INTEGRATED LAND EVALUATION FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION BY USING ANALYTICAL HIERARCHY PROCESS

This study discusses sustainable agricultural production by land evaluation based on a multiple criteria approach. The study was carried out in the Bastam region located at the north Shahrood township of Semnan Province in the northeast of Iran. Soil, landscape and climatic data were collected to assess the study area based on its capability for cultivation of apple, tomato, wheat and white potato. Making the final decision for growing the most appropriate crop was based upon three criteria: (1) the physical suitability of the study area for crop cultiva- tion; (2) environmental consideration; (3) economic benefit accruing from the production of each crop. The results of the assessment of the above criteria were incorporated using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique. Ultimately, wheat was found to be the most suitable crop for cultivation considering all the criteria in the study area. This study, therefore, was a step taken towards promoting sustainable agriculture by trying to introduce as efficient an approach as possible in land use planning, and selecting the most sustainable ways to put the land to optimum use.