Characteristics and driving factors of abandoned cultivated land in the hilly regions of southern China: A case study in Longnan, Jiangxi Province

The abandonment of cultivated land in southern China was gradually obvious. This research aims to provide a reference for solving the abandonment of cultivated land in hilly regions and promote rural development in China. We examined Longnan county located in the hilly regions of southern China as an example, where abandoned cultivated land is very common. We analyzed its land use data with a field survey to identify the abandoned cultivated land and geospatial characteristics. From the two aspects of social and natural factors, we analyzed the factors driving cultivated land abandonment with the help of Geodetector. The results showed that in 2019, the total area of the abandoned cultivated land in Longnan county was 4,962.35 hm(2), covering 39.51% of this region. Among the topographic factors, the abandonment rate is positively correlated with elevation and slope gradient, but not with slope direction. Among the land parcel conditions, the abandonment rate is positively correlated with the access to road network and cultivation distance from settlement. At the county level, the abandonment of cultivated land in study area was affected by multiple factors, among which, the direct factor was the reduction in the labor force, such as the decrease of farming laborers and the increase of female population, which made farming unsustainable. Changes in production factors also promoted transformations in farmers' motivation to engage in production, such as the decrease of grain crops and the increase of cash crops, which was the indirect factor affecting cultivated land abandonment. The development of the rural nonagricultural industry affected farmers' enthusiasm, such as the decrease of farming households, which was the fundamental factor leading to cultivated land abandonment in this area.