The Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP) is the largest ecological restoration program in the world. Evaluating the ecological effects of the SLCP not only provides a scientific basis for China to improve the SLCP but also provides a reference for other countries in the world to evaluate the ecological effects of ecological restoration programs being implemented or to be implemented. To this end, we took the Loess Plateau, the core area for the implementation of the SLCP, as an example and, based on multi-source remote sensing data and GIS technology, we conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the ecological effects of the implementation of the SLCP on the Loess Plateau. The results showed that, first, from 2000 to 2018, a total of 12,372.05 km² of cultivated land was converted into forest land and grassland on the Loess Plateau, and this contributed to an increase in vegetation cover from 45.09% in 2000 to 64.15% in 2018, and a decrease in the soil erosion modulus from 26.41 t·hm⁻²·yr⁻¹ in 2000 to 17.92 t·hm⁻²·yr⁻¹ in 2018. Second, the 6–25° slope range is the core area of the Loess Plateau for implementation of the SLCP. In this range, the area of cultivated land converted into forest land and grassland accounts for 60.16% of the total area of transferred cultivated land. As a result, the 6–25° slope range has become the most significant area for improving vegetation cover and reducing the soil erosion intensity, and it is mainly concentrated in the southwestern, central and central-eastern hilly and gully areas of the Loess Plateau. Third, from 2000 to 2018, the climate of the Loess Plateau tended to be warm and humid and was conducive to the implementation of the SLCP. Among these factors, precipitation is the dominant factor in determining the spatial distribution of vegetation on the Loess Plateau, and the increase in precipitation is also the main reason for the promotion of vegetation growth. Fourthly, from 2000 to 2018, the ecological environment of the Loess Plateau was significantly improved as a result of the combined effects of the implementation of the SLCP and climate warming and humidification, but the primary reason is still the implementation of the SLCP.

As an effective tool for farmers to obtain agricultural information, the Internet has a profound impact on apple growers’ perception of frost disasters and their adaptive behaviors. This paper constructed the theoretical analysis framework of “Apple growers’ internet information acquisition-psychological perception-adaptive behavior to frost disaster”, based on the data of 1020 apple growers in Shaanxi Province, empirically analyzing the impact of Internet information on apple growers’ adaptive behaviors to frost disasters and its mechanism by the IV probit model and the intermediary effect model. The research found that the Internet information can significantly promote the apple growers’ adaptive behaviors to frost disasters and has different effects on apple growers with different income levels and different management capabilities. Risk perception, effect perception, and risk attitudes have significant intermediary effects in the influence of the Internet information on apple growers’ adaptive behaviors to frost disasters. Therefore, when governments take advantage of the Internet platform to help apple growers cope with frost disasters, they should fully consider the socio-economic conditions and psychological perception factors of apple growers and formulate targeted adaptation strategies.

In the context of the Healthy China strategy and the targeted poverty alleviation policy, based on the survey data of 1710 apple planters in Shandong, Yunnan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces, we selected the Probit model and the mediating effect test model to analyze the impact of income inequality on the self-rated health of farmers in this paper. The main results are as follows: First, income inequality within villages and townships had a significant negative impact on self-rated health, with both showing inverted U-shaped relationships, while income inequality within counties had no significant impact on self-rated health. Second, income inequality can impact the health of farmers, in terms of tobacco and alcohol behaviors, social trust, and sense of relative deprivation, where the mediating effect ratio of these three factors combined accounted for 32.4% of the total effect. Furthermore, the effect of income inequality on health was heterogeneous among different income groups, where the negative impact of income inequality on the self-rated health of the high-income group was less than that of the low-income group, indicating that an increase in income inequality serves to aggravate the degree of health inequality. Therefore, the government should adopt differentiated policies to improve the health of farmers. In rural areas with high income inequality, the government should focus on increasing the income of low-income groups, guide them to develop a healthy lifestyle, improve their social trust, and reduce their sense of relative deprivation. In rural areas where incomes are generally low, the government should first guide qualified farmers to become rich, then encourage others to become rich later.