Agricultural Land Suitability Evaluation Research Articles

Agricultural Land Suitability Categorization and Evaluation using GIS Assisted AHP in the Arid Western Plain Zone of Rajasthan, India

Background: Agricultural Land Suitability Analysis is one of the dependable method through which crop specific land suitability can be analyzed. Agricultural land suitability analysis for the pearl millet in the Arid Western Plain Zone of Rajasthan was the major focus of the present study. Methods: Nine criteria viz. mean temperature in the growing season (°C), total rainfall (mm), soil phosphorus (kg/h), soil texture, soil pH, soil organic carbon (%), salinity (dS/m), slope of the land (%) and landuse-landcover and their corresponding sub-criteria were selected. Analytic Hierarchical Process (AHP) was performed on the selected criteria through pair-wise comparison matrix and individual weights were determined and represented through Weighted Overlay Analysis (WOA). Result: Temperature in the growing season (20.68%), total rainfall (15.90%) and landuse/ landcover (14.39%) depicted relatively higher weightage with consistency ratio of 0.087. Results obtained from WOA in GIS environment depicted four suitability category namely Highly suitable (S1), Moderately suitable (S2), Marginally suitable (S3) and Restricted (N). Significant percentage of area was categorized under S2 category while S3 category was associated with least area with limitations like relatively higher slope and higher salinity. The proposed model validation was performed with overall accuracy of 88.10% using confusion matrix.

GIS Land Suitability to Increasing Agricultural Production for the Agriculture Supply Chain: A Systematic Literature Review

Agricultural development is essential for the community's survival because it is a major source of food. Food production is a critical component of food security. Food security must be improved to meet market demand, and one of the fundamental goals of agricultural growth is to provide sufficient quantities of food. Increasing demand for natural resources, as well as environmental issues, are putting pressure on the current agricultural supply chain, which includes agricultural land suitability. Land evaluation is a process of analyzing land resources for specific uses using an established technique or method, and it is required to incorporate land appropriateness. According to the criteria, the findings of land suitability will give information and/or land use guidance. The land's appropriateness might be evaluated in its existing state (actual land suitability) or after changes have been made (potential land suitability). To address these issues, the agricultural sector must transition from traditional agriculture to smart agriculture. One of the technologies and system modeling that drives the current technique to smart agriculture with an integrated approach to evaluate the sustainability of agricultural land suitability is the geographic information system (GIS). The Systematic Literature Review (SLR) from prior investigations is presented in this publication. The articles are divided into two groups based on their approaches: agricultural land appropriateness for rice plants and the application of geographic information systems (GIS), comprising agricultural land suitability, site selection, and effect evaluation. The goal of this research is to determine what criteria are significant in increasing the quality of GIS applications in agriculture. This outcome is expected to assist stakeholders in formulating policies based on the performance of GIS data management in enhancing agricultural productivity and promoting agriculture supply chain management.

Suitability evaluation of potential arable land in the Mediterranean region

The existing cultivated land in the Mediterranean region faces great pressure from various sources. A suitability evaluation of potential arable land is urgent for helping adaptation measures to mitigate the impacts of climate change and human pressure on agricultural production in the Mediterranean region. We integrated 15 biophysical and socio-economic factors from GIS and remote sensing data to perform a suitability evaluation of potential arable land in the Mediterranean region using analytical hierarchy process and radial basis function artificial neural network methods. Moreover, we analyzed the gap between potential arable land and existing cultivated land and compared the evaluation results between the analytical hierarchy process and artificial neural network methods. The results show that the suitability index of potential arable land based on artificial neural network with 6 neurons has the best correlation with average yield and average harvested area. The land area with a suitability grade over medium level accounts for 62.95% of the potential arable land area, of which 45.71% is uncultivated land. Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Portugal, Spain and Turkey have great opportunities for agricultural development. Radial basis function artificial neural network outperforms analytical hierarchy process, has better verification results, and requires less input. This study provides an initial insight into the agricultural land suitability of 16 countries around the Mediterranean Sea and introduces a research idea for agricultural land suitability evaluation.

Optimization of the Weighted Linear Combination Method for Agricultural Land Suitability Evaluation Considering Current Land Use and Regional Differences

This study was aimed at optimizing the weighted linear combination method (WLC) for agricultural land suitability evaluation (ALSE) through indicator selection, weight determination, and classification of overall suitability scores in Handan, China. Handan is a representative research area with distinct agricultural advantages and regional differences in land use, where the expansion of construction land has led to a rapid decrease of agricultural land in recent years. Natural factors (topography, climate, soil conditions, and vegetation cover) and socioeconomic factors (land use and spatial accessibility) were selected to establish a more comprehensive evaluation system. The index weight was calculated by the mutual information between index suitability and current land use. The consistency index was used to identify the boundary value dividing the overall suitability score into a suitable category and unsuitable category in each sub-region. The results demonstrated that the optimized WLC-ALSE model outperformed the comparison models using conventional methods in terms of the consistency between the evaluation results and current land use. Owing to the increasing limitations of topography, soil conditions, spatial accessibility, and land use, the proportions of suitable land in Zone 1, Zone 2, and Zone 3 were 77.4%, 67.5%, and 30.9%, respectively. The agricultural land unsuitable for agriculture (14.5%) was less than non-agricultural land suitable for agriculture (7.4%), indicating that agricultural land had low growth potential in Handan. Finally, specific recommendations were made to improve agricultural land suitability, alleviate land use conflicts, and further optimize the model. The results can provide effective guidance for WLC-ALSE and land use decision-making for sustainable agriculture.

