Suitable land allocation for fig plantation (case study: Estahban city, Iran)

Abstract

ABSTRACT All plants need specific climatic and environmental conditions to survive, and the fig tree is no exception. In this research, we mapped the location of suitable lands for planting this crop in Estahban city using the functionality of a geospatial information system (GIS). For this purpose, the following six climatic elements were analysed: average, maximum, minimum temperature and average, maximum humidity and Rainfall, and five environmental parameters of slope, altitude, land use, soil type, and soil erosion. Due to their incompleteness, we reconstructed the climatic elements by the differences and ratios method. Then the maps related to the mentioned parameters were prepared in GIS and standardized and weighted using the fuzzy logic method and the criteria for planting fig trees. Then, we combined the maps with the help of fuzzy logic and obtained the zoning map of the lands suitable for planting fig trees. Based on the proposed output map, it was clear that most of the areas for planting figs were located in the central and middle parts of the city. In addition, we found that other places in the North-West sector had similar capability.