Agroecological management at sloping land areas using land resources evaluation approach to achieve sustainable agricultural development (a case study of Gunung Mas Regency, Central Kalimantan Province, Indonesia)

Abstract

The appropriate concept of land use planning is required since the lands have the opportunity to be developed for agricultural purposes. Gunung Mas regency with total areas of 1,084,012 hectares is mainly covered by forest with various slope classes. The objective of study was to allocate the lands to be utilized based on its capabilities and suitability for food and plantation crops. Land evaluation approach was implemented to provide appropriate land use planning especially for food crop farming and plantation. Hierarchically, procedure of land capability evaluation (LCE) was used to classify lands based on their capability to produce common cultivated crops without deteriorating over a long period of time. Therefore, the proper land use for cultivation was further analysis using land suitability evaluation (LSE) procedure to determine fitness of a given type of land for a specific crop. The application of GIS and remote sensing technology were then used to generate additional spatial data as basic planning analysis. The results showed that agricultural system was located and implemented appropriately at arable lands. The use of LCE and LSE procedure can then be implemented to promote proper land use on sustained basis as important part of agroecological management.