EVALUATION OF OIL PALM SITE SUITABILITY USING ANALYTICAL HIERARCHY PROCESSING DEVELOPED INDEXAND GEOGRAPIDCAL INFORMATION SYSTEM

APPLICATION AT KG. BERATOKAND KG. TAPAH, SAMARAHAN

p '

KhoAi Ling

Master of Environmental Science (Land Use and Water Resources Management)

2011

Pusat Khidmat MakJumat Aka emik UNIVERSm MALAYSIA SARA\¥'

P.KHIDMAT MAKLUMAT AKADEMIK

111111111 Ili'rnilllllllll 1000246515

EVALUATION OF OIL PALM SITE SUITABILITY USING JI

ANALYTICAL HIERARCHY PROCESSING DEVELOPED INDEX AND GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMAnON SYSTEM APPLICATION AT

KG. BERATOK AND KG. TAPAH, SAMARAHAN

KHOAILING

A thesis submitted In fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of

Master of Environmental Science (Land Use and Water Resources Management)

. "

Faculty of Resource Science and Technology UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA SARA W AK

2011

_

7

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to take this opportunity to extend my deepest thanks, gratitude and appreciations to the following persons and individuals. Without their assistance, advises, support and knowledge sharing, my dissertation would not completed successfully.

My project supervisor Professor Dr. Wang Yin Chai of Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology for accepting me sincerely as his student despite being the fact that I was with zero knowledge in GIS at the very beginning of this project. His patience, enthusiasm, understanding and sharing of wisdom in helping me with my project has nearly saturated me not only with new learning knowledge but most importantly is the valuable experience gained from this work. My gratitude also goes to his research assistance, Mr. Lee Guan Heng for his assistance and discussion of ideas during the process of working out my project.

My project co-supervisor, Associate Professor Dr. Gabriel Tonga Noweg of Faculty of Resource Science and Technology for his concern throughout my project's progress. His environmental profession skills had guide confidently as I go along to do my project.

Professor Dr. Wan Sulaiman Wan Harun of Faculty of Resource Science and Technology for the idea and guidance in soil sampling knowledge for my dissertation.

Mr. Lah Jau Uyo, Head of Soil Management Branch, Agriculture Department of Sarawak, for granting and providing the soil map and agricultural capability map of Kampung Beratok and Kampung Tapah study areas for lPY perusal in this project. Mr. Ling Kok Sui, GIS research assistant from Department of Agriculture for helping in generating the soil map of my study areas.

Mr. John Sabang, Research Officer of Sarawak Research Centre, Sarawak Forestry Corporation for guidance in soil sampling analysis methodology and procedures. Madam Hajarin for her patience and willingness in teaching me for doing soil analysis tasks.

Local peoples from Kampung Beratok and Kampung Tapah for their kindness for guiding me to the area for my soil sampling areas.

Colleagues of the Cohort 7 CML Group SLUSE-M programme for their moral support. Amy Sim; Sim Siaw Fen, K~eh Hsiao Chin, Reena Sabrina, Abang Junaidi and Madam Rahmah Biak.

Finally, my family and friends who have shown consistent love, prayer, support, encouragement and inspiration throughout the SLUSE programme.

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ABSTRACT

Oil Palm Site Suitability Evaluation using Analytical Hierarchy Processing Developed Index and

Geographical Information System (GIS) Application at Kg. Beratok and Kg. Tapah

~roblem of unsuitable land use and irregular development of agricultural areas result in the reduction in cultivation. Hence, appropriate method of land suitability evaluation can provide sustainable management

agricultural lands for policy maker for a project planning and managemend In this study, evaluation on the oil palm suitability is conducted by adopting the existing oil palm index formulated by multi criteria evaluation method in GIS and Analytical Hierarchy Processing (AHP) and Pairwise Comparison method

for factor ranking and weighting. Seven environmental factors affecting the suitability of oil palm growth considered in the oil palm index are soil texture, slope, soil drainage, soil depth, groundwater table depth,

total organic carbon, and water deficit. Field measurement was conducted using simple random sampling method at Kg. Beratok and Kg. Tapah .. The soil structures were studied and the samples were analyzed in the laboratory. Result of studies obtained through the ground reference verification and analysis were

inserted into the linear combination method. Inverse Distance Weighted (lOW) interpolation method in the ArcGlS were use for generating the spatial information regarding the site suitability for oil palm plantation as to predict the cell values for location which were lack of sampling points due to the

