Impacts of “One Household One Plot” and “One Village Group One Plot” fragmentation consolidation models on cultivated land use transition from perspective of human-land system

Land fragmentation poses a great challenge for food security to all countries around the world, especially China. Land consolidation (LC) is an effective measure to solve the fragmentation problem and achieve the cultivated land use transition (CLUT), and thus LC has become an important means to ensure food security in China. From the perspective of human-land system, this study investigated the impacts of different LC projects on the CLUT, including spatial transition, management transition, element transition, and function transition. Based on survey data of 427 farmer households from Yuyang District in Shaanxi province, China, this study estimated the net effect of “One Household One Plot” (OHOP) model and “One Village Group One Plot” (OVGOP) model on CLUT by the propensity score matching-difference in differences (PSM-DID) method. In addition, the interactive mechanism of elements of CLUT under the LC was revealed through the interpretive structural modeling (ISM). The results indicated that the LC had significant effect on CLUT, and that the OVGOP model had a better promoting effect on CLUT than OHOP model. Additionally, an ISM-based structural model containing eighteen elements revealed that CLUT was a complex interaction process among multiple elements. Meanwhile, cultivated land area and plot number were identified as the fundamental elements in CLUT. This study proposes relevant policy recommendations, which provides China's experience for other developing countries to formulate LC strategies. •Proposes a framework of land consolidation and cultivated land use transition from the perspective of human-land system.•Constructs a comprehensive evaluation index system of cultivated land use transition at farmer scale.•Accurately quantifies and compares the impact of two land consolidation projects on the cultivated land use transition.•Reveals the interactive mechanism of elements of cultivated land use transition under the land consolidation.