Abstract
Information on variety specific land suitability analysis was not available in Ethiopia. Therefore, integrated multi-criteria land suitability analysis and mapping for contrasting malt barley varieties was carried out to identify where and how much potentially suitable land exists in the country. The main factors considered for analysis include rainfall and temperature during the growing period, length of growing period, digital elevation models, (altitude and slope data) and soil characteristics (types, pH, depth, texture and drainage). The malt barley varieties included are late maturing Bekoji-1, EH1847 and Holker; and early maturing Grace, IBON 174/03 and Sabini. For classification of the data layers according to the degree of suitability for each variety, various reports and other relevant information were reviewed and used in defining the limits of the suitability ranges of malt barley varieties. The overall suitability was computed by multiplying the selected criteria weight by the assigned sub-criteria score and summing these values in the ArcGIS Model Builder. The analysis showing the extent and patterns of suitable land area available for the selected malt barley varieties are presented in the form of tabular data and maps. Highly suitable areas for these varieties include: 125,332 ha for Bekoji-1; 124,004 ha for EH1847; 775,312 ha for Grace; 125,356 ha for Holker; 1,677,388 ha for IBON 174/03; and 307,952 ha for Sabini. The results suggest that current improved malt barley varieties can be targeted for scaling out in the identified land suitability classes in the highlands of Ethiopia. Results also suggest that future research and development works should give priority for developing early maturing, acidic and waterlogging soil tolerant malt barley varieties. The results can be useful for policy and decision making to ensure land resources are used in the most productive and sustainable ways and solve the mismatches between current land use and land suitability for malt barley varieties in the country.
Highlights
Barley has been an important food and industrial crop in Ethiopia
The environmental requirements of the target varieties were defined by means of a set of critical values, which determine the limits between the land suitability classes
This work is a broad scale nationwide integrated multi-criteria suitability analysis, which is only based on biophysical factors, it is intended to serve as a guide for agricultural research and development related policy and decision-making at broad scale
Summary
Barley has been an important food and industrial crop in Ethiopia. Ethiopia is the second largest barley producer in Africa, accounting for about 25% of the total barley production (Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO], 2014), it has not yet been able to expand malt barley production. In Ethiopia where smallholder farmers account 95% of agricultural production and 85% of all employment, 40% of the farming households operate on less than 0.5 ha, 64% on less than 1 ha, and 87% on less than 2 ha (FAO, 2011 citing Gebreselassie, 2007) under rainfed agriculture an average family of 6 persons requires around 2.5 to 2.8 ha land to meet annual household requirements This calls for agricultural intensification, where in our capacity, at least start with land suitability classification of malt barley varieties to improve productivity up to the potential of available natural resources and maintain the grain quality under the recommended management technologies. Crop level land suitability analysis does not consider variety by environment interactions and does not indicate which variety fits best to which environmental conditions It is, very important to map the agricultural land with its orographic and agroclimatic information to show the extent and distribution of land areas that are potentially suitable for contrasting malt barley varieties to enhance productivity and scaling in Ethiopia. Our integrated multi-criteria land suitability evaluation and mapping focused on physical environments such as soil type, soil depth, soil pH, soil texture, soil drainage, land slope, altitude, length of growing period, rainfall, and temperature requirements of each test malt barley variety
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