Abstract: It is urgently needed to explore methodology and indicator system of cultivated land quality and thus to meet the needs of land quality change assessment in the context of land consolidation. Based on current achievements in the evaluation of cultivated land quality, the evaluation methods and indicator systems were improved from five aspects, including geomorphologic characteristics, soil properties, farming conditions, health status, and biological characteristics. A case study was carried out for the land improvement project of Wenxian County, Henan Province, using an integrated algorithm. In this study, the indicators involving geomorphologic characteristics, soil properties and farming conditions of cultivated land were weighted and summed, and the coefficients of health status and biological characteristics were obtained using the “1+X” model. The changes of cultivated land quality indicators before and after land consolidation were evaluated, with the cultivated land quality being divided into five levels. Results showed that the proposed cultivated land quality evaluation system can more accurately examine the effects of land consolidation on cultivated land quality before and after the implementation of the land improvement project. The new cultivated land quality evaluation system is superior to the Cultivated Land Quality Classification Regulations of China. Our results provide a reference for the evaluation of cultivated land quality for land consolidation.

Key words: winter wheat, high temperature before over-wintering period, growth and development process, photosynthetic characteristics, yield.