Agricultural land suitability assessment for sustainable development using remote sensing techniques with analytic hierarchy process

Abstract

Agricultural land suitability assessment is a significant management technique for ensuring the sustainable utilization of agricultural lands according to their actual potential. It may be possible to manage land resources in a sustainable way by selecting a suitable land use that is compatible with the local ecosystem and socioeconomic conditions. Various suitability assessment methods have been effectively applied for agricultural use, but a different land use suitability level for crop cultivation was evaluated in this study. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to analyze data related to slope, elevation, LULC, soil texture, precipitation, temperature, aspect, distance to river, soil moisture (NDMI), distance to road, and soil ph. These variables, according to the pair wise comparison results, have the most influence on suitability analysis and produce more accurate statistical analysis results. Additionally, spatial analyses were carried out to create the matrix that includes the adopted factors and their weights. The results demonstrate four agricultural land suitability areas: highly suitable (27.5%), moderately suitable (42.8%), marginally suitable (17.6%), and not suitable (12.1%). Suitability zones differ with district areas. An analysis of suitability per district showed that most of the areas are highly and moderately suitable for agriculture. The suitability maps provide an effective resource for decision-making in study regions for agriculture. The aim of the study was to address the demands of agricultural activities with actual land resources to improve production and reduce losses.