Evaluating cultivated land stability during the growing season based on precipitation in the Horqin Sandy Land, China

As a fundamental resource for human beings, cultivated land contributes significantly to the sustainable development of society. Investigating cultivated land stability in semiarid areas with a fragile ecology is essential for stabilizing agricultural production and preserving environmental security. The objective of this study was to evaluate cultivated land stability by combining the growth root normalized difference vegetation index (GRNDVI) and precipitation during the crop growing season from 2015 to 2019 in the Horqin Zuoyihou Banner. The productivity of cultivated land was categorized into five levels by the relative criterion, and the minimum productivity level was chosen to represent the stability level. The results showed that a variation in precipitation was evident across both years and crop growing seasons; approximately 66.78% of the cultivated land was classified as moderately stable, 6.55% was classified as highly stable, 22.14% was classified as marginally stable, 0.91% was classified as extremely stable, and 3.62% was classified as unstable. Extremely and highly stable cultivated lands were dominant at the eastern and southern ends of the region, and marginal and unstable cultivated lands were principally present in the west and north while moderately stable land was distributed extensively. Cultivated land stability was affected substantially by water availability and topography, indicating that cultivated land with high levels of stability was distributed more in areas with abundant water and flat terrain. Marginally stable and unstable cultivated lands should be returned to their previous vegetation covers, with priority given to planting appropriate sandy plants to restore ecological integrity. Such evaluation outcomes are meaningful for optimizing the distribution of cultivated land and facilitating the sustainable utilization of land resources.