Abstract:

With sustainable utilization of cultivated land as the entry point, a modified farmland ecological footprint model based on energy analysis was used to rectify yield factors of the farmlands in Zhejiang Province from the angle of “National hectare” and “Provincial hectare”. On such a basis, temporal dynamic analysis was performed of sustainable utilization of the farmlands in Zhejiang during the years of 2003 ~ 2012, and spatial differentiation analysis was conducted of sustainable utilization of the farmlands in the 11 prefecture-level cities of Zhejiang in 2012. Results show that the ecological carrying capacity of farmland per-capita in Zhejiang during the years of 2003~2012 remained quite low and did not vary much; per capita ecological footprint of farmland declined while fluctuating; and the ecological deficit per capita was somewhat mitigated during the ten years, but the farmland ecological sustainability index remained in the range between 0.2150 and 0.2664, being at a moderate level of unsustainability. Besides, in 2012, though the 11 cities in Zhejiang Province all incurred large ecological deficits, they varied spatially in per capita ecological carrying capacity and ecological footprint of farmlands: Ningbo, Zhoushan, Shaoxing, Lishui, Taizhou and Jinhua were rated as moderate in unsustainability while Hangzhou, Wenzhou, Huzhou, Quzhou and Jiaxing were as high in unsustainability. These findings may provide some theoretical references and solutions for overall prediction and planning of farmland ecological security and farmland sustainable utilization in Zhejiang Province.

Key words: energy analysis, ecological footprint, farmland, sustainability, Zhejiang Province