Multiple perspective accountings of cropland soil erosion in China reveal its complex connection with socioeconomic activities

Cropland soil erosion is a major threat to global agricultural sustainability. Compared with the well-studied natural factors of soil erosion, socioeconomic factors have just begun to be considered. The major obstacle is that the soil erosion of different crops has not been accounted for and connected to socioeconomic activities. This study adopted the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) and the environmentally extended multiregional input-output (EE-MRIO) model to account for soil erosion on cropland from the production, consumption, and income perspectives at the provincial and sectoral levels in China. The results showed the major responsible agents in a synthetic view. On the production side, the Yunnan-Kweichow Plateau and surrounding hills of the Sichuan Basin, the Chinese grain bases located in northeastern and central China, and the Loess Plateau were the major regions that caused the most cropland soil erosion. On the consumption side, the national final demand for Sichuan, Yunnan, Shandong, Henan, and other provinces with high production-based cropland soil erosion (PBE) values per se pulled remarkable cropland soil erosion. On the income side, the crucial provinces into which the national primary input enabled notable cropland soil erosion were still those areas with serious cropland soil erosion. From the industrial perspective, the direct effects of human primary inputs into agriculture and the demand for agricultural products played the dominant role. In addition, Cereal and BOP (beans, oil and potatoes) were the most important among the agricultural sectors. The effects of the nonagricultural sectors, especially the manufacture of foods and tobacco (MFT) and the chemical industry (CI), on cropland soil erosion also cannot be ignored. Our results indicated that accounting from multiple perspectives could inform the better management of cropland soil erosion from a more comprehensive perspective. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to consider the accounting of cropland soil erosion in China from multiple perspectives. Tailored packages of measures should be established based on different patterns of areas with serious cropland soil erosion.