limitation for inaccessibility. The results indicate that the Oil Palm Suitability map generated had shown majority of the study area fell into moderate suitable whereas, about 2587.0 hectares (73.8%) of the land

was moderately suitable, while 383.6 hectares (11.0%) ~s suitable and 534.3 hectares (15.2%) is unsuitable for the oil palm planting respectively. The results indicated that the application multi-factor evaluation using AHP in identifying sites suitability for plantation could provide a superior database and guide map for decision makers to make a precise judgment for better output. Thus result in project cost saving in terms of extra intensive inputs and promising a higher productivity of oil palm yield in return.

11

ABSTRAK ;

Penilaian Kesesuaian Tapak Penanaman Kelapa Sawit menggunakan Indeks kaedah Analytical

Hierarchy Processing dan Aplikasi Sistem Maklumat Geografi (GIS) di Kpg. Beratok dan Kpg.

Tapah, Sarawak

Masalah penggunaan tanah yang tidak terancang disebabkan oleh pembangunan kawasan

pertanian mengakibatkan hasil tanaman semakin berkurangan. Oleh itu, kaedah penilaian tapak

penanaman dapat memberikan manfaat kepada pemilik tanah pertanian bagi perancangan projek

dan pengurusan. Kajian terhadap kesesuaian tapak penanaman kelapa sawit adalah merujuk kepada indeks kelapa sawit yang dirumuskan dengan mengaplikasikan kriteria penilaian multi

GIS dan Analytical Hierarchy Processing (AHP) dan kaedah Perbandingan Berpasangan untuk faktor kedudukan dan penimbangan. Tujuh faktor persekitaran yang mempengaruhi kesesuaian

pertumbuhan kelapa sawit dipertimbangkan dalam indeks kelapa sawit adalah tekstur tanah,

kecerunan lereng, pengairan tanah, kedalaman tanah, kedalaman air tanah meja, jumlah organik

karbon, dan defisit air. Pengukuran di tapak lapangan dilakukan dengan menggunakan kaedah

penyampelan secara rawak bagi kawasan kajian, dan hasil keputusan analisis sampel tanah dimasukkan ke dalam kaedah gabungan linear. Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) menggunakan

kaedah interpolasi dalam ArcGIS untuk menghasilkan maklumat kesesuaian lokasi untuk ladang

kelapa sawit untuk meramal nilai sel untuk lokasi yang kurang penyampelan. Keputusan kajian menunjukkan peta indeks kelapa sawit mendapati kebanyakkan tanah berada keadaan "sederhana sesuai" iaitu 2587.0 hektar (73.8%) daripada kawasan kajian manakala 383.6 hektar (11.0%) berada dalam keadaan "sesuai" dan 534.3 hektar (15.2%) dalam keadaan "tidak sesuai" untuk penanaman kelapa sawit. Keputusan kajian menunjukkan bahawa aplikasi kepelbagaian faktor penilaian menggunakan

AHP dalam mengenalpasti kesesuaian lokasi dapat memberikan data yang superior dan peta

panduan bagi pihak pengurusan untuk membuat penilaian dan perancangan yang tepat demi

menjimatkan kos projek dan menghasilkan produktiviti yang lebih tinggi.

,------ - ­

III

P~~dmatMakJuma t Akademik m MALAYSIA SARAWAK

TABLE OF CONTENTS .I

Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ABSTRACT 11

ABSTRAK III

TABLE OF CONTENTS IV

APPENDIXES Vlll

LIST OF FIGURES IX

LIST OF TABLES Xl

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONOYMS XU

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Scenario of oil palm industry in Sarawak

1.2 Land suitability for oil palm growth 2

1.3 Major issues and general views 3

1.4 Significance of the study 3

1.5 Research problem statement 4

1.6 Aim and objective ofstudy 4

1.7 Scope of study 5

1.8 Hypothesis 5

CHAPTER 2: LITERA TURE REVIEW

2.1 Best management practice and requirement for oil palm 6

2.2 Determining site suitability for oil palm plantation 6 ti

2.3 EQA law and regulation for the EIA oil palm plantation 7

development

2.4 7Current practice of the land capability classification system

2.5 8Available indexes for determining site suitability

Selection of index and its origin 2.6 11

IV

2.7 Role ofGIS

2.8 Application and importance of index

GIS in oil palm plantation development 2.9

2.10 Functions ofoil palm suitability index

2.1 ) Environmental parameters in oil palm index (OP Index)

