Process and mechanism of arable land change in Hebei Province during the past 50 years

Hebei Province is one of the regions with most densely population, fastest economic growth and most intensive land use in China. The contradiction of land shortage sharpened by high-speed economic development with population growth has become a serious problem, which has restricted regional sustainable development.This paper revealed the basic process, regional differences of change and the gravity center of arable land area according to the long-series statistical data of arable land during the past 50 years. On the basis of the above mentioned, the major driving forces that influence the changes of the arable land are discussed. The research results indicate that there is a trend of obvious fluctuating decrease in arable land area during the last 50 years. The changes of arable land area undergo the process from increase to sharp decrease to gently decrease. The regional disparity of change in arable land area is very notable and the gravity center of arable land area moves to the northeast 49.22 km. Regarding the decrease in arable land, the direct driving forces include adjustments of agricultural structure and reclamation, and indirect driving forces include advance in technology, economic interest and population growth etc.