Combination of FAHP and GIS Techniques in Land Suitability Assessment for Banana Cultivation

Abstract

Banana is one of the most essential foods in terms of health, as it gives satiety due to their high fiber content and contains various minerals and vitamins. Banana cultivation area has been increasing in recent years due to its more income-generating crop than the unit area. Banana cultivation has increased 10 times in Turkey. A significant part of this increase has been in the city of Adana, which is located in the Mediterranean Region, with favorable climate and land conditions. Banana is partially selective in terms of soil/land characteristics for growing. Therefore, it is of great importance to determine the locations of greenhouses to be established for banana cultivation purposes. This study, it is aimed to determine the greenhouse areas to be established for banana cultivation in Çukurova with the help of the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and Geographic Information System (GIS). A soil database prepared at the soil series level was used in the study. The suitable soil series for banana cultivation was determined by considering 4 classes of soil series S1 (Highly suitable), S2 (Moderately suitable), S3 (Marginally suitable), and N (Unsuitable). The results showed that the suitability of the study area for banana cultivation was 17.59% at S1, 40.93% at S2, 25.87% at S3, and 11.80% at N. In addition, according to results, the greenhouses in the region should not be established in areas determined as N and S3, but can be established in areas that were mapped as S1 and S2. The results concluded that the integration of FAHP and GIS techniques is a useful method for accurate assessment of land suitability in planning for banana cultivation.