FAO Framework For Land Evaluation Research Articles

Application of GIS in land unit mapping and evaluation of land suitability for agriculture in Uong Bi district – Quang Ninh province

This study aims to apply Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in land unit mapping and the evaluation of land suitability for agriculture in Uong Bi District, Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam. Given the complex and spontaneous changes in land usage driven by market fluctuations and environmental challenges, assessing land quality becomes crucial for sustainable agricultural development. Integrating soil, topographic, and climatic data within a GIS framework led to the creation of land unit maps for 40 different units in Uong Bi district, classified based on soil type, slope, soil depth, soil fertility, and hydrological conditions. The assessment of land suitability for seven main crops, including Litchi, Citrus, Dragon fruit, Cinnamon, Vegetables, Pine, and Macca, was conducted using the FAO framework for land evaluation. The results indicate that Pine and Cinamon have the highest arable area across all crops (with 15,895.40 ha and 15,502.40 ha respectively) while Vegetables show the lowest total arable area (4,063 ha). The findings provide valuable insights into the suitability of land for specific crops, facilitating informed decision-making to optimize land use and improve agricultural production.

Pedological Characterization and Suitability Assessment for Cassava Production in Bukoba, Missenyi and Biharamulo Districts, Tanzania

A study was conducted in Bukoba, Missenyi and Biharamulo Districts, Tanzania with the objectives of characterizing, classifying and assessing the suitability of the study area for cassava production. A reconnaissance field survey using transect walks and auger observations was done in the study sites, which were geo-referenced in terms of international coordinates using Global Positioning System. Soil profiles representative of the study sites were excavated and named as MARU-P1, MISSE-P1 and BIHA-P1 for Bukoba, Missenyi and Biharamulo Districts, respectively. Soil profile description and data on the morphological features of the representative soils were collected according to the FAO Guidelines for Soil Description. Disturbed and undisturbed soil samples were collected from genetic soil horizons, processed and analyzed in a soil laboratory. Data on site characteristics, climate, soil morphological features and soil physical and chemical properties were used to classify the soils to the family level of the USDA Soil Taxonomy and to tier-2 of the FAO World Reference Base for Soil Resources. Soil suitability assessment of the experimental sites was done using a simple limitation method based on the FAO Framework for Land Evaluation. The results reveal that Pedons MARU-P1 and BIHA-P1 have similar morphological properties, which are different from pedon MISSE-P1. However, the studied pedons differ in their physical and chemical properties, implying differences in their use and management. The climate of the study sites is semi-humid with <i>Udic</i> soil moisture regime, which is generally favourable for crop production. According to the USDA Soil Taxonomy, pedons MARU-P1 and BIHA-P1 were classified as <i>“Typic Kandiudults”</i>. In addition, according to FAO World Reference Base for Soil Resources, pedons MARU-P1 and BIHA-P1 were classified as <i>“Haplic Ferralic Acrisols”</i> and <i>“Chromic Ferralic Acrisols”</i>, respectively. Pedon MISSE-P1 was classified as <i>“Typic Endoaquolls”</i> according to USDA Soil Taxonomy and as <i>“Fluvic Gleyic Phaeozems”</i> according to FAO World Reference Base for Soil Resources. Pedons MISSE-P1 and BIHA-P1 were both evaluated as marginally suitable while MARU-P1 pedon was evaluated as moderately suitable for cassava production due to soil fertility constraints. We recommended specific soil fertility management strategies in each studied site for optimum cassava yields.

تقييم الأراضي في بعض قرى سهل عكار في محافظة طرطوس - سوريا

هدفت هذه الدراسة الى تقييم الأراضي في ثلاث قرى من سهل عكار السوري في محافظة طرطوس، حيث تم التقييم بالاستناد الى مستويات مختلفة من درجات الملائمة، من خلال مقارنة احتياجات المحاصيل المدروسة مع خصائص التربة المتوفرة. استخدمت طرق التحليل المتبعة في منظمة الاغذية والزراعة العالمية الفاوFAO, لتقييم ملائمة الارض وفق العالم SYS 1991 بالنسبة للاستعمالات الحالية وفق نظريتي التقييد البسيطة والتقييد مع الاخذ بعين الاعتبار عدد وشدة عوامل التقييد. تبين من خلال نتائج التقييم انه توجد قيود خطيرة على زراعة محصول الحمضيات بينما لا توجد اي قيود على زراعة محصول القمح في منطقة الدراسة.

