Objective  This paper studied the characteristics of cultivated land quality and soil nutrient in Xuancheng City in order to provide scientific basis for improving cultivated land quality in accordance with local conditions.

  Method  Based on the GIS technology, 15 evaluation indices were selected from six aspects of site conditions, profile properties, surface physical and chemical properties, soil nutrients, health status and farmland management. Fuzzy mathematics and analytic hierarchy process were used to evaluate the cultivated land quality grade and the spatial distribution characteristics of soil nutrients in Xuancheng City.

  Result  The results showed that the cultivated land in Xuancheng City was distributed in the first to the tenth grade. The areas of cultivated land from the first to the third grade were accounted for 18.41% of the total cultivated land area in Xuancheng City, which mainly distributed in Xuanzhou District, Guangde Dity and Langxi County. Those from the fourth to the sixth grade were accounted for 73.02% of the total cultivated land area, which mainly distributed in Ningguo City, Guangde City and Jingxian County. The areas of cultivated land from the seventh to the tenth grade were accounted for 8.57% of the total cultivated land area, which mainly distributed in Jixi County and Jingde County. The soil organic matter content of cultivated land in Xuancheng City was mostly at the medium level, with an average content of 24.4 g kg⁻¹. Meanwhile the average content of organic matter in Jingde County was the highest, while that in Langxi County was the lowest. The content of available phosphorus in Xuancheng City was mostly at medium level, with an average content of 21.73 mg kg⁻¹. The highest average content was in Guangde City, while the lowest was in Jingde County. The content of soil available potassium was mostly at a low level, with an average content of 100mg kg^-1, showing the highest was in Ningguo City, and the lowest in Jixi County. The average pH value of Xuancheng City was 5.6, the acid soil was the main soil. Meanwhile, the average pH value of Jixi County was the highest, and that of Langxi County was the lowest. The soil obstacle factors of cultivated land in Xuancheng city were poor fertility, acidification, obstacle layers and gleization, which accounted for 1.49%, 0.76%, 7.24% and 1.74% of the total cultivated land area of Xuancheng city, respectively.

  Conclusion  The quality of cultivated land in the northeast of Xuancheng City is better than that in the southwest of Xuancheng City. The overall nutrient status of Xuancheng City is medium, in which the content of available potassium is low and the soil pH is mostly acidic.In general, the key to improve the quality of cultivated land was to improve the acid soil, enrich soil fertilizer and increase fertilizer efficiency, promote irrigation and drainage capacity, and improve the medium and low yield fields