粮食问题是中国重大战略问题。耕地是粮食生产的基础。作为中国重要的农业大省，河南省耕地的变化引起了众多关注。此文用剩余法对改革开放以来河南省的耕地面积波动分析进行了研究，得出以下结论：在1978—2008年这31年中，耕地面积总体上经历了“下降—增加—平稳”的过程，目前保持平稳阶段；改革开放以来河南省耕地面积波动属于古典波动，波动周期属中短期，振幅小。耕地面积的变化受多种因素的影响，研究这些因素和耕地面积变化的关系应成为下一步学者关注的焦点。

Food problem is our country's strategic problem. The cultivated land is the base of food production. As an important agricultural province, the change of the cultivated land attracts the attention in Henan Province. Through the surplus method, fluctuation of the cultivated area in Henan Province is analyzed. The paper gets the results: Since 1978 the cultivated area experienced three stages, reduction-increase-stability. The fluctuation is a classical fluctuation and the fluctuation cycle is middle or short. The relationship between the cultivated area and the factor should be studied.