Appraisal of Land Suitability for Crop Planting Based on Niche Fitness Model

Abstract

Land suitability appraisal is precondition for sustainable agriculture and it plays a fundamental role in the niche based agricultural planning in mountain regions. Nanfen is a mountainous town in East Liaoning of China, where lots of crops were planted. In order to identify suitable land for crop planting, the suitability of cultivated land in Nanfen District of Benxi City, Northeast China was evaluated in terms of niche fitness model. Assessment index were selected from the viewpoint of natural, economic and social factors. Results indicated the most suitable area for cultivated land use in Nanfen was 124.23 km 2 and overpass the area of current cropland resource. However, current cultivated land-use located in the most suitable was only 16.61 km 2 , which revealed layout for cultivated land was not reasonable in Nanfen. Spatially, the most suitable areas were mainly distributed in Sishanling town and sub suitable, barely suitable and unsuitable areas were chiefly located in Xiamatang town. Cultivated land should be allocated in the most suitable areas by means of planning, so as to match actual resource niche and to increase crops yield and quality.