2.11.1 Soil depth

2.11.2 Soil texture

2.11.3 Total organic carbon

2.11.4 Ground water table depth and Soil drainage

2.11.5 Slope

2.11.6 Water deficit

CHAPTER 3: MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY

3.1 Background of study area

3.2 Baseline data acquisition

3.3 Field sampling

3.3.1 Soil sampling

3A In - situ evaluation

3 A.1 SoiL.depth

3 A.2 Groundwater table depth \

3 A.3 Soil Drainage

3.5 Laboratory Ana~ysis

3.5.1 Sample storage

3.5.2 Sample preparation

11 .. 12

13

14

15

15

15

17

18

18

19

21

23

25

27

27

28

31

32

v

3.5.2.1 Grinding 32

3.5.2.2 Sieving 32

3.5.3 Total organic carbon of soil (Walkey and Black) 32

3.5.4 Soil texture analysis 33

3.6 Integration of GIS

3.6.1 Topography map acquisition 34

3.6.2 Map geocoding and digitizing 35

3.6.3 Overlaying 36

3.6.4 Generating DEM/DTM Process 37

3.7 Spatial Analysis

3.7.1 Conversion ofTIN to Raster Maps 39

3.7.2 Interpolation using Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) method 41

3.7.3 Generating IDW surface fot soil texture, soil depth, 42

groundwater table depth, soil drainage,

total organic carbon and water deficit.

3.7.4 Reclassify 44

3.8 Raster calculation 45

3.9 Oil palm suitability map generation 45

" 3.10 Generating 3D view using ArcScene in ArcGIS 46

------------------------------------~----~

VI

CHAPTER 4: RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Field works analysis and discussion 4.1 47

Discussion on the reclassifY IDW findings 4.2 53

544.2.1 Water deficit

4.2.2 Total organic carbon 55

4.2.3 Soil texture 55

4.2.4 Soil drainage 56

4.2.5 Soil depth 57

4.2.6 Slope 58

4.2.7 Groundwater table depth 59

4.3 Discussion on the oil palm suitability index map generated 60

4.4 Comment for the Index used 62

4.5 Comparison to the DoA Agricultutal Capability Map 63

4.6 Summary 64

CHAPTERS: LIMITATIONS, SUGGESTION AND CONCLUSIONS

5.1 Limitations 65

5.2 Recommendations 65

5.3 Conclusion 66

68REFERENCES

Vll

APPENDIXES

Page

APPENDIX A Characteristic ofSoils in Kampung Beratok and Kampung Tapah 73

APPENDIXB Total organic carbon analysis (Walkey and Black Method) 74

APPENDIXC Soil texture analysis (Pipette Method) 75

APPENDIXD 3 Dimensional view ofKampung Tapah and Beratok 78

APPENDIXE PLATEl 79

APPENDIXF PLATE 2 79

APPENDIXG PLATE 3 79

APPENDIXH PLATE 4 80

APPENDIX I PLATES 80

APPENDIXJ PLATE 6 80

APPENDIXK PLATE 7 81

APPENDIXL PLATE 8 81

Vlll

LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Figure 1.1 Expansion ofoil palm plantation area in Malaysia

