How land use right transfers improve fertilizer efficiency in China: a systematic review

While several studies have examined the impact of agricultural land transfer policies on farmer's fertilizer application efficiency, the findings are inconsistent, and a comprehensive understanding is lacking. This systematic review investigates the influence of agricultural land use right transfer and land-scale management on farmers’ fertilizer application efficiency in China. The findings show that agricultural land transfer promotes larger-scale farming. Expanding land size incentivizes emerging large-scale farmers to prefer organic fertilizers over chemical ones. However, land size resulting from land transfer has a threshold to reduce chemical fertilizer application intensity. Land transfer's chemical fertilizer reduction effect is pronounced on food crops rather than cash crops. Farmers involved in the land transfer can expand livestock production while growing crops and boosting organic waste recycling. Land transfer drives economic efficiency and environmental sustainability by lowering costs, improving fertilizer use, and supporting long-term productivity. Factors including lease duration, plot size, quality of transferred lands, and availability of agricultural services influence the impact of land transfer on farmers’ fertilizer utilization intensity. The review calls for further research to optimize fertilizer application based on land-scale management and appropriate land tenure policy to advance agricultural and food sustainability.