Spatial Multi-Criteria Analysis of Ecological Land Suitability for Irrigated Farming

Document Type : Scientific - Research

Authors

• Vahideh Panah Nezhad ¹
• Naser Ahmadi Sani ²
• Abdollah Javanmard ³

¹ M.Sc. of Agroecology, Mahabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mahabad, Iran.

² Department of Agronomy and Agroecology, Mahabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mahabad, Iran.

³ Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Maragheh University, Iran.

10.22067/agry.2021.20290.0

Abstract

Introduction
Agriculture plays a central role in countries' food and economic security, and population growth has increased dependence on it. The Nazluchai basin is one of the important areas for agriculture in Iran, and improper land use has destroyed water and soil resources in the area. One way to improve this situation is land suitability assessment. Land suitability analysis is a multi-criteria decision-making process based on a spatial information system. On the other hand, various systems analyze descriptive and spatial data. However, the Geographic Information System is one of the best methods to acquire, edit, process, and manage data quickly, accurately and simultaneously in large volumes. However, this system also has limitations in decision making. Therefore, the integration of geographical information system with Multi-Criteria Evaluation methods, including Analytical Hierarchy Process, has been proposed as a land suitability assessment method. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the ecological suitability for irrigated farming in a part of Nazluchai with an area of ​​23314 hectares using multi-criteria evaluation within the analytical hierarchy process and geographical information system.
Material and methods
At first, the parameters affecting the ecological land suitability for irrigated farming were identified, and the necessary data were collected and mapped using Geographic Information System. The criteria and sub-criteria were weighed based on expert opinions within Analytical Hierarchy Process. The homogeneous units were prepared by combining the sub-criteria standardized maps. The main limiting criteria in this study, including a slope less than 8% and a water quantity less than 3,000 liter/ha/year, were involved in the Boolean logic analysis. The ecological land suitability map for irrigated farming was generated using the Linear Weight Combination method and was classified into unsuitable, marginally, moderately, and highly suitable classes.
Results and discussion
In the current land use map, 46.4% of the area was used for irrigated cultivations, 32.2% for range-dry farming on slopes above 30%, 12.6% for dry farming on slopes of 12-30%, and 0.8% was allocated to dry farming in areas with a slope less than 12%. Rocky and bare lands also cover 8% of the area. The matrix of the main criteria includes the landform, climate, soil, and water resources. Water resources have the highest weight for irrigated farming, and climate and soil are in the next rank. According to experts, the most important sub-criteria for assessing land suitability for irrigated farming are water quantity, temperature, texture, and soil fertility. Therefore, water resources are one of the most important and limiting resources to agriculture development in the basin, affecting other ecological resources. The ecological suitability map showed that 28.2% of the study area is the best area for irrigated farming, i.e., highly suitable class, 16.4% is moderately suitable class and 8% is marginally suitable class. 47% of the study area was classified as unsuitable for irrigated farming. In ecological suitability and current land-use maps, there is about 11% mismatch, and in 89% of the area, current land use is compatible with the ecological suitability of the study area. The results also show that integrating remote sensing, spatial information systems, analytical hierarchy processes, and weighted linear combinations is useful and effective for assessing land suitability and land-use planning.
Conclusion
This study is an important and useful regional guide for agricultural land planning. In order to prevent degradation, land suitability assessment, and optimal management, based on the principles of land-use planning using such new techniques and technologies, can be a fundamental solution for the relevant organizations. It is important to resolve environmental problems and create the conditions for sustainable development.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Keywords

• Land use
• Multi-Criteria Evaluation
• Spatial Analysis
• Sustainable Agriculture

20.1001.1.20087713.1401.14.2.1.9

Main Subjects

• Climatic zoning and ecological zoning

---

References

Aburas, M.M., Abdullah, S.H., Ramli, M.F., and Asha’ari, Z.H., 2017. Land suitability analysis of urban growth in Seremban Malaysia, using GIS based analytical hierarchy process. Procedia Engineering 198: 1128-1136.

Ahmadi Sani, N., Balighi, S., Javanmard, A., and Sohrabi, M., 2014. Study and comparison of ecological potential and current uses in lands located in South of Urmia based on land-use planning principles. Journal of Agricultural Science and Sustainable Production 24(1): 127-137. (In Persian with English Summary)

Akıncı, H., Özalp, A. Y., and Turgut, B., 2013. Agricultural land-use suitability analysis using GIS and AHP technique. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 97: 71-82.