Agricultural Land Suitability of Production Space in the Taihang Mountains, China

The contradiction between the shortage of land for agriculture due to rapid expansion of industrialization and urbanization and increasing population pressure is projected to impose great threats to future food security. Agricultural land suitability evaluation is an effective approach to improve the utilization of land resources for crop production and thus enhance the capacity of food provision. In this study, we evaluated the land suitability for agriculture of the production space in the Taihang Mountains by three steps: establishing indicator system, determining weights for indicators, and constructing a fuzzy matter-element model to assess the grades of suitability. Results showed that the land suitability had a significant linear correlation with potential crop yields, indicating our evaluation was effective to predict crop production. The spatial pattern of land suitability for crop production demonstrated that land with higher suitability was generally located in piedmont plains and basins, while land with lower suitability was mostly situated in mountainous areas. The area of highly, moderately, marginally suitable and unsuitable land for agriculture was 32.13%, 28.58%, 37.49% and 1.80% of the production space, respectively. However, the correlation degree analysis indicated that the requirements of these four suitability grades were currently not satisfied but could be potentially fulfilled. In terms of indicator weights, soil properties were much more important than topography and location conditions to influence the grades of suitability. Among all indicators, slope, soil organic matter, soil texture and soil depth were the most influential factors, so slope farming prevention and organic fertilization were most likely to improve land suitability for agriculture. Compared the outputs of our land suitability evaluation model with the distribution of the existing croplands, we found that about 66.52% of marginally suitable and 54.55% of unsuitable land for agriculture were currently used for croplands. Therefore, de-farming policy should be implemented in areas of these two suitability grades. In contrast, cropland expansion was encouraged in the land that was highly or moderately suitable for agriculture. Our evaluation of agricultural land suitability is beneficial for future land use planning and decision-making in the Taihang Mountains.

GIS-based agroecological assessment of land suitability for food crop development at a regional scale: A study case of Buton Island.

Agriculture has long become a prime sector for regional development in Buton Island, although local government emphasis on perennial crops. Food crop have been developed in very limited land areas, mainly on transmigration areas, as parts of central government programs. Today, the central government has launched a national strategic program on food self-sufficiency and has imposed the local government to optimize available land for cultivating food crop. The primary aim of study is to develop rapid assessment on a spatial basis using GIS for agricultural land suitability evaluation of agriculture commodities, i.e., rice (irrigated paddy field, rainfed rice) and corn (Zea maize L.). The study was undertaken using the following procedures: (i) conducting reconnaissance soil survey based on land units; (ii) constructing soil database in a GIS; and (iii) classifying land suitability using the FAO method. Spatial data were generated from digital topographic map, soil survey, soil characteristics, as well as climate data. Preliminary results indicate that quite large area available for food crop cultivation both in the context of land suitability (mostly in S2 and S3 classes) and land availability. All data bases were managed in GIS, then it is amenable to various operations in GIS to accommodate possible additional assessment including socio-economic and policy assessment.

Study of the potential expansion of new rice fields in Central Maluku District to support food security in Maluku Province

Maluku province is one of the Islands in Indonesia. Seram island is one of the largest islands in the Maluku province lies the Central Maluku Regency. Central Maluku district is one of the priorities regions in the development of paddy fields in the province of Maluku. According to the BPS Maluku province in the year 2015, Government Maluku province was only able to meet the needs of 58% of the rice. Fulfillment needs rice is one of the Government's efforts in food self-sufficiency, it is because of the availability of food is one of the primary needs. Increased agricultural productivity through the extension of new rice fields became one alternative settlement in fulfillment of rice. The increase in rice production through the expansion of rice fields is still possible, because of the potential land is suitable for the expansion of rice fields was still quite spacious. The success of the process of the expansion of paddy fields depend on the expansion of the activities of the mechanism of the rice is done. The process of the expansion of rice fields is preceded by feasibility investigation location. Feasibility study of the site was conducted to find out the feasibility of potential land with the observations in the field which is then processed and spatial dianalis in using ArcGIS software. Results of a survey investigating the Central Maluku district region with a total area of 594.29 achieved ha based on the suitability of the land for the potential expansion of new acres of rice paddies 587.35 ha from 2 (two) subdistricts include North Eastern Seram Subdistrict Kobi m2 170.87 ha and North Seram Subdistrict covering 416.82 ha. Keywords: The Expansion Of New Rice Fields, Agricultural Land Suitability Evaluation, Islands

Developing a User Friendly Decision Tool for Agricultural Land Use Allocation at a Regional Scale

Agricultural land use planning should always be guided by a reliable tool to ensure effective decision making in the allocation of land use and activities. The primary aim of this study is to develop a user friendly system on a spatial basis for agricultural land suitability evaluation of four groups of agriculture commodities, including food crops, horticultural crops, perennial (plantation) crops, grazing, and tambak (fish ponds) to guide land use planning. The procedure used is as follows: (i) conducting soil survey based on generated land mapping units; (ii) developing soil database in GIS; and (iii) designing a user friendly system. The data bases of the study were derived from satellite imagery, digital topographic map, soil characteristics at reconnaissance scale, as well as climate data. Land suitability evaluation in this study uses the FAO method. The study produces a spatial based decision support tool called SUFIG-Wilkom that can give decision makers sets of information interactively for land use allocation purposes.This user friendly system is also amenable to various operations in a vector GIS, so that the system may accommodate possible additional assessment of other land use types.

