Sustainable Use of Agricultural Land in Zhoukou City Based on Emergy Analysis

Taking Zhoukou City in Henan Province as an example, we select the statistics during the period 2000—2009, and use emergy analysis method to research the sustainable use of agricultural land in Zhoukou City. The study results show that: (i) The agricultural input is mainly based on resources purchase input, which accounts for more than 90% of total emergy input; the industrial energy input is to a large extent dependent on the input of chemical fertilizer and pesticide; precipitation significantly affects the input of renewable environmental resources. (ii) The agricultural output is mainly based on farming and animal husbandry, with the proportion reaching 99%; the proportion of fishery and forestry is too low; the agricultural output structure is relatively simple. (iii) The use of agricultural land has achieved initial success in terms of economic sustainability, but in terms of ecological sustainability and social sustainability, it is at a low level; the sustainable use index shows the great vitality and development potential of agricultural system; unsustainability is reflected in considerable input of chemical fertilizer and pesticide, and simple agricultural output structure.