Asakereh, A., Soleymani, M., and Sheikhdavoodi, M.J., 2017. A GIS-based Fuzzy-AHP method for the evaluation of solar farms locations: Case study in Khuzestan province, Iran. Solar Energy 155: 342-353.

Asgharpour, M.J., 2019. Multiple criteria decision making. University of Tehran Press, Tehran, Iran, 398 p. (In Persian)

Aymen, A.T., Al-husban, Y., and Farhan, I., 2021. Land suitability evaluation for agricultural use using GIS and remote sensing techniques: The case study of Ma’an Governorate, Jordan. The Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Science 24(1): 109-117.

Bagheri, A., and Asadi, S., 2019. Determination of suitable areas to cultivating annual alfalfa (Medicago scutellatu L.) using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Geographic Information System (GIS) in the province of Kermanshah. Journal of Agroecology 11(2): 467-482. (In Persian with English Summary)

Bayat, B., Matkan, A.A., Rahmani, B., and Arabi, B., 2011. Comprehensive programming on land-use planning in urban basin using GIS. Environmental Based Territorial Planning (Amayesh) 4(13): 119-135. (In Persian with English Summary)

Bidadi, M., Kamkar, B., Abdi, O., and Kazemi, H., 2015. Land suitability analysis on rainfed Wheat cropping using Geospatial Information Systems (A case study: Qaresoo basin). Journal of Agricultural Science and Sustainable Production 25(1): 131-143. (In Persian with English Summary)

Bunruamkaew, K., and Murayama, Y., 2011. Site suitability evaluation for ecotourism using GIS & AHP: A case study of Surat Thani province, Thailand. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 21(1): 269-278.

Chandio, I.A., Matori, A.N., Yusof, K., Talpur, M.H., and Aminu, M., 2014. GIS-based land suitability analysis of sustainable hillside development. Procedia Engineering 77: 87-94.

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization), 1985. Guidelines: Land Evaluation for Irrigated Agriculture, FAO Soils Bulletin 55. Rome, 290 p.

FRW (Organization of Forests, Ranges and Watershed Management of Iran), 2006. Nazlochai watershed resource evaluation plan, FRW Report. Tehran, 294 p.

Ghodsipour, H., 2016. Analytical Hierarchy Process, Amirkabir University of Technology Press, Tehran, 220 p. (In Persian)

Jafari, M., Tahmoures, M., and Naghilou, M., 2009. Land-use planning for tourism development using Geographical Information System (GIS (. Journal of Range and Watershed Management (Iranian Journal of Natural Resources) 62(1): 21-31. (In Persian with English Summary)

Karami, O., and Hosseini Nasr, S.M., 2013. Application of analytical hierarchy process and geographic information system in capability evaluation of babolrood basin lands for range management. Iranian Journal of Range and Desert Research 20(1): 101-114. (In Persian with English Summary)

Li, B., Zhang, F., Zhang, L.W., Huang, J.F., Jin, Z.F., and Gupta, D.K., 2012. Comprehensive suitability evaluation of tea crops using GIS and a modified land ecological suitability evaluation model. Pedosphere 22(1): 122-130.

Makhdoum, M.F., Darvishsefat, A.A., Jafarzadeh, H., and Makhdoum, A.F., 2012. Environmental evaluation and planning by Geographic Information System. University of Tehran Press, Tehran, 304 p. (In Persian)

Maleki, F., Kazemi, H., Siahmarguee, A., and Kamkar, B., 2017. Development of a land-use suitability model for saffron (Crocus sativus L.) cultivation by multi-criteria evaluation and spatial analysis. Ecological Engineering 106: 140-153.

Mishra, A.K., Deep, S., and Choudhary, A., 2015. Identification of suitable sites for organic farming using AHP & GIS. The Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Science 18(2): 181-193.

MoE (Ministry of Energy), 2012. Guideline for Ecological Capability Evaluation for Classification of Water Resources Development Projects. Bulletin No. 575. Tehran. (In Persian)

Montgomery, B., Dragićević, S., Dujmović, J., and Schmidt, M., 2016. A GIS-based Logic Scoring of Preference method for evaluation of land capability and suitability for agriculture. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 124: 340-353.

Mosadeghi, A., Akbari, N., Bakhshandeh, A., Sarmadian, F., Nasiri, B., and Sofizadeh, S., 2020. Agroecological zoning of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production systems using RS and GIS in the Shavoor plain of Khouzestan. Journal of Agroecology 11(4): 1527-1543.