Assessment of the FAO traditional land evaluation methods, A case study: Iranian Land Classification method

AbstractLand evaluation is a critical step in land‐use planning. Although many methods have been developed since the formulation of the FAO framework for land evaluation, several of the more traditional approaches still remain in widespread use but have not been adequately evaluated. Contrary to more recent land evaluation systems, which need considerable data, these systems only require basic soil and landscape information to provide a general view of land suitability for major types of land use. As the FAO initially presented its qualitative framework for land‐use planning, based on two previous methods developed in Iran and Brazil, in this study we assessed the reliability and accuracy of a traditional land evaluation method used in Iran, called land classification for irrigation (LCI), comparing its results with several qualitative and quantitative methods and actual yield values. The results showed that, although simpler than more recently developed methods, LCI provided reliable land suitability classes and also showed good relationships both with other methods analysed and with actual yields. Comparisons between qualitative and quantitative methods produced similar results for common crops (a barley–alfalfa–wheat–fallow rotation). However, these methods performed differently for opportunist crops (such as alfalfa) that are more dependent on income and market conditions than on land characteristics. In this work, we also suggest that using the FAO method to indicate LCI subclasses could help users or managers to recognize limitations for land‐use planning.

Spatial Based Assessment of Land Suitability and Availability for Maize (&amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Zea mays&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt; L.) Development in Maros Region, South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Recently, South Sulawesi Provincial government has launched the “gong” program with the main objective to optimize all the resources (land, infrastructures, and farmers) in agriculture areas for maize production in the province. This study is aimed at identifying the suitability and availability of land areas for maize development in Maros Regionthe regency having the most extensive agriculture production in South Sulawesi province. This study employed land evaluation method in geographic information system (GIS) based on the FAO Framework for Land Evaluation. Land availability was assessed from overlaying information on land use (obtained from available land use map and SPOT XS image interpretation) and suitability classes based on the FAO Framework, as well as administration boundary map. The results indicated that the S1 (highly suitable) class comprises a total area of approximately 34,468 ha, or about 24% from the total area. The limiting factors for S2 (moderately suitable) and S3 (marginally suitable) classes are slope and nutrient availability, but with the advanced management efforts (moderately input) such sub-classes can actually promote S3 class to S2 level. It was also found that from a total of 144,085 ha of the study area, potential maize development area (for extensification) covers approximately 24,716 ha (or 35.6%). Tanralili, Bantimurung, and Simbang sub-districts cover the largest suitable area, where no significant limiting factors exist. Surprisingly, potential development area for maize in Camba, Mallawa, and Tompobulu sub-districts denotes minus values. This implies the facts that maize cultivation is still practiced on the land that is ecologically not suitable, where steep slope is the dominant limiting factor.

Land suitability assessment for selected crops in Vellore district based on agro-ecological characterisation

Planning based on agro-ecological zoning aims at scientific management of regional resources to meet the food, fibre, fodder and fuel wood requirements without adversely affecting the status of natural resources and environment. An attempt has been made to map the agro-ecological units for Vellore district of Tamil Nadu and derive the crop-zone map for the four major crops namely, paddy, sugarcane, groundnut and millets. The basic theory of FAO framework for Land Evaluation was adopted to define the suitability of crops. Land quality details necessary for evaluating the agro-land suitability of crops and for delineating the agroecological units include the terrain, soil and climatic characteristics. Agro-ecological units map was generated by overlaying the agro-edaphic and agroclimatic map layers in GIS. The agro-land suitability map was generated by matching the crop requirement details with the land qualities. The results of the suitability evaluation, when compared with the current land use statistics of these crops showed that area cultivated is less than the area suitable for these crops.