Agriculture land suitability analysis evaluation based multi criteria and GIS approach

Land suitability evaluation (LSE) is a valuable tool for land use planning in major countries of the world as well as in Malaysia. However, previous LSE studies have been conducted with the use of biophysical and ecological datasets for the design of equally important socio-economic variables. Therefore, this research has been conducted at the sub national level to estimate suitable agricultural land for rubber crops in Seremban, Malaysia by application of physical variables in combination with widely employed biophysical and ecological variables. The objective of this study has been to provide an up-to date GIS-based agricultural land suitability evaluation (ALSE) for determining suitable agricultural land for Rubber crops in Malaysia. Biophysical and ecological factors were assumed to influence agricultural land use were assembled and the weights of their respective contributions to land suitability for agricultural uses were assessed using an analytic hierarchical process. The result of this study found Senawang, Mambau, Sandakan and Rantau as the most suitable areas for cultivating Rubber; whereas, Nilai and Labu are moderately suitable for growing rubber. Lenggeng, Mantin and Pantai are not suitable for growing rubber as the study foresaw potential environmental degradation of these locations from agricultural intensification. While this study could be useful in assessing the potential agricultural yields and potential environmental degradation in the study area, it could also help to estimate the potential conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural uses.

Land suitability analysis for agriculture in the Abbay basin using remote sensing, GIS and AHP techniques

To meet growing population demands for food and other agricultural commodities, agricultural land-use intensification and extensification seems to be increasing in the Abbay (Upper Blue Nile) basin in Ethiopia. However, the amount, location and degree of suitability of the basin for agriculture seem not well studied and/or documented. From global data sources, literature review and field investigation, a number of agricultural land suitability evaluation criteria were identified. These criteria were pre-processed as raster layers on a GIS platform and weights of criteria raster layers in determining suitability were computed using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). A weighted overlay analysis method was used to compute categories of highly suitable, moderately suitable, marginally suitable and unsuitable lands for agriculture in the basin. It was found out that 53.8 % of the basin’s land coverage was highly suitable for agriculture and 23.2 % was moderately suitable. The marginally suitable and the unsuitable lands were at 11 and 12 % respectively. From the analysis, regions of the basin with high suitability as well as those with higher susceptibility for land degradation and soil erosion were identified.

Agriculture Land Suitability Evaluator (ALSE): A decision and planning support tool for tropical and subtropical crops

Agricultural land suitability evaluation for crop production is a process that requires specialized geo-environmental information and the expertise of a computer scientist to analyze and interpret the information. This paper presents ALSE, an intelligent system for assessing land suitability for different types of crops in tropical and subtropical regions (e.g. mango, banana, papaya, citrus, and guava) based on geo-environmental factors that automates the process of evaluation and illustrates the results on an attribute table. Its main features include support of GIS capabilities on the digital map of an area with the FAO-SYS framework model with some necessary modifications to suit the local environmental conditions for land evaluation, and the support of expert knowledge through on spatial tools to derive criteria weights with their relative importance. A dynamic program for calculation of eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a weighting matrix is provided. Expertise and knowledge help ensure that ALSE databases represent realistic, practicable and functional systems. It is useful for decision makers to determine the quality of land for agricultural uses and is intended as a decision and planning support. Responsibility for any decisions based partly or wholly on the output of ALSE rests with the decision maker. ALSE ensures that the results are interpreted correctly within the relevant context, and contributes by maximizing land-use planning and decision support.

Soil Biology Contribution on Agricultural Land Suitability Evaluation of Wet Tropical Megabiodiversity Regions

Indonesia is in the region wet tropical megabiodiversity it would need to complete the system for agricultural land suitability evaluation in accordance with real conditions, thus increasing the value-added resources optimally and sustainable and accountable production investment. Soil organisms as a component of production support can act as an agent of energy and nutrient cycling in the soil, improving soil physical properties, and controlling pests and disease. For that soil, biological parameters that need to be considered in evaluating the suitability of land that already exist include: N-fixing or P-solubilizing bacteria groups that live symbiosis and free-living, the fungi solubilizing P and soil organic matter decomposition groups, BGA fixing and free-living N symbiotic groups, fauna groups are able to conserve soil organic matter and improve soil physical properties. Important steps that need to be done in the evaluation of land cover inventory of soil biological populations and its role on the growth of crops, and evaluate the suitability of the soil biological parameters of the functional value of commodity options.