Analysis of potential soil degradation on agricultural land based on geographic information systems in Slogohimo District, Wonogiri Regency

Abstract

Slogohimo District is one of the districts located in Wonogiri Regency with an area of 6.415 ha. Population growth in Slogohimo District has increased by 7,068 people from 2017 to 2022. The total population in 2022 is 53,403 people with the majority livelihood being farmers. Population increase will have an impact on increasing the demand for biomass. Land management that does not pay attention to conservation principles will cause changes in the soil’s basic properties and impact the biomass produced. About 84,91% of the land in Slogohimo District is used as agricultural land in paddy fields, moor, and plantations. The increase in population and the need for biomass, triggers more intensive processing of agricultural land which has the potential to cause soil degradation potential degradation. Based on these problems, it is important to carry out an assessment of the potential for degradation to agricultural land in Slogohimo District. The method used is overlaying thematic maps consisting of soil type maps, rainfall maps, slope maps, and land use maps through spatial data analysis based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The potential for soil degradation is obtained from the scoring results which refer to the standard criteria in the Technical Guidelines for Preparation of Soil Degradation Degradation Status Maps for Biomass Production. The results showed that potential degradation to the soil on agricultural land in Slogohimo District was classified into three classes by area or proportion of land, namely low class covering 1.558,08 ha, medium class covering 2.800,70 ha, and high class covering 919,93 ha.