Comparative Land Evaluation approaches: An itinerary from FAO framework to simulation modelling

The FAO framework for Land Evaluation (LE) has been the primary procedure used worldwide to address local, regional, and national land use planning. Despite its widespread and long-term application, the process has been criticised by the scientific community for its qualitative and empirical base, which is not effective to address many new agro-environmental challenges where the dynamic characterisation of the interrelated physical and chemical processes taking place in the soil landscape is a must. In today's environment, the LE expert is asked to choose the best LE methodology considering costs, complexity of the procedure and benefits in handling a specific land evaluation. Unfortunately very little scientific literature supports this choice especially in terms of the comparison of different LE approaches. In this scenario, we performed a forage maize land suitability study by comparing different methods having increasing complexity and costs. The study area was comprised of approximately 2000 ha and was located on the Lodi Plain (Po Valley) of North Italy. The primary land use in the region is forage maize and this study was designed to assess forage maize biomass. Methods were developed and applied to compare the efficacy of procedures of increasing complexity. The range of the 9 employed methods ranged from standard LE approaches to the extensive use of simulation modelling (SWAP and CropSyst), using as data input pre-existing soil information (soil map 1:50,000) and also hydraulic properties measured as well estimated by PTF(pedotransfer functions). The different methods were compared based on both predictive ability and cost. Independent estimates of forage maize biomass were obtained by locally tested remote sensing measurements, and predictive ability was estimated using statistical indexes including correlation, relative variance, and ANOVA to evaluate the mean differences in maize biomass. The level of expertise required to apply a specific methodology was a factor in the cost of the LE. In addition, an increase in method complexity corresponded to a higher quality/quantity of input parameters and as a consequence higher costs. Generally, more complex methods gave better results in terms of their predictive ability but this occurred in much discontinuous steps; this finding contradicts a simplified view on the better performance of more complex and mechanicistic methods. Methods operating on measurements resulted in increased performance relative to those operating on PTF. Furthermore, methods operating on “true” soils without aggregations (i.e. soil-mapping units) exhibited higher performance.

The Assessment of Land Resources: Achievements and New Challenges

It is surprising that despite all the pleas and policies regarding the development of sustainable land use systems, there is still considerable ignorance regarding the nature and significance of land resources. This paper traces the development and achievements of land evaluation during the 20th century, with particular reference to soils. The most active period was between 1950 and around 1980 with the development of soil and land capability surveys, methodological advances initiated with the FAO Framework for Land Evaluation, and regional land resource assessments. Thus there were considerable achievements in land evaluation by the early 1980s, and subsequently there have been important advances in the subject through the application of GIS, spatial analysis, modelling and fuzzy set algebra. Since the late 1990s there has been a phenomenal rise in interest in soil quality assessment. Considerable debate has focussed on definition, and methods of assessment and monitoring. The latter part of this paper discusses the major challenges to the development and application of land evaluation. The inadequacy of much soil survey data in terms of variables, quality, spatial coverage and scale is emphasised. Also, there is a continuing need to highlight the centrality of land resource issues in any attempt to develop sustainable land use systems.

Exploring suitability for tropical crop cultivation in Hainan Island by SOTAL methodology

A SOTER-based automatic procedure for qualitative land evaluation is developed. This procedure was created in the automated land evaluation system (ALES). The objective was to design a procedure that allows for a quick separation of potentially suitable from non-suitable SOTER units for the intended land use, indicating constraints to different kinds of land use. Different kinds of land are unequally suited to various uses, land evaluation is the assessment of the suitability of a tract of land for a specified kind of land use. In practice this implicates the comparison (matching) between the requirements of a specified land use and the properties of the land. Land evaluation concepts and definitions are treated in the paper. The ALES is a computer program that allows land evaluators to build their own knowledge-based system with which they can compute the physical and economical suitability of map units in accordance with FAO framework for land evaluation. The ALES program works with so-called decision trees, being hierarchical multiway keys in which the leaves are results (e.g., severity levels of land qualities), and the interior nodes of the tree are decision criteria (e.g., land characteristic values). These trees are traversed by the program to compute an evaluation using actual land data for each map unit. SOTAL is a SOTER-based qualitative model developed in ALES for physical land evaluation in which presently three land utilization types (LUTs) are distinguished, i.e., cultivated banana, coffee and rubber under different input and technological conditions. These LUTs are characterized by 11 landuse requirements and evaluated by matching the land use requirements with the corresponding land qualities. The paper elaborates on the criteria used in SOTAL for land quality assessment and how a final suitability rating is achieved on the basis of the rated land qualities. Results are visualized through G1S-generated maps as products in response to the specific information and data needs of decision and policy makers.

