Land suitability assessment for major crops by using GIS-based multi-criteria approach in Andit Tid watershed, Ethiopia

Land evaluation is a foundation for sustainable land resource planning and management. In Ethiopia, national economic development is highly dependent on agriculture. And, the productivity of the land is low as a result of land degradation due to mismanagement of the land and intensive cultivation; this situation is worse in Ethiopian Highlands like Andit Tid watershed. Therefore, matching crop requirement with resource available through land suitability analysis has become an urgent need to sustain the productivity of agricultural land in the study area. This study aimed to address land suitability analysis by using geographical information system-based multi-criteria approach in Andit Tid watershed. The analysis of land suitability for major crops (wheat and barley) revealed that, though, there are slight variation in suitable classes for each crop, most part of the watershed was moderately suitable for both crops with 266.55 ha (77.42%) and only very small part of the land 2.43 ha (0.51%) was highly suitable for both crops. On the other hand, 9.3 ha (2%) and 3.6 ha (0.77%) of the land was marginally suitable and not suitable for both wheat and barley crops, respectively. The main limiting factors for land suitability were soil depth, texture, temperature, slope and erosion hazard. The spatial distribution showed that most of the cultivation currently practised in marginally suitable land in the lower part of the watershed. Most of the land parcel being used against its suitability potential in study area. Thus, land-use pattern needs to be modified based on its suitability potential.