Comprehensive Evaluation of Cultivated Land Quality at County Scale: A Case Study of Shengzhou, Zhejiang Province, China

The existing evaluation system of cultivated land quality mainly considers the natural quality and utilisation conditions, but without sufficient emphasis on ecological environment, which can’t meet the requirements of the trinity pattern protection policy. This study, using GIS spatial analysis and multifactor comprehensive evaluation method, constructed a comprehensive evaluation index system, and applied it in Shengzhou. The results show that: (1) under the comprehensive evaluation system, the quality of cultivated land was classified into five levels and revealed normal distribution with the third level cultivated land area as the peak, successive reduction to the two poles, and the overall quality was good relatively; (2) A close relationship was observed between the quality grade of cultivated land and the landform, the valley plain with highest cultivated land quality was the main grain-producing areas. However, the cultivated land in mountainous areas was poor relatively, and vulnerable to geological disasters; (3) The quality grade of cultivated land was related to economical activities directly. The high-quality cultivated land resources made these towns the main grain-producing areas with many agricultural industries distribution. This study provided a new assessment approach that can support cultivated land grading, quality improvement, and sustainable usage, as well as providing a reference for related research and application.