Figure 1.2 Satellite images of Beratok and Tapah, Kuching-Serian 5

Figure 2.1 USDA Soil Textural Triangle 16

Figure 3.1 Sampling points on the selected soil series map of the study area 22

Figure 3.2 Workflow determining oil palm suitability index 24

Figure 3.3 Soil profile 27

Figure 3.4 Topographic map of the study area 35

Figure 3.5 View of "Create TIN from Features" 37

Figure 3.6 Digital Terrain Model ofKampung Tapah and Beratok 39

Figure 3.7 Slope raster generation process 40

Figure 3.8 Slope surface analysis raster map 41

Figure 3.9 View ofIDW analysis in progress 42

Figure 3.1 0 IDW method generating soil texture map 43

Figure 3.11 ReclassifYing process 44

Figure 3.12 View of raster calculation 45

Figure 3.13 Three di~ensional view of the oil palm suitabiltiy Map using

ArcScene 46

Figure 4.1 Sampling points for the study area 47

Figure 4.2 Soil types ofthe study area 48

Figure 4.3 Reclass IDW for water deficit of the study area 54

Figure 4.4 Reclass IDW for total organic carbon of the study area 55

IX

I

II

Figure 4.5

Figure 4.6

Figure 4.7

Figure 4.8

Figure 4.9

Figure 4.10

Figure 4.11

Reclass lOW for soil texture of the study area 56

Reclass lOW for soil drainage of the study area 57

Reclass lOW for soil depth ofthe study area 58

Reclass lOW for slope of the study area 59

Reclass lOW for Groundwater table depth of the study area 60

Suitability map for oil palm crop 62

Agricultural Capability Map for the study area (OoA) 63

x

Table 1.1

Table 2.1

Table 2.2

Table 2.3

Table 2.4

Table 3.1

Table 3.2

Table 4.1

Table 4.2

Table 4.3

LIST OF TABLES

Page

2

Suitability index for crop 8

Suitability evaluation for each crop 10

Soil textural size group 16

Suitability of climatic and land characteristics for oil palm 20

Soil drainage classes 29

Registered four comers of the map controlled points 36

Study area main characteristics 49

Area suitable for planting oil palm 61

Criteria for class suitability based on Plumber and intensity of limitation 61

Distribution ofoil palm area by states (hectare)

Xl

LIST OF ABBREVIATION AND ACRONYMS

AHP

ADI

eSI

DID

DoA

EIA

EPU

FAO

GIS

GPS

Ha

IDW

JUPEM

Kg.

Lee

MCPs

mm

NDVI

TIN

Toe USDA

Analytical Hierarchy Processing

Area of Interest

Crop Suitability Index

Department of Irrigation and Drainage

Department of Agriculture

Environmental Impact Assessment

Economic Planning Unit

Food Agricultural Organization

Geographica~ Infonnation System

Global Positioning System

Hectare

Inverse Distance Weight

labatan Ukur dan Pemetaan Malaysia (Department of Survey and Mapping

Malaysia)

Kampung (Village)

Land Capability Classification'

Map Controlled Points

milimeter

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index

Triangular Irregular Network

Total Organic Carbon

United State Department of Agriculture

Xll

I CHAPTER!

INTRODUCTION

Thi. chapter includes the scenario of oil palm industry in local context, land suitability for oil

palm growth, major issues and general view, significance of the study, aim and objectives of

the tudy, scope ofstudy, and hypothesis in determining the oil palm suitability.

1.1 Scenario of oil palm industry

In Malaysia, the area planted with oil palm had increased from 2.03 million hectares in 1990

to 3.50 million hectares in 2001, an increase of 172%. (Wakker, 2000). Figure 1.1 shows the

expansion in area planted with oil palm in Malaysia.

4000

3500

3000

2500 ru .c 0 20000 0 .....

1500

1 000

500

0 1950 1'960 1970 1960 19651990 1995 :WOO 2001

38 55

3376 3500

Source: Khoo, Chandramohan, 2002 (MPOB)

Figure 1.1 Expansion ofoil palm plantation area in Malaysia

In 2001, the total area planted with oil palm was 3,499,012 hectares, Sarawak contribute 10.7%

or 374,82 hectares of the total cultivation. Sarawak's plantation area climbed to 920,000

hectares in June 2010, up from 840,000 hectares a year ago as shown in Table 1.1 (MPOB,

2010)

----------------------------------

717 1,0C4 54,_ 36~t6 767 56,_ 13,185

2&C8

.7." 1,T34 9,_

35,921 78,772.

51 193 66,501

297418 21 .708 225,639 15,667 0 51 5,176 13588

22710 19.0 14 192,_ 313.864 79 0 0 0 23C

. ,833

- ____ __._1.-_ ____.....,_, ~____I ____ _• ____._•. •_,,_-~

Source: MPOB, 2009

Oil palm cultivation in Malaysia is largely based on the estate management and organized

smallholder scheme. This has enabled a better utilization of resources as well as the

application of advanced management and planting techniques throughout most ofthe industry.

1.2 Land suitability for oil palm growth

Land suitability assessment for agriculture is meant to evaluate the ability of a piece of land

to provide the optimal ecological requirements of a certain crop variety. In other words,

assessing the capability of land can enable optimum crop development and maximum

productivity. This evaluation needs a specification of the respective crop requirements and

calibrating them with the terrain and soil parameters. Suitability condition of oil palm growth

is different for certain region as the climatic and aridity characteristics varied widely. As for

in Malaysia local context, current situation for determination of oil palm plantation suitability

is according to the planting experiences of the agricultural officers without any index

developed but basically base on the soil survey map which major focus are on the landforms

(topography, soil types and soil depth) ofthe study area.

