Detailed survey and land suitability evaluation ofBilverdi research station

In the present study and research work, land suitability evaluation (qualitative classification) was madefor the Bilverdy research station of the Islamic Azad University in East Azerbaijan for wheat, barley,alfalfa, maize and safflower. The Simple Limitation Method (SLM), the Limitation Method regardingNumber and Intensity (LMNI) and the Parametric Methods (PM) such as the square-root and the Storiemethods were used. The landscape, climate and soil and characteristics that influence suitability of theland for particular crops have been combined according to the adopted methodology. Economic factorswere excluded and moderate level of management was assumed. The results of different methods showthat the most important limiting factors are climate, pH, organic matter (OM), gravel, salinity andsodicity, taken either alone or in combination. For safflower, the cation exchange capacity (CEC) canbe added to these factors. Evaluation by the SLM and LMNI methods result in similar suitabilityclasses, which confirms previous findings by other researchers for the same crops. However, in manycases the use of parametric methods, especially the square root method, turned to be more realistic indistinguishing separate suitability classes. This study not only compares different methods and theirresults but also evaluates the suitability of the study area for particular crops. According to the squareroot method, the area can be recommended as marginally suitable for cultivation of wheat, barley,alfalfa and safflower and is expected to yield about ۴۰–۶۵% of optimal production.

Keywords:

Land suitability , Land evaluation , Bilverdy region