Response of Growth Indicators and Yield to Ecological Restoration Measures for Winter Wheat in Damaged Farmland

ABSTRACT Farmland serves as the cornerstone of agricultural production, making the restoration of farmland in ecologically damaged areas pivotal for advancing sustainable agriculture. In China, the spatial overlap between crop cultivation and mineral extraction zones comprises approximately 42.7% of total cultivated land area, exacerbating conflict between mining‐induced land degradation and farmland conservation. To address this challenge, we implemented six representative ecological restoration strategies on damaged farmland in a typical coal mining region of North China. By integrating UAV‐based remote sensing with ground‐based measurements throughout the winter wheat growth cycle, we aimed to evaluate whether immediate post‐restoration cultivation can simultaneously maximize ecological recovery and economic return (yield). Results showed that: (1) The growth indicators of winter wheat responded positively to restoration measures, with significant variation observed across different growth stages; (2) All one‐year restoration measures increased wheat yield relative to the damaged control, although none fully restored productivity to the baseline levels of undamaged farmland; (3) A comparative analysis of 14 vegetation indices, supplemented by entropy‐based variability assessment, identified four superior indices for assessing growth dynamics in restored farmland. Among these, plant height and chlorophyll content were best retrieved using the normalized difference index and visible atmospherically resistant index, whereas leaf area and biomass were most accurately estimated via the excess green minus excess red and excess green index. These findings highlight the feasibility and benefit of cultivating farmland immediately following restoration, with specific organic amendments enabling yield approaches near those of undamaged land, supporting a synergistic strategy for ecological and agricultural regeneration.