Mousavi, S.A., Sarmadian, F., and Taati, A., 2017. Comparison of AHP and FAO methods for land suitability evaluation of rainfed wheat in Kuhin area. Iranian Journal of Soil Research 30(4): 367-377. (In Persian with English Summary)

Nefeslioglu, H.A., Sezer, E.A., Gokceoglu, C., and Ayas, Z., 2013. A modified analytical hierarchy process (M-AHP) approach for decision support systems in natural hazard assessments. Computers and Geosciences 59: 1-8.‏

Nouri, S.H.A., Seydaei, S.E., Kiani, S., Soltani, Z., and Nouruozi Avargani, A., 2010. Assessment of ecologic environmental sources for determining rich farmland by GIS. Geography and Environmental Planning 21(1): 33-46. (In Persian with English Summary)

Paul, M., Negahban-Azar, M., Shirmohammadi, A., and Montas, H., 2020. Assessment of agricultural land suitability for irrigation with reclaimed water using geospatial multi-criteria decision analysis. Agricultural Water Management 231: 105987.‏

Pourkhabbaz, H., Aghdar, H., Mohammadyari, F., and Javanmardi, S., 2015. Land suitability evaluation for determining of agricultural land-use by Multi Criteria Decision Making models ANP- DEMATEL and FAHP Chang (Case study: Behbahan fringe). Journal of Environmental Studies 41(2): 429-445. (In Persian with English Summary)

Qiu, L., Zhu, J., Pan, Y., Hu, W., and Amable, G.S., 2017. Multi-criteria land-use suitability analysis for livestock development planning in Hangzhou metropolitan area, China. Journal of Cleaner Production 161: 1011-1019.

Rahimi, V., Pourkhabaz, H.R., Aghdar, H., and Mohammadyari, F., 2015. Comparison of Fuzzy AHP Buckley and ANP for forestry capability evaluation. Applied Ecology 4(13): 15-30. (In Persian with English Summary)

Roig-Tierno, N., Baviera-Puig, A., Buitrago-Vera, J., and Mas-Verdu, F., 2013. The retail site location decision process using GIS and the analytical hierarchy process. Applied Geography 40: 191-198.

Romano, G., Dal Sasso, P., Liuzzi, G.T., and Gentile, F., 2015. Multi-criteria decision analysis for land suitability mapping in a rural area of Southern Italy. Land Use Policy 48: 131-143.

Saaty, T.L., 2008. Decision making with the analytic hierarchy process. International Journal of Services Sciences 1(1): 83-98.

Said-Jalali, S.A., Sarmadian, F., and Shorafa, M., 2016. Land suitability evaluation using Fuzzy simulation and Fuzzy AHP methods for irrigated Wheat. Journal of Soil Research (Formerly Soil and Water Sciences) 30(2): 149-159. (In Persian with English Summary)

Sani, N.A., Kafaky, S.B., Pukkala, T., and Mataji, A., 2016. Integrated use of GIS, remote sensing and multi-criteria decision analysis to assess ecological land suitability in multi-functional forestry. Journal of Forestry Research 27(5): 1127-1135.

Tercan, E., and Dereli, M.A., 2020. Development of a land suitability model for citrus cultivation using GIS and multi-criteria assessment techniques in Antalya province of Turkey. Ecological Indicators 117: 106549.‏

Worqlul, A.W., Jeong, J., Dile, Y.T., Osorio, J., Schmitter, P., Gerik, T., and Clark, N., 2017. Assessing potential land suitable for surface irrigation using groundwater in Ethiopia. Applied Geography 85: 1-13.‏

Xu, E., and Zhang, H., 2013. Spatially-explicit sensitivity analysis for land suitability evaluation. Applied Geography 45: 1-9.

Xu, Y., Sun, J., Zhang, J., Xu, Y., Zhang, M., and Liao, X., 2012. Combining AHP with GIS in synthetic evaluation of environmental suitability for living in China’s 35 major cities. International Journal of Geographical Information Science 26(9): 1603-1623.

Yalew, S.G., Van Griensven, A., and Van Der Zaag, P., 2016. AgriSuit: A web-based GIS-MCDA framework for agricultural land suitability assessment. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 128: 1-8.

Zhang, J., Su, Y., Wu, J., and Liang, H., 2015. GIS based land suitability assessment for tobacco production using AHP and fuzzy set in Shandong province of China. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 114: 202-211.

Zolekar, R.B., and Bhagat, V.S., 2015. Multi-criteria land suitability analysis for agriculture in hilly zone: Remote sensing and GIS approach. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 118: 300-321.