Abstract:
The cropland can often be converted into non-grain agricultural production, or cropland conversion to non-grain unitization. However, some damage also occurs in the physical and chemical properties of soil, leading to a reduction of the cropland quantity, even threatening the security of the national food supply. Therefore, the consolidation of non-grain cropland for farming can be an important measure to realize the continuing farming of cropland. The consolidation zoning of non-grain cropland for farming is also of great significance to rapidly supplement the farmland resource, and then to improve the quality of farmland fertility and then restore grain production capacity. Taking the administrative village as the evaluation unit, this study aims to improve the scientific and rational zoning of the spatial layout for non-grain field consolidation. A zoning system was also constructed for the non-grain field consolidation integrating the land remediation suitability and urgency. Firstly, nine indicators were selected from the three dimensions of utilization status, site conditions, and tillage conditions. The suitability evaluation model was then constructed for the non-grain field consolidation. Secondly, the urgency evaluation model of non-grain field remediation was constructed using the non-grain ratio of permanent basic farmland, major grain-producing areas, and ecological red line areas. Finally, the suitability and urgency were evaluated on the field consolidation for the four-quadrant spatial zoning. Lingshui County was taken as a case area to carry out the zoning and remediation strategy of non-grain farmland consolidation. The results show that: 1) The core target of non-grain farmland consolidation was determined to restore the land for grain crop cultivation. The scale and quality of stable farmland were also improved to fully meet the regional farmland protection tasks and food supply. 2) It was much more instructive and reasonable for the four-quadrant remediation zoning scheme to integrate land suitability and urgency. The high-quality cultivated land was screened out after the suitability and urgency evaluation of consolidation, further clearing the priority of remediation. As such, the direction of re-cultivation was effectively clarified in the study area. 3) The non-grain farmland consolidation was divided into four types of areas, namely, the priority, the key, the reserve, and the restricted consolidation area. The proportions of non-grain farmland in those areas were 25.44%, 42.39%, 25.70%, and 6.47%, respectively. Differential non-grain field consolidation strategies can be utilized to recover the farming using the different combinations of tillage state, physical environment, and land utilization conditions. The findings can provide a strong reference for the decision-making on cropland protection and the spatial layout of the cultivated land.