factors on rice production: A case study in Hunan Province

doi:10.1007/s11442-019-1597-y

Abstract

Abstract:

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the most important staple crop of China, and its production is related to both natural condition and human activities. It is fundamental to comprehensively assess the influence of terrain conditions on rice production to ensure a steady increase in rice production. Although many studies have focused on the impact of one or several specific factors on crop production, few studies have investigated the direct influence of terrain conditions on rice production. Therefore, we selected Hunan Province, one of the major rice-producing areas in China, which exhibits complex terrain conditions, as our study area. Based on remote sensing data and statistical data, we applied spatial statistical analysis to explore the effects of terrain factors on rice production in terms of the following three aspects: the spatial patterns of paddy fields, the rice production process and the final yield. We found that 1) terrain has a significant impact on the spatial distribution of paddy fields at both the regional scale and the county scale; 2) terrain controls the distribution of temperature, sunlight and soil, and these three environmental factors consequently directly impact rice growth; 3) compared with the patterns of paddy fields and the rice production process, the influences of terrain factors on the rice yield are not as evident, with the exception of elevation; and 4) the spatial distribution of paddy fields mismatched that of production resources due to terrain factors. Our results strongly suggest that managers should scientifically guide farmers to choose suitable varieties and planting systems and allocate rice production resources in the northern plain regions to ensure food security.

Key words: rice production, terrain factor, spatial distribution, rice phenology

Chenzhi WANG, Zhao ZHANG, Jing ZHANG, Fulu TAO, Yi CHEN, Hu DING. The effect of terrain factors on rice production: A case study in Hunan Province[J].Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2019, 29(2): 287-305.

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Types	Classification criterion
Ridge	TPI>1 SD
Up-hill	0.5 SD<TPI≤1 SD
Mid-hill	?0.5 SD<TPI<0.5 SD,Slope> 5°
Flat	?0.5 SD<TPI<0.5 SD,Slope≤ 5°
Down-hill	?1 SD<TPI≤?0.5 SD
Valley	TPI<?1.0 SD

a. Average slope extracted from DEM with different resolutions
DEM resolution	Plain		Tableland		Hill		Mountain
DEM resolution	Xiangyin	Yuanjiang	Changsha	Zhuzhou	Changning	Yongxing	Dong’an	Shuangpai
30	2.14	1.29	5.83	7.35	10.15	11.38	13.85	22.79
50	2.13	1.29	5.83	7.34	10.15	11.37	13.85	22.79
70	2.13	1.29	5.82	7.33	10.16	11.37	13.86	22.79
90	2.09	1.27	5.81	7.33	10.20	11.38	13.83	21.09
110	2.03	1.19	5.76	7.28	10.24	11.39	13.82	18.73
b. Average altitude extracted from DEM with different resolutions
DEM resolution	Plain		Tableland		Hill		Mountain
DEM resolution	Xiangyin	Yuanjiang	Changsha	Zhuzhou	Changning	Yongxing	Dong’an	Shuangpai
30	32.71	29.14	77.52	94.25	195.60	245.63	549.14	389.59
50	32.70	29.14	77.51	94.22	195.01	245.56	549.09	389.76
70	32.70	29.14	77.50	94.13	195.00	245.46	548.91	390.20
90	32.70	29.14	77.52	94.09	194.26	245.46	548.74	390.76
110	32.70	29.14	77.51	94.10	194.24	245.50	548.70	390.53

Terrain factors		Altitude	Slope	Relief degree	Surface roughness
R_PF	Pearson coefficient	?0.782	?0.85	?0.811	?0.783
R_PF	P-value	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01

	R_PF	Altitude	Slope aspects	Relief degree	Surface roughness
Moran’ I	0.67	0.71	0.7	0.67	0.66
Z-score	10.64	11.27	10.94	10.47	10.39
P-value	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01
Z-score threshold	2.58	2.58	2.58	2.58	2.58

Stages of early rice phenology	Altitude	Slope	Relief degree	Surface roughness
Transplanting	?0.75**	?0.10	?0.31	?0.13
Tillering	0.00	?0.69**	?0.33	?0.64**
Heading	0.42	?0.67	0.30	?0.55
Mature	0.45	?0.35	0.43	?0.18
Tillering-transplanting	?0.05	?0.38	?0.25	?0.42
Heading-tillering	0.43	?0.08	0.58	0.00
Mature-heading	0.23	0.37	0.40	0.53