College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
China Academy for Rural Development, School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
PLoS One. 2024 Nov 1;19(11):e0312812. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0312812. eCollection 2024.
The development of multi-cropping systems is hampered by the seasonal shortage problem of growing two or three crops within a year. Exploring strategies to alleviate phenological constraints in multi-cropping systems is crucial for increasing grain production. Using a county-level panel dataset with detailed crop progress information from China, this study investigates whether mechanized winter wheat harvest can alleviate the phenological constraints of a shorter growing season for subsequent summer corn in a wheat-corn double cropping system. The results show that mechanized winter wheat harvest considerably extends the length of the summer corn growing season. This spillover effect of mechanized winter wheat harvest is particularly evident in plains and hilly areas with larger farm sizes. Further analysis of the mechanism indicates that mechanized winter wheat harvest affects the length of the summer corn growing season by advancing the planting date and delaying the maturity date. These results underscore the importance of advancing agricultural mechanization to enhance food security under limited land resources.
多作物种植系统的发展受到一年内种植两到三种作物的季节性短缺问题的阻碍。探索缓解多作物种植系统物候限制的策略对于提高粮食产量至关重要。本研究利用中国县级面板数据集，该数据集包含详细的作物进度信息，调查了机械化冬小麦收获是否可以缓解小麦-玉米两熟制中较短生长季节对后续夏玉米的物候限制。结果表明，机械化冬小麦收获大大延长了夏玉米的生长季节。这种机械化冬小麦收获的溢出效应在平原和丘陵地区以及农场规模较大的地区尤为明显。对机制的进一步分析表明，机械化冬小麦收获通过提前种植日期和延迟成熟日期来影响夏玉米生长季节的长度。这些结果强调了在有限的土地资源下，推进农业机械化对于提高粮食安全的重要性。
