Taye Wude, Shiferaw Wakshum, Tsegaye Genaye
Arba Minch University, College of Agricultural Sciences, Natural Resource Management, Arba Minch, Ethiopia.
PLoS One. 2025 Aug 22;20(8):e0328533. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0328533. eCollection 2025.
This study is vital for helping farmers to produce appropriate crops based on physical land suitability and for assisting land use planners in decision-making. Large-scale crop production is essential to supply raw materials for industries, focusing on areas with high production potential to boost yields and meet growing demand. However, physical land suitability analysis for major cereal crops is lacking in Mansa Watershed of Southwest Ethiopia. Therefore, this research aimed to assess the physical land suitability for key crops such as wheat, maize, and teff. Utilizing the FAO land evaluation framework, the study employed various data sets, including Sentinel-2A satellite images, soil data, climate information, and elevation models, to determine suitability factors. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used for pairwise comparison of parameters, while Geographic Information System (GIS) software's weighted overlay tool was applied to evaluate suitability for the specified crops. A vector overlay was utilized for land allocation for each crop. The analysis considered ten criteria: soil pH, depth, texture, drainage, organic matter, slope, altitude, rainfall, temperature, and land use change. Results indicated that approximately 29.6%, 61%, and 50% of the study area were moderately suitable for maize, teff, and wheat production, respectively. Additionally, 52.8%, 38.8%, and 13.9% of the area were marginally suitable for these crops, while 17.6% and 36% of the area were unsuitable for maize and wheat, respectively. Overall, 44% of the land was moderately suitable, and 10% was marginally suitable for the selected crops. Notably, there were no areas classified as highly suitable; most lands were identified as moderately or marginally suitable. Moving forward, sustainable land management practices are necessary to enhance land suitability and improve soil health. Further analyses should also consider irrigation facilities, market access, and processing industries to provide more options for stakeholders and policymakers.
本研究对于帮助农民根据土地实际适宜性种植合适的作物以及协助土地利用规划者进行决策至关重要。大规模作物生产对于为工业提供原材料至关重要，应专注于具有高生产潜力的地区以提高产量并满足不断增长的需求。然而，埃塞俄比亚西南部曼萨流域缺乏对主要谷类作物的土地实际适宜性分析。因此，本研究旨在评估小麦、玉米和画眉草等主要作物的土地实际适宜性。该研究利用粮农组织土地评价框架，采用了包括哨兵 - 2A 卫星图像、土壤数据、气候信息和高程模型等各种数据集来确定适宜性因素。层次分析法（AHP）用于参数的成对比较，而地理信息系统（GIS）软件的加权叠加工具则用于评估指定作物的适宜性。矢量叠加用于每种作物的土地分配。分析考虑了十个标准：土壤酸碱度、深度、质地、排水、有机质、坡度、海拔、降雨量、温度和土地利用变化。结果表明，研究区域分别约有 29.6%、61% 和 50% 中度适合玉米、画眉草和小麦生产。此外，该区域分别有 52.8%、38.8% 和 13.9% 勉强适合这些作物，而分别有 17.6% 和 36% 的区域不适合玉米和小麦。总体而言，44% 的土地中度适合，10% 的土地勉强适合所选作物。值得注意的是，没有区域被归类为高度适合；大多数土地被确定为中度或勉强适合。展望未来，需要采取可持续土地管理做法来提高土地适宜性并改善土壤健康。进一步的分析还应考虑灌溉设施、市场准入和加工业，以便为利益相关者和政策制定者提供更多选择。
