Intensive use of cultivated land plays an important role in national food security and sustainable economic and social development.By taking He′nan Province as an example

an evaluation index system of cultivated land is designed

which consists of the four primary indexes of input intensity

utility intensity

output effect and persistent state.Intensive use of cultivated land in He′nan Province from 1996to 2008is analyzed and its obstacle factors are revealed using entropy coefficient and catastrophe progression methods. Results indicate that:(1)The intensive use degree of cultivated land showed an increasing trend from 1996 to 2008

and a narrow range fluctuation influenced by natural disasters in 2002-2004. (2)The input intensi-ty

utility intensity

output effect and persistent state all showed an increasing trend from 1996to 2008. (3)The main obstacle factors influencing the intensive use level of cultivated land from 1996to 2008were the farm electric power input per area

farm machinery power per area

profit per area and urbanization level. The governments should increase investment in agricultural infrastructure

promote farmers′enthusiasm for production and improve the anti-disaster capability of agriculture.