Abstract:
Achieving green and sustainable agricultural development while ensuring food security presents an urgent challenge. So, we have to think about how to balance the relationship between food production and ecosystem protection. Promoting their coordinated development is one of the effective approaches for the high-quality development of Chinese agriculture and rural areas in the future. This paper takes Shanxi Province as a case study. Based on remote sensing data, it quantifies the spatial distribution of food production capacity and ecosystem quality at both the raster and county scales. This study identifies the synergetic advantageous areas of “production-ecology” at dual spatial scales and proposes a priority development strategy for grain production driven by the classification of such areas. The study reveals that: 1) grain production capacity in Shanxi Province is stronger in the eastern regions than in the west, while ecosystem quality is better in the south compared to the north. 2) 1.8% of the area in Shanxi Province is characterized by both high production capacity and ecosystem quality, primarily located in the valley regions of the Sanggan, Hutuo, Muma, and Fenhe River basins in the north, as well as in lower-altitude areas of the Taihang Mountains in the southeast. These regions not only have a good ecological foundation but also possess favorable soil, water and heat conditions, thus being suitable for prioritizing the development of a grain industries focused on ecological planting. 3) 6.5% of the area in Shanxi Province falls within regions where both production and ecological conditions are disadvantaged, mainly along the Yellow River in the northern and western areas. Landscape fragmentation is a common feature of most of these regions. Restricted by the unique terrain and high altitude of the Loess Plateau, they have limited cultivated land resources and fragile ecosystems. In these regions, excessive expansion of crop cultivation is not advisable under current ecological conditions, and ecological restoration should be prioritized. Based on the above research findings, we propose specific recommendations on the county scale by integrating the history and status of local agricultural development. For instance, we suggest that agricultural management departments should promote ecological crop cultivation in major synergetic advantageous areas such as Dingxiang and Shouyang, and develop leisure agriculture in synergetic advantageous areas on the near-urban regions. The research provides a scientific basis and strategic guidance for the comprehensive planning of food production patterns and the development of high-quality ecological agriculture.