Land suitability assessment for agricultural crops in Enrekang, Indonesia: combination of principal component analysis and fuzzy methods (original) (raw)

SAINS TANAH - Journal of Soil Science and Agroclimatology

Land suitability assessment is essential for the efficient use of diminishing fertile agricultural land. Assessment parameters include soil texture, pH, the sum of basic cations, base saturation, cation exchange capacity, organic carbon, soil depth, slope, and mean annual temperature and precipitation data. Results showed that 76.28% and 23.26% of the total area were optimally and moderately suitable for coffee growth, respectively; 9.6% and 90% were optimally and moderately suitable for cocoa growth, respectively; 1.98%, 78.74%, and 19.26% were optimally, moderately, and marginally suitable for clove growth, respectively; and 6.68%, 86.89%, and 6.41% was optimally, moderately, and marginally suitable for pepper growth, respectively. The final land suitability index (LSI) was strongly influenced by the threshold values used by the researcher and the quality of the land indicator itself. Plant threshold values differed due to variations in plant recruitment. The main limiting factors...