2

1.3 Major issues and general views

Oil palm sector have been intensively developed in Malaysia, however, there is no precise ,I

site suitability study for the oil palm pre-development which causes environmental

degradation and problem in low productivity of the oil palm crop.

The adverse impacts of oil palm plantation development activities are the ecological impacts

due to the loss for diverse species of flora and fauna as a result of land development, soil

erosion due to the land clearing resulting impacts to water quality and hydrology (flood), air

pollution due to open burning for biomass disposal, water pollution due to usage of agro­

chemicals.

The current assessment method for ecological impacts are conducted using remote sensing

method and ground validation, for soil erosion impacts, hydrology and drainage, air pollution

impacts are conducted using the EIA matrix.

1.4 Significance of the study

Malaysia is now the large geographic scaled developer for oil palm plantation, however

currently data collection for oil palm planning and management depend mainly on traditional

method.s of sample survey"~ in the field site assessment, through ground validation and EIA

matrix.

In the context of Malaysia, lack of data, cost effective and timely processing of information

for oil palm management planning are major constraints which hold up decision making. The

main task of Malaysian agriculture agencies is to improve the reliability, timeliness and cost

effectiveness of data collection techniques. Oil palm suitability index integrating the

3

application of geographical infonnation system was identified as effective recent agricultural

crop information for the global oil palm plantation industry planning. By integrating the oil

palm suitability index into the project preliminary survey, it can help to model the suitability

of the crop planted by selecting the main factors considered in the EIA requirements and the

parameters for the crop growth needs. Thus, ensuring better profit and minimizing the

environmental effects.

1.5 Research problem statement

Projects that acquire new land for oil palm plantation development will need to conduct

Environmental Impact Assessment under the Environmental Quality Act (Prescribed

Activities) (Environmental Impact Assessment) Order 1987. This is part of the land approval

procedure before the land is allowed to be developed by project proponent.

Current method for EIA projects analysis covers pre-implementation phase, construction

phase and operation phase which the matrix/matrix rating is used in verifying the physico­

chemical, bio logical and human factors and activities before, during and after the

development. However, there is no precise site suitability study for the oil palm pre­

development which causes environmental degradation and problem in low productivity of the

oil palm crop. This pn:>mpted the stakeholder management to seek for the solution during the

preliminary survey ofsuitable site by using the available suitability index.

4

Pusat Khidmat Maklumat Akademlk UNlVERSm MALAYSIA SARAWAK

1.6 Aim and objective of study

There are two objectives focused in this study:

a. To detennine the site suitability for oil palm development using oil palm index;

b. To integrate the GIS application in determining and displaying the spatial data of the

suitability site for oil palm development.

1.7 Scope of study

The focus and scope of the study in line with the subject matter covering seven physical

environmental factors (soil texture, slope, soil drainage, soil depth, groundwater table depth,

total organic carbon, and water deficit) concerned in the oil palm index for determining the

suitability for oil palm development.

1.8 Hypothesis

Hypothetical statement:

1. The adoption of the Oil Palm Suitability Index is viable in evaluating the oil palm

suitability with the assistance ground data analysis.

2. Kg. Beratok and Kg. Tapah's (Figure 1.2) physical environmental conditions are

suitable in planting oil palm.

5

Sources: Google Map 2009

Figure 1.2: Satellite images ofTapah, Kuching-Serian

6

CHAPTER TWO

LITERA TURE REVIEW

2.1 Best management practice and requirement for oil palm

Oil palm, Elaeis guineensis, a lowland tropical crop are influenced by the climate, topography

(slope), and altitude. Oil palm is confmed to areas with an elevation that is less than 300

meters above the sea level where the humid tropical environment is most prevalent. Coupled

with the changes in the climatic condition, the increasing steepness of the slope with

increasing elevation is not conducive for oil palm cultivation. Slopes which are considered

suitable for oil palm cultivation ranges from 0-20 degrees. Areas which have slopes

exceeding 20 degrees are considered unsuitable for its cultivation due to serious problems of

workability, field operation and maintenance, harvesting, farm mechanization and high risk of

soil erosion losses which are detrimental to t?e environment (Mahmud and Zin, 1992).

