Abstract: While the major grain producing areas in China play a vital role in agriculture, they have become the main source of agricultural carbon emission. Thus scientifically assessing current intensities of agricultural carbon emissions, discrepancies between the areas, and major causes in those areas is an essential prerequisite for making sound policies leading to reduction of agricultural carbon emission. To that end, based on 16 indexes, using principal components analysis, this paper presents the measurement of the agricultural carbon intensity in 13 major grain producing provinces. It shows that the carbon intensities of Hunan, Shandong and Hubei are among the highest three, while those of Jilin, Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia are among the lowest three. An evaluation matrix of carbon intensity vs. benefits is then created to regroup the 13 areas. As shown in the results, Hunan, Jiangxi, Henan and Anhui are the high-intensity low-benefits areas; Hubei, Jiangsu and Shandong are thehigh- intensity high-benefits areas; Sichuan and Hebei are the low-intensity low-benefits areas; Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia are the low-intensity high-benefits areas.

Key words: agricultural carbon emission, China, major grain producing areas, regional differences