engleski

Land suitability assessment models for crops

Awareness towards environmental protection and food quality grows with intensification of agricultural production. Because of this the way of managing natural resources and the impact of management on soil quality becomes essential element of scientific research. The conventional systems for land capability evaluation takes only the agro-ecological indicators of soil fertility into account, unlike multidisciplinary approach which requires a series of accurate data to quantify the processes that occur in soil during crop production. By using such approach it is possible to assess the capacity of food producing area, the justification for renovating agricultural land, zonation in terms of determination suitable and less suitable areas for plant production and planning and analyzing plant production. Therefore, when evaluating soil quality it is important to take ecological, biological, sociological, economical, technical and technological attributes into account. These attributes present a base for identifying indicators of soil quality, understanding of all the properties of soil and climate, collecting and storing all relevant data in a computer database and their computer interpretation and visualization using geostatistics. Approximately 25.000 soil samples (more than one million information) were analyzed in the eastern part of Croatia (Osijek-Baranja County). Using Microsoft Office Excel program, a database was formed. This database contains all necessary information about the land and also chemical analysis of the soil. The base also contains tabular values of certain soil suitability indicators and mathematical formulas for calculating soil suitability. Computer models for suitability assessment of soil for crops, supported by GIS, are fast and efficient, but the greatest value lies in their adaptability for different agro systems. Using geostatistics and GIS applications we can visualize agricultural area and predict different soil properties for the purposes of analysis, planning and rationalization of agricultural production. With more precise data about the soil, the models could be widely used, not only to evaluate the suitability of soil for crops but also for choosing and using farm machines, the need for soil conditioning (liming, input of organic matter etc.) and economic analysis.

Soil suitability ; GIS model ; geostatistics ; soil quality

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