However, in the face of shortages of suitable land for oil palm cultivation, the use of marginal

and conversion ofland from other crops could also be considered.

2.2 Determining site suitability for oil palm plantation

In the project planning and development stage as referring to the EIA guidelines, preliminary

site survey is an important stage in determining the project suitability by considering its

physica~ biological, chemical and socio-economy factors of the proposed project area. The

identified prerequisite terms and conditions in EIA guideline include the slope, total area

cover for the development project, the existing nature of the land. This is as to ensure the

sustainable development ofoil palm and maximize the production for long term time frame.

7

2.3 EQA law and regulation for the EIA oil palm plantation development

Under the Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities) (Environmental Impact Assessment) ~

Order 1987, conditions of the EIA that are relevant to the oil palm industry are as follows:

a. Land development schemes covering an area of500 hectares or more in order to

bring forest land into agricultural production;

b. Agricultural programmes necessitating the settlement of 100 families or more;

c. Development of agricultural estates covering an area of 500 hectares or more

which involve changes in type of agricultural use;

d. Conversion of hill forest to other land use covering an area of 50 hectares or

more;

e. Conversion of mangrove swamps for industrial, housing or agricultural use

covering an area of 50 hectares or more.

2.4 Current practice of the land capability classification system

Nonnally for a project implementation, there is no specifically suitability index used but

referring to the Land Capability Classification (LCC) by Economic Planning Unit (EPU) for

its potential land use for mineral exploitation, agriculture, forestry, recreation, games and

wildlife reserves purposes. Land for agricultural development was given a high rating and

falls, into Land Capability Classes II and III. However for the Soil Suitability Classification, it

is more specific to particular crops such as rubber, paddy, cocoa and oil palm. Ten limiting

.factors are used in the system, namely, depth to acid SUlphate layer, depth to compacted layer,

drainage, gradient, organic horizon thickness, percentage of stoniness, salinity, nutrient

imbalance, texture and structure and also human influence.

8

Sarawak Land Classification and Evaluation for Agricultural Crops provide senes of

inventories fo r rational land use planning in the forms of maps and statistical tables, of the

location, extent and quality of each land class and subclass for the production of the major

climatically adapted crops (Tie et. aI, 1986). Specific guidelines have been established to

determine land capability classes for all the soil mapping units in use in Sarawak. The degree

of limitation to crop production for each of the fifteen attributes of soil and terrain are

separated into five level ofseverity ranging from none to very serious.

l.S Available indexes for determining site suitability

Most of the indexes were developed after the Food Agricultural Organization (F AO)

Suitability Classification for land suitability for crops in the FA 0 's Framework for Land

Evaluation. Index developed subsequently after the FA 0 's Framework for Land Evaluation

was shown in Table 2.1.

Table 2.1: Suitability Index for crop

Satisfactory crop growth Sys and FAO, Tie and Lim, Thirangoon & Sutat and

Evaluation Factors Verheye, Kuptawutinan Nitin,

1975 1983 1986 1997 2006

Soil Depth ..j ..j ..j ..j

..jGroundwater table depth

Soil texture ..j ..j ..j

..j ..j ..j ..jSlope

Wetness (Soil drainage) ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Depth to Sulphidic layer ..j

Salinity of groundwater ..j

Flooding

9

soils,

conditions

classification system has

Satisfactory crop growth Sys and FAO, Tie and Lim, Thirangoon & Sutat and

Evaluation Factors Verheye, Kuptawutinan Nitin,

1975 1983 1986 1997 2006

Total Organic Carbon ..J ..J

Water Deficit ..J ..J

Calcium Carbonate

Gypsum

Sodium Saturation

Epipedon and weathering

stage

Profile Development

Nutrient Availability Index

The FAO Framework indicates that it is necessary to evaluate land and not just soils. The

suitability of soils for irrigated crops is useful information but it is inadequate for making

decisions about land use development. Therefore all relevant land characteristics including

climate, topography, water resources, vegetation etc. and also socio-economic

and infrastructure need to be considered. F AO proposed land suitability

four categories: orders, classes, subclasses and units. Sys and

erheye (1975) proposed the Capability Index (Ci) based on the nine parameters for crop

production in the arid and semi arid region in Equation 1.1 . ,

Ci= A.B.C.D.E.F.G.H.I.

Equation 1.1

10