Multi‐criteria decision analysis integrated with GIS to determine land suitability for cultivation and best harvest time of vine

Abstract

BACKGROUND In this study, the quality of land suitability for vine cultivation in south‐western Iran was evaluated and a land suitability map for vine cultivation was developed using the fuzzy‐analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The best harvest time of vines was determined based on the relationship between total soluble solids (TSS) and titratable acidity (TA) with fruit colour (red, green, and blue or RGB) in ten points and also the growing degree‐days (GDD) maps from April to December. The relationship between GDD and effective parameters in vine cultivation was determined using principal component analysis (PCA) and Pearson correlation methods. RESULTS The results illustrated that the maximum temperature and relative humidity (RH) have the greatest effect on vine cultivation and its yield (weight 0.24). The results of the land suitability map showed that central regions have better conditions for growing vines (32%). The measurements of TA and TSS depicted that vines of the northern parts have higher TA and lower TSS and there is a significant relationship between them and fruit colour. The results of GDD maps showed that the harvest time of ruby vine and Gezel‐azm is July and August, respectively. Also, the temperature (Tmean, Tmax and Tmin), wind speed, and GDD were the most important parameters to determine the best location for vine cultivation. CONCLUSION Determining land suitability for cultivation, the best harvest time, the time of grape ripening, and following the exact time of export and import of vine has a vital role to increase its productivity and services. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.