Agricultural Information Research 17(2), 2008.

6068
Available online at www.jstage.jst.go.jp/

Original Paper

Crop Suitability and Soil Fertility Mapping using

Geographic Information System (GIS)
Henry A. Adornado*1) and Masao Yoshida2)

1) United Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 3-5-8 Saiwai Chuo, Fuchu shi,
Tokyo 183-8509, Japan
2) Ibaraki University, College of Agriculture, 3-21-1 Chuo, Ami-Inashiki, Ibaraki ken, 300-0393, Japan

Abstract
This study has developed soil fertility map and determined crop suitability in the province of Bukidnon, Mindanao Philippines
using GIS. It entails combining and analyzing agro-environmental, soil information and crops biological requirements for growth.
Result of analyzed soil samples revealed that light clay soils dominated the province. Combining these results with the
determined soil chemical properties showed that the province is of high soil fertility in 300500 masl, medium fertility in
501900 masl and medium to high fertility in 9011500 masl part of the province. GIS analysis also showed that 44.87% of
the total area of the province was suitable for farming purposes given their slope and geologic characteristic. Overlaying the
generated agro-climatic map with land suitable for farming practice map and soil fertility map, a crop suitability map has
been developed. Matching crops biological requirements for growth to the crop suitability map was able to identify the spe-
cific crops applicable in certain part of the province. Among the recommended crops are rice, sugarcane, corn, coconut and
cassava which were found out to be suited in lower areas with high temperature, highly suitable for farming due to low slope
condition and high soil fertility. Pineapple, mango and banana on the other hand were suited in above-said areas including
those up to 900 masl due to their capability to survive in high and relatively low temperature but of medium soil fertility.
Tomato and potato however were suited in higher areas where temperature is cool and medium to high soil fertility. GIS
analysis showed that there were areas in the province that are still high potential and suitable for farming purposes given the
parameters used.

Key words
soil fertility, crop suitability, agro-climatic condition, geographic information system (GIS)

Introduction
Philippines has a total land area of 30 million hectares. More
than half of it has a slope steeper than 18% (Escao and Tababa,
1998). However, many upland farmers have even expanded and
occupied higher areas for cultivation.
Among the productive upland areas is Bukidnon. It is one of
the crop producing provinces in the Philippines. Despite being
occupied by gently rolling grassland plateau, it was considered as
food basket of Mindanao and known to biggest pineapple planta-
tion. Utilizing crops that are suited in the area, given the soil and
environmental condition can be of great help to improve crop pro-
* Corresponding Author
E-mail: yrneh_adorn@yahoo.com
duction. This idea cannot be easily achieved without ample soil
information. Thus, fast and efficient way of generating necessary
information in a large scale basis must be innovated. It is in this
context that this study has been conceptualized and conducted. It
introduced the use of GIS in agricultural aspect as tools in spatial
data analysis, integrated with extracted soil data to come up with
the output maps informative to the farmers/landowners.
There has been previous study in selecting suitable crops using
personal computer wherein soil condition, climatic condition,
geological and geomorphological condition and list of bibliogra-
phy have been used as determining factors (Kato, 1993). In this
research however, aside from the factors mentioned above, bio-
logical requirement of each plant for growth were identified and
utilized to find out specific crops suited in a certain area. This
study has generated various maps that can provide information

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 Agricultural Information Research 17(2),2008

about the agricultural land condition and recommended type of

crops suited in the sloping area based on the given soil and cli-
matic condition to optimize the use of a piece of land.

Materials and Method

Description of the study area

Bukidnon province is located in the Southern Philippines at the
heart of Mindanao. Geographically, it falls between latitude 721'
to 835' North and longitudes 12433' to 12526' East with an
area of 896, 238 hectares (Fig. 1). The province has two prevail-
ing climatic variations between the northern and southern sec-
tions based on modified coronas classification. The northern part
falls under Type III which is characterized by not very pro- Fig. 1 Location map of Bukidnon province.
nounced and relatively dry period from November to April and
wet during the rest of the year, whereas in the southern part begin-
ning from Malaybalay city falls under Type IV which is charac-
terized by having rainfall more or less evenly distributed
throughout the year (January-December). The annual average
monthly rainfall distribution from 19982002 was 221.52 mm.
Monthly temperature however taken from Malaybalay PAGASA
Station showed that the maximum annual average was 33C and
a minimum of 16.3C while the mean annual temperature was
24.4C (Bukidnon socio economic profile, 2003).

