Impacts of parametric methods on land suitability classification and land management prioritization for porang, Amorphophallus onchophyllus in Indonesia: A comparative study

Porang is becoming recognized as a strategic commodity due to its high demand and substantial economic value. However, the lack of a standardized set of site-specific land suitability criteria for porang presents challenges in conducting land suitability assessments and planning for its use. Therefore, this study addressed the knowledge gap by evaluating land suitability classes and the implications of land management for porang cultivation, using different parametric methods. A comprehensive survey of 32 land units was conducted, followed by soil analysis in the laboratory. The square root (SRM) and the Rabia and Terribile (RTM) parametric methods were employed for the land suitability assessment. Subsequently, the land management priorities were determined based on the results of the land suitability class analysis derived from both methods. The results showed that land suitability for porang plants with SRM and RTM was dominated by the very suitable class (S1), however, the distribution of S1 was wider with RTM. The remaining classes with SRM consisted of moderately suitable (S2), marginally suitable (S3), currently not suitable (N1), and permanently not suitable (N2), while the remaining classes with RTM only consisted of S1, S2, and S3 classes without class N. The priority of land management for porang plants for both parametric methods is dominated by priority I, however, in SRM there are priorities II, III, and NP (not priority), while in RTM, there are only II and III. Based on land suitability class and land management priority, RTM was still better than SRM.