Land Suitability Evolution of Zanjan Plain for Irrigated Wheat, Alfalfa and Potato Using the Land Versatility Index

Authors

1 Assoc. Prof., Dept. of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zanjan, Iran

2 Assis. Prof., Dept. of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahrood University of Technology, Iran

3 Assis. Prof., Dept. of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zanjan, Iran

4 Ms.C Graduate, Dept. of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zanjan, Iran

Abstract

The present study aimed to calculate the land versatility (overall land suitability) for irrigated wheat, alfalfa and potato in two adjacent areas in Zanjan plain using the combination of individual qualitative suitability degrees. Therefore in two adjacent areas located in Zanjan plain (in the east and west of Zanjan Zinc Town), with the total area of 4500 and 5500 hectares, respectively, 56 and 68 soil samples with distance of 1000 m were collected. After land suitability degrees determination for irrigated wheat, alfalfa, and potato based on the climatic data and soil and landscape analyses, continuous qualitative land suitability maps were produced using ordinary kriging estimator. Finally, the land versatility (overall land suitability) index, as an average of individual land suitability degrees for different crops, was calculated and then interpolated and mapped. The results showed that the soil pH for potato and the percentage of coarse fragments in the soil for all of the three studied crops caused some limitations. Comparison of land suitability maps revealed higher suitability of wheat and alfalfa farming in the eastern part of Zanjan Zinc Town in comparison with western part of it, while the suitability class for potato was marginal. Comparison of overall land suitability (versatility) index revealed a relatively high spatial variability in both of studied areas and also proved that overall suitability of the lands located in the east is more than the lands located in the west of Zanjan Zinc Town.

Keywords

References

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Water and Soil Science
Volume 29, Issue 1
April 2019
Pages 137-149

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