Exploring options for a more sustainable crop production on the North China Plain

Summary

My PhD project looks at how smallholder farms on the North China Plain, one of China’s key grain-producing regions, can become more sustainable. I surveyed farms in Quzhou county to understand the wide variety of crop species and management practices being used. I compared smallholder and business farms to see how their management practices affect the crop choices and farm sustainability performances. Then, I built a framework to find practical ways to improve sustainability, using successful local examples and modeling. I found that while business farms are more environmentally friendly, smallholder farms can still improve with better practices, but this often requires more labour. My work shows that different types of farms need different solutions, and there’s no single fix for everyone. These findings can help guide policies and actions to make farming in China more sustainable, especially for smallholders who play a major role in national food production.