Zoning approach of suitable areas for high quality capital farmland construction

Abstract: Large-scale, high quality capital farmland construction, which plays an important role in guaranteeing national food safety, modern agriculture development, and new rural construction, is regarded as one of great national strategies in China. However, studies on how to establish suitable zones for quality facilities in capital farmland construction have not been available until now. With Pinggu District, Beijing, as the study area, this article managed to establish the zoning approach of suitable areas. First, it deployed the multi-factor assessment method, which contained 11 indexes on the aspects of soil quality, site condition, farmland spatial morphology, and agriculture infrastructure to evaluate the natural quality of capital farmland. A second modification method was used to get the capital farmland's comprehensive quality; the effect of location condition, urbanization pressure, and ecological security on capital farmland were considered in this step. According to the definition of quality facilities in capital farmland, capital farmland which is presently in good condition, or which can be transformed into good condition in the future, is the right one for quality facilities. Therefore, capital farmland with the highest ranking after evaluations were those who had already construction zones and had already achieved the construction standard. For some capital farmlands, the limiting factors and their improvement potential to become quality facilities were analyzed. Based on the evaluation and analysis results, some other zones deemed suitable were identified as well.This study shows that regional capital farmland's natural quality displays a declining trend from the plains to the semi-mountain regions, then to the mountain regions. Capital farmland in Mafang Town, Daxingzhuang Town, and Macahngying Town had the highest natural qualities. While mainly affected by the pressure of urbanization development and ecological security, only capital farmland in Daxingzhuang Town and Macahngying Town still remained on the top of the comprehensive quality list. Finally, 6036.98 hm2, or 43.54%, of the total capital farmland is suitable for quality capital farmland construction. And, among them, 1026.70 hm2, gathering in two plain towns, Daxingzhuang Town and Machangying Town, had almost achieved the construction standards. The other 5010.28 hm2, though not good enough at present, can be transformed to reach the construction standards. Capital farmlands inside this category are districts over the plains and semi-mountain areas in the south. According to different regional characteristics, quality facilities in farmland construction should be carried out differently. Farmland in the plains, which had almost reached the construction standards, should develop high-end and modern agriculture. For other regions, strategies that can improve their present limiting factors should be carried out first. The south plain region under high urbanization pressure should pay great attention to balance the development of urbanization and agriculture when constructing these quality facilities. Semi-mountain regions need improve the quality of their capital farmland with the condition of guaranteeing a healthy ecological environment.