General flow of analysis by GIS

The detailed flow of the study is shown in Fig. 2. Soil sampling
and analysis has paved the way to produce new soil physical and
chemical data which were prerequisite to generate the final out- Fig. 2 General flow of the study

put.
In preparation for the overlaying and analyses, all maps (Slope,
Geologic, Rainfall, Topographic and Soil maps) were scanned
and vectorized. Evaporation, Temperature and Humidity infor-
mation from the BSWM-1985 report however were converted
into digital map with the aid of topographic map. Thousands of
polygons having similar attributes have been merged in every
process. Analyses were made easy by applying expressions and
conditional statements using spatial manipulation language
(SML) and query editor which are good features of Tntmips soft-
ware. These techniques are very efficient method of identifying
and merging thousands of features that met the set of criteria to
generate the final category. Polygons were given a unique iden-
tity and assigned a corresponding name registered as attributes to
determine the features projected in the map. Various digital and
statistical data were combined to generate final output (soil fertil-
ity map and crop suitability map).
Laboratory soil analysis
The volcanic soils derived from extinct volcano (Mt. Kitang-
lad) were distributed in the entire Province. In the soil map pro-
duced in 1950, local soil series were presented and classified by
elevation. However, there was no information about soil texture
and chemical properties in the soil map, thus, a soil sampling was
conducted in May 2004 to incorporate such parameter and subse-
quently utilize new soil information. A total of twenty three (23)
soil samples were obtained in the study area. Plow layer soils
were taken in designated elevation ranges. Type of crops in the
sampling site where the soils obtained have also been recorded
(Table 1). Inasmuch as most of the tilling activities are being done
in the lower portion of the province, a total of 11 samples were
randomly obtained in this area with an elevation ranging from
300500 masl (R1). The area falls from 501900 masl (R2) and
9011500 masl (R3) however have both six (6) soil samples,
respectively. Areas above 1501 masl were considered as Moun-
tain Soil Undifferentiated (MSU) adapting the classes in the old
soil map. For the chemical characteristics, soil pH was measured
in 1:1H2O solution whereas organic matter (OM) was analyzed
by Walkley-Black method and available P was by Bray 2 method.
Cation exchange capacity (CEC) was also determined to help
assess soil fertility.

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Crop Suitability and Soil Fertility Mapping using Geographic Information System (GIS)

Table 1 Soil texture in the study area

Depth of plow Percentage

Elevation Landuse Texture
layer (cm) Sand Silt Clay

320 m Rice paddy 35 10.7 47.2 42.1 Silt clay
322 m Mango/corn 35 37.9 23.4 38.7 Light clay
324 m Sugarcane 30 33.0 30.2 36.8 Light clay
340 m Rice paddy 30 41.9 43.4 14.7 Loam
345 m Rice paddy 30 48.5 10.6 40.9 Light clay
R1 394 m Sugarcane 30 27.4 51.1 21.5 Silty clay loam
401 m Idle land 25 45.4 29.9 24.7 Clay loam
403 m Corn 23 32.8 29.0 38.2 Light clay
413 m Corn 24 26.8 35.4 37.8 Light clay
486 m Mango 20 46.4 27.1 26.5 Clay loam
491 m Sugarcane 25 26.5 51.4 22.1 Silty clay loam
Average 27.9 34.3 34.4 31.2 Light clay
Range 2035 10.748.5 10.651.4 14.742.1

579 m Corn 30 30.5 52.3 17.2 Silty clay loam
767 m Corn 24 45.4 15.7 38.9 Light clay
768 m Sugarcane 26 50.3 24.1 25.6 Clay loam
R2
772 m Pineapple 22 48.6 10.9 40.5 Silty clay
785 m Banana 20 11.3 45.9 42.8 Silty clay
836 m Corn/string beans 25 48.2 12.0 39.8 Light clay
Average 24.5 39.0 26.8 34.1 Light clay
Range 2030 11.350.3 10.952.3 17.242.8

