Abstract:

To better understand the economic crop planting structure and specialization zoning in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, this study takes league and city as research units, using economic crop planting area data from 2018 to 2022 in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Six categories of economic crops—vegetables, sugars, amphisarca, edible mushrooms, flowers, and Chinese herbal medicines—were selected as research subjects. Comprehensively utilize the center of gravity model, Gini coefficient, and location entropy, with the assistance of ArcGIS software, to analyze changes in the planting structure of economic crops and their spatiotemporal evolution, as well as the specialization level and specialization zoning of economic crops. The results show that the distribution and migration direction of the barycenter coordinate points of economic crops are basically along the northeast and southwest directions, which is consistent with the regional characteristics of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The economic crops have formed a certain scale of agglomeration production pattern, albeit with some varieties exhibiting unstable spatial patterns. The specialized division of labor in economic crop planting is relatively obvious, but the level of specialization needs to be improved. The leagues and cities of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region are divided into eight categories: non-plantable zone, plantable zone, advantage exit zone, non-advantage zone, potential advantage zone, advantage recession zone, comparative advantage zone, and absolute advantage zone, which guide the optimization of economic crop production layout. In the future, the planting of economic crops in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region should be adapted to local conditions, division of labor and cooperation, thereby promoting agglomeration and specialized production. The research aims to provide a theoretical basis for enhancing the region's economic crops production capacity, optimizing the production structure of economic crops, adjusting the regional layout, and rationally allocating agricultural production resources.

Key words: Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, economic crops, planting structure, temporal and spatial variation, specialization zoning