Mitigating land degradation in Mediterranean agro-silvo-pastoral systems: a GIS-based approach

Agro-silvo-pastoral systems were studied in central–eastern Sardinia (Italy) to assess their environmental impact in marginal Mediterranean areas. Land cover changes between 1955 and 1996 were assessed by using multitemporal aerial coverages. The shift from extensive to semi-extensive production systems resulted in a decrease in woodland and in a marked increase in artificial pastures. Related field surveys highlighted widespread land degradation processes in areas where pasture amendment actions on land characterised by steep or fairly dissected morphology had been carried out. Starting from a past land suitability classification developed at farm level, a scheme for the evaluation of the land suitability to the creation of new pastures at regional scale was developed by using GIS methodologies. The scheme classifies the land into five land suitability classes as defined in the FAO Framework for Land Evaluation (highly suitable, moderately suitable, marginally suitable, currently not suitable, permanently unsuitable). The land suitability classification performed by the GIS model showed high accuracy if compared to the traditional procedure. The comparison between the land suitability and current land uses allows the identification of areas sensitive to land degradation where land resource conservation programmes can be proposed.

Land evaluation using the FAO Framework: an example from Zambia

Abstract. The suitability of the University of Zambia farm for selected crops was assessed using the principles and concepts of the FAO Framework for Land Evaluation. Moisture and nutrient availability were found to be the most limiting land qualities, but moisture availability is a more important consideration because the farm is managed with high inputs. Heavy dependence on rainfall makes the farm very vulnerable to drought which has had a devastating impact on yields in recent years.Soyabean, potato and wheat are the best‐suited crops. Sunflower is not recommended because of the low market value. Maize is not a suitable crop because of its sensitivity to water stress and nutrient availability. Rhodes grass is recommended in mapping units where other crops have little economic value.The FAO Framework for Land Evaluation can be used in Zambia. It can identify land utilization types that are physically and economically suitable. Based on these findings an appropriate land use plan of the University Farm has been developed and implemented.

Assessing land suitability and yield potential for coconuts in Tanzania

The assessment of the suitability of land for specific uses is a vital part of land use planning and agricultural development. The FAO Framework for land evaluation provides a good basis for determining physical land suitability and for extending the information base into yield potential for different management levels and farming systems. In this paper the FAO procedure is demonstrated for farming systems which include coconuts in the Coastal Belt of Tanzania. An extract of the land suitability map and legend are given. Yield potential for coconuts varies from 5 nuts per palm per year on unsuitable land with poor management practices to 80 nuts on the most suitable land with good management. To assess optional land uses, cashewnuts, maize and rangeland were also considered alongside coconuts. Planners and decision-makers can now use the results to target scarce resources to optimal areas and to design viable farm units and farming systems for local physical, social and economic conditions.

An Ustult-Aquult-Tropept catena in Sierra Leone, West Africa, II. Land qualities and land evaluation

The FAO framework for land evaluation, and the fertility capability classification system are applied to a catena of 13 different soil units of the upland and river terraces of central Sierra Leone. With this catena as an example, suggestions are made for detailed land evaluation according to methodology of the FAO framework. This includes the description of land utilization types and the assessment of the land qualities of rooting space, soil fertility, soil moisture availability, oxygen availability to roots, and risk of flooding. Available information will permit some assessments of land qualities at a detailed level. Rooting space is restricted in some soils by gravel contents. Fertility constraints are aluminium toxicity and low cation exchange capacity. Soil moisture availability may be assessed by calculating the length of the rainfed growing period, using precipitation and potential evapotranspiration data per 10-day periods in combination with soil moisture storage in the rooting zone. The latter may be estimated, when detailed moisture measurements are not available, from the relationship between texture and soil moisture contents at 15 bar and 1/3 bar. Oxygen availability is assessed by using the duration of waterlogging in the rooting zone. This can be estimated, when no groundwater table measurements are available, from gley colours (low chromas and yellow hues) in combination with the age of the landscape. Groundwater table measurements indicate that the same duration of waterlogging correlates with soil colours having progressively lower chromas and more yellow hues the older the landscape. A major obstacle to land evaluation in Sierra Leone is the lack of quantitative knowledge about the various requirements of the different crops obtained from site-specific research.

Using a computerized land-use planning package with the FAO framework for land evaluation

The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) land evaluation methodology provides a procedure for assessing the suitability of land units within a study area for different land uses. This article describes the use of theLuplan computerized land-use planning package to provide an explicit means to select the land use for each land unit which best satisfies defined policies. The use of the package is demonstrated in a study that allocated multiple use activities within a native forest.