908 m Pineapple 20 18.3 51.7 30.0 Silty clay
1211 m Pumpkin 15 51.8 20.5 27.7 Light clay
1221 m Corn 15 33.5 24.4 42.1 Light clay
R3
1222 m Cabbage 15 45.9 15.5 38.7 Light clay
1261 m Tomato 18 51.1 29.3 19.6 Clay loam
1464 m Potato 15 52.1 27.7 20.1 Clay loam
Average 16.3 42.1 28.1 29.7 Light clay
Range 1520 18.352.1 15.551.7 19.642.1
1501 m and up MSU
Note: Mountain Soil Undifferentiated (MSU)

Soil fertility mapping
Given the vastness of the study area and with only 23 samples
randomly collected within the elevation range initially decided,
an extrapolation technique was implemented to develop new tex-
tural map and soil fertility map. The soil sample results randomly
obtained from each elevation range were extended to other area
not covered by soil sampling as they belong to the same soil series
(Rahman and Parkinson, 2007). Extrapolation is a method of
extending the known information to the other areas with insuffi-
cient data so as they would both assumed as having the same
characteristics. This approach was found to be appropriate in
areas where the information to be extrapolated to has characteris-
tic similar to the sampled and determined area. For instance, the
soil samples were collected only on the east and north portion but
because they are located in the same elevation range and their soil
series are the same, the known information can be extrapolated to
the south and west part and assumed that they have similar soil
properties. This method was used in the preparation of Land and
Soil Resource Guideline at Thana which includes the soil fertility
map based on representative soil samples. They noted that in gen-
eral, chemical properties of soils within a given soil series were
observed to be similar, as they were formed from the same parent
material (SRDI, 1991). Based on the old soil map, the soil series
in the study area are similar and distributed following the eleva-
tion, thus, this approach was adopted to generate a province wide
map.
Prior to the creation of soil fertility map, soil textural map was
generated by merging old soil map and topographic map thereaf-
ter the new physical information from analyzed soil samples were
integrated (Table 1). Average and ranges of soil physical proper-
ties were considered in the process to categorize new textural
classes. Other categories used and depicted in the soil textural
map (Fig. 3) such as MSU and RBL were adapted from the over-
laid old soil map.

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 Agricultural Information Research 17(2),2008

Table 2 Soil chemical characteristics and its fertility categories

Elevation pH OM Available CEC Fertility

P
(m) (1.1:H20) (%) (ppm) (meq/100 g) Category

320 4.9 8.7 26.0 20.5
322 6.0 6.3 34.4 18.9
324 5.5 5.6 30.5 21.7
340 5.1 7.2 8.0 16.2
345 5.5 6.1 35.5 13.4
R1 394 5.4 6.3 29.7 14.3 High
401 5.4 5.8 2.1 11.1
403 5.8 5.0 25.5 15.0
413 5.2 5.6 4.1 11.5
486 5.6 6.2 30.1 11.4
491 6.2 5.8 16.7 13.2
Average 5.5 6.2 22.0 15.2
Range 4.96.2 5.08.7 2.135.5 11.121.7

579 4.6 6.8 29.0 12.4
767 5.0 6.4 2.95 12.9
768 5.1 4.6 14.7 13.0
R2 Medium
772 4.8 5.2 4.6 13.2
785 4.8 6.1 11.5 16.6
836 5.7 6.5 28.7 13.7
Average 5 5.9 15.2 13.6
Range 4.65.7 4.66.8 2.929.0 12.416.6

908 4.7 5.1 11.9 15.2
1211 4.8 6.8 4.1 18.7
1221 7.9 7.2 20.5 14.1
R3 Medium to High
1222 5.5 7.1 28.7 16.2
1261 5.4 7.2 23.0 19.3
1464 6.2 9.3 30.8 23.2
Average 5.7 7.1 19.8 17.7
Range 4.77.9 5.19.3 4.130.8 14.123.2
1501 and up Unclassified

Soil physical property was