Abstract:

As a result of climate change, agricultural climate resources have undergone a significant transformation, rendering the agricultural climate zoning outcomes from the early 1980s inadequate for current agricultural production needs. A new round of agricultural climate resource zoning is urgently needed to better guide agricultural production in adapting to climate change. Based on the theory of climate resources, this paper defined the connotation of agricultural climate economic benefits, explored methods for estimating these benefits and the technical workflows for agricultural climate economic benefit zoning, and presented a case study. The results indicated that agricultural climate economic benefits represented the difference between the gains (output) and costs (inputs) derived from utilizing agricultural climate resources in agricultural production activities. Cost−benefit analysis was used as the primary method for estimating the economic benefits of agricultural climate resources. Agricultural climate economic benefit zoning involved a regional classification of inputs, outputs and economic benefits based on factors such as natural conditions, economic development levels and social environment across different areas. The process mainly included determining the zoning scope, calculating zoning−based yield per unit area, estimating input costs, computing economic benefits and finalizing the zoning. Based on the established method for estimating and zoning the economic benefits of agricultural climate, the climate economic benefits of winter wheat in Hebei province could be classified into five types of regions: low−yield and low−efficiency, low−yield and medium−efficiency, low−yield and high−efficiency, high−yield and medium−efficiency, and high−yield and high−efficiency. The high−yield and high−efficiency areas were mainly distributed in the piedmont plain of the Taihang mountains and the southern part of the Heilonggang river basin, while the medium and low−efficiency areas were mainly located in the mountainous areas of the Taihang mountains, the northern part of the Heilonggang river basin, and the foothills of the Yanshan mountains.

Key words: Agro?climatic zoning, Winter wheat, Economic benefit, Yield?benefit coupling