Timing sequence of permanent basic farmland reserve area delineation based on TOPSIS and the matrix grouping method at the county level

The delineation of permanent basic farmland reserve areas is an important measure for consolidating permanent basic farmland demarcation and ensuring national food security. Reasonable planning of the reserve area and the delineated sequence can ensure that the permanent basic farmland is quickly replenished after being occupied. This study incorporated the land, space, engineering, and ecological environment qualities of cultivated land to evaluate the quality and spatial agglomeration of cultivated land in Huanghua City, Hebei Province, via the ranking method of the approximate ideal solution and the hot spot analysis method. The matrix method was then used to demarcate the permanent basic farmland reserve area. The results show that: 1) there are obvious differences in the quality of non-permanent basic farmland, and the overall soil fertility condition is good in the study area. The degree of salinization is higher in some areas, and the quality of agricultural engineering is poor. The irrigation guarantee rate is low. In the whole, the comprehensive quality is mainly high-or sub-high-value areas. The proportion of cultivated land area in the high-value and sub-high-value areas is larger, accounting for 44.22% of the non-permanent basic farmland. The comprehensive quality of cultivated land in the west is higher than that in the east, closer to the coast. 2) The permanent basic farmland reserve area is divided into three categories: priority area, suitable area, and regulation area. The comprehensive quality of cultivated land in the priority zone is high, with obvious agglomeration characteristics, accounting for 30.75% of the total area. Suitable areas have poor comprehensive quality or spatial aggregation, and it is necessary to invest manpower and material resources for quality construction. The regulation zone area is the largest, accounting for 41.19%, which should be committed to improving the long-term safety of agricultural ecology. Considering the delineated quality and ecological environment goals, this study has increased the scale limitation of space utilization that can effectively improve the efficiency of rapid supplementary planning for basic farmlands.