Cropland abandonment is an emerging human-induced land use and is a growing national problem in Nepal. It is a key, current concern for local governance bodies and restoration options for this land are being actively sought. We initiated a systematic review of existing studies to identify the key causes and impacts of cropland abandonment and consider a range of restoration options. Data on the drivers, impacts, and restoration options for abandoned cropland were extracted from current relevant literature retrieved through four databases (Web of Science, Google Scholar, Scopus, and NepJol). Most studies focused on the drivers of cropland abandonment with less focus on the impacts and restoration options. Socio-economic drivers included outmigration, limited availability of labour or high labour cost, easy access to daily supply needs and high education level of the farming family members. Bio-physical factors were also reported as key drivers of cropland abandonment including unsuitable slope and rugged land topography, low soil fertility and low crop productivity. Both positive and negative impacts of cropland abandonment were also reported, principally bio-physical such as secondary vegetation succession as a positive impact and geomorphic damage and low crop production as negative impacts with a consequent decrease in food security. Most current studies focused principally on specific sites and typically lacked restoration options coordinated at a national level. Those studies that did identify restoration options for abandoned land suggested the adoption of short crop cycle, less labour-intensive crops, agro-forestry and conversion to pasture as key options. Most, however, failed to establish linkages between food insecurity, rural livelihoods, and ecosystem services after cropland is abandoned. As prior studies on abandoned land lack a defined study framework, we recommend an integrated research approach for Nepal. The approach suggests the need to adopt an integrated way for studying abandoned cropland restoration through the empirical analysis of local and national land abandonment issues. The proposed approach could also be applied in other areas where cropland abandonment is an issue.

农田遗弃是一种新兴的人为土地利用，是尼泊尔日益严重的全国性问题。这是当地治理机构当前关注的一个关键问题，正在积极寻求这片土地的恢复方案。我们对现有研究进行了系统审查，以确定耕地废弃的关键原因和影响，并考虑一系列恢复方案。有关废弃农田的驱动因素、影响和恢复方案的数据是从通过四个数据库（Web of Science、Google Scholar、Scopus 和 NepJol）检索的当前相关文献中提取的。大多数研究侧重于农田撂荒的驱动因素，而较少关注影响和恢复方案。社会经济驱动因素包括外迁、劳动力有限或劳动力成本高、容易获得日常供应需求和农民家庭成员的高教育水平。生物物理因素也被报告为农田废弃的主要驱动因素，包括不合适的坡度和崎岖的土地地形，低土壤肥力和作物产量低。还报告了农田废弃的积极和消极影响，主要是生物物理，如次生植被演替作为积极影响，地貌破坏和作物产量低作为消极影响，从而导致粮食安全下降。目前大多数研究主要集中在特定地点，通常缺乏在国家层面协调的恢复方案。那些确实确定了废弃土地恢复方案的研究表明，采用较短的作物周期、较少劳动密集型的作物、农林业和转变为牧场作为主要选择。然而，大多数人未能在农田被废弃后建立粮食不安全、农村生计和生态系统服务之间的联系。由于先前对废弃土地的研究缺乏明确的研究框架，我们建议对尼泊尔采用综合研究方法。该方法表明，需要通过对地方和国家土地撂荒问题的实证分析，采用综合方法研究废弃农田恢复。提议的方法也可以应用于其他存在农田遗弃问题的领域。