Abstract:

Due to huge food need, arable land quality is very important in China, and how to evaluate its quality has been studied by many researchers. However, different regions of China are at different stages of development with different land use objectives. The first is yield maximization stage, and the household land use objective is to meet family food consumption need. The second is yield and profit optimization stage, and the house land use objective is to make more profits on the basis of meeting basic family needs. The third is profit maximization stage, and profit is the only land use objective for the household. Based on the theory of different development stages and land use objectives, a “Pressure- State - Effect - Reaction”model was developed in this paper to evaluate arable land quality at household level. The Pressure indictors include land scale, land quantity, society, economy and household family. The State indictors include land use type and pattern, input intensity and land use efficiency. The Effect indictors include soil quality, productivity and soil pollution. The Reaction indicators include governmental policies and economic measures. This model can be used to evaluate arable land qualities at different development stages, and the results can help the government make suitable policies to protect arable land for sustainable development.

Key words: arable land quality, evaluation system, household behaviors