Land Suitability Evaluation

Land suitability evaluation is the base for land use planning and land management to enhance the sustainable use of land resources. Suitability evaluation for tef, maize and grass pea cultivation in rainfed agriculture was studied through a qualitative process of matching land characteristics with crops requirements based on maximum limitation system. This study was initiated with the main objective of classifying the watershed into land mapping units and finally producing suitability maps of the selected crops. Data of spatial vector and raster as well as the attribute of the variables were collected from QuickBird2 satellite imagery, topographic sheet, field observation and soil laboratory analysis results. Most of the land units of the study area were found to be moderately suitable for tef, the low lying land units highly suitable for grass pea and the well drained land units were moderately to marginally suitable for maize cultivation. The study has showed GIS and RS techniques are powerful tools to integrate various data layers and to assess the potentials of land resources for scientific land use planning, decision making and resource management.

Autorentext

Adisalem Asefa received M.Sc in GIS and BA in Geography from Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia. Since the beginning of September 2009 he teaches GIS, Remote Sensing, and Research Methodology in Geography and Environmental Studies in Gondar University in lecturer status.