Interregional flows of virtual cropland within China

Abstract Cropland is an essential resource for agricultural system and greatly impacts agricultural sustainability. Cropland can be embodied in the goods and transferred among regions. Managing cropland as a virtual resource, similar with virtual water strategy, is an effective measure to achieve sustainability. Therefore, it is of significance for policymakers to understand how virtual cropland transfers in the economic society. This study employed a Multi-Regional Input-Output model with high resolution in the agriculture sectors (nine categories of crops) to examine the interregional flows of virtual cropland within China in 2015. The results show that Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Jilin contributed the most virtual cropland, while Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Shandong were the largest receivers. The largest flow was from Heilongjiang to Guangdong embodied in cereals. Most of virtual flows were embodied in cereals, followed by sugar crops, other crops, legumes, and vegetables. Heilongjiang, Xinjiang, and Guangxi dominated the virtual outflows embodied in legumes, fruits, and oilseeds, respectively. This study is informative and implicative for policymakers to understand the spatial transfer pattern of virtual cropland, identify the key nodes, and design the effective measures to achieve sustainability.