Land Suitability Evaluation of Dryland for Oilseed

Í Land Suitability Evaluation of Dryland for Oilseeds Î

Importance and necessity of land suitability for Dryland in the country

According to the Statistical Center of Iran, out of 15.5 million hectares of arable land, 9.3 million hectares are dryland area, which the most of them are located in the provinces of East Azerbaijan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Khorasan Razavi, Hamedan, West Azerbaijan, Zanjan, Lorestan, Golestan, Khuzestan and Ardabil, respectively. Due to the population growth and insufficient irrigated lands to produce strategic crops, the dryland agriculture is extremely important in the country.
Although dryland agriculture depends on rainfall, but the study of dryland using land suitability assessment strategies to determine the degree of land suitability for different crops will have a major impact on improving the agricultural situation and increasing crop production.

The area of Dryland in the country by provinces (hectares)

Steps of land suitability for dryland agriculture

[ Identifying the potential of dryland for the development of agricultural activities, determining the land suitability for crops and orchards in rainfed cultivation to scientifically locate the establishment of each crop based on soil characteristics, landscape and climate.
[ Identification of susceptible areas considering to the growth cycle characteristics of arable crops in dryland conditions in terms of temperature and humidity (rainfall)
[ Integration, preparation and digitization of information derived from soil studies in selected areas and conducting studies and data collection in areas without soil studies
[ Accurate investigating and applicability of soil science reports, related maps, morphological characteristics and laboratory analysis table of physical and chemical properties of control soil horizons in the process of land suitability assessment.
[ Uploading aggregated information including data and climatic information of meteorological stations of the country, information of soil and land characteristics including data related to physical and chemical properties of identified soil horizons in control profiles, crops and orchards information consist of phenology courses of selected crops according to temperature and humidity (rainfall), vegetative needs of soil and climate of each plant in the National Land Suitability System
[ Carrying out the process of land suitability assessment for rainfed crops and orchards
[ Preparation of land suitability maps according to the range of soil units, in the form of land suitability classes S1 (Highly Suitable), S2 (Moderately Suitable), S3 (Marginally Suitable), N1 (Currently Not Suitable) and N2 (Permanently Not Suitable) accompanied by restrictions of climate, topography, wetness, physical characteristics and soil fertility, salinity and alkalinity for crop cultivation.

Measures taken to assess the land suitability for dryland agriculture

[ Development of land suitability software with the ability to evaluate dryland of the country.
[ Development of phenology courses for selected crops in dryland of the country (currently Canola is being studied as a sample).
[ Compilation of vegetative needs tables appropriate to cultivated cultivars in different regions of the country (currently Canola is being studied as a sample).

Collaborative institutions and organizations

Plant Protection, Seed and Plant Improvement Institute
Dryland Agricultural Research Institute
IRAN Meteorological Organization

National Land Suitability System