Land Suitability Evaluation for Barberry and Jujube Using Parametric Method and Analytical Hierarchy Process in Alghoorat Region of Birjand

Land suitability assessment is essential for optimal use of agricultural lands. In this research, Root Mean Square (RMS) method and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) have been used to evaluate the land suitability of Alghoorat region (with an area of 133.2 km2 located in South Khorasan Province) for Jujube and barberry. 12 control profiles were studied out of 50 primary profiles. Questionnaires for barberry and jujube were prepared and completed by farmers and experts. First, some physical and economical properties (income subindex) were studied. According to the results of the questionnaires, weights were given for each factor and separately for each type of productivity, based on its effect on land suitability. Finally, the weights and degrees of suitability for each property were combined together in the Expert Choice software, and suitability classes were determined according to the FAO standards. The results showed that the suitability of climate was high (S1) and the most important soil limitations were slope, lime and texture. The climate and moisture indices had the highest (0.355) and the lowest weight (0.044), respectively. The range of land indices for barberry and jujube were 10.7 to 75.6 and 11.2 to 77 using RMS method and were 13.4 to 77.1 and 14.5 to 79.4 using AHP method, respectively. Although this difference is very small, the conditions of the region for cultivation of jujube seem more suitable than for barberry. The calculated explanation coefficients between observational production and land indices estimated by RMS method for barberry and jujube were 0.96 and 0.94 and by AHP method were 0.98 and 0.92, respectively.