Climatic Variability and Adaptive Zoning of Maize Cultivation in High-Latitude Cold Regions

Climate change induces widespread effects on crop production, influencing multiple developmental stages and associated agronomic outcomes. Using long-term meteorological data from Jilin Province, Northeast China, this study examined temporal and spatial variations in climatic conditions through trend analysis, Mann–Kendall tests, and inverse distance weighting interpolation. A fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model was applied to classify maize cultivation suitability into four levels across major production areas, with Level I representing the most suitable regions, Level II highly suitable regions, Level III moderately suitable regions, and Level IV low suitable regions. Changes in suitable areas were analyzed before and after abrupt climatic shifts. From 1976 to 2020, Jilin Province experienced a significant rise in annual mean temperature, a marked decline in sunshine duration, and a slight increase in precipitation. The area of Level I suitability remained stable, while Level II expanded to approximately 1.3 times its original area. Conversely, Level III and IV areas decreased by 4.59% and 28.77%, respectively, compared with the pre-transition period. Spatially, the most suitable maize cultivation areas shifted from central to northern and eastern Jilin due to climatic warming. Although rising temperatures enhanced thermal conditions for maize production, reduced sunshine and variable precipitation constrained further expansion. These findings provide a scientific basis for optimizing maize variety selection and cropping structure in high-latitude regions, supporting yield improvement and sustainable development of the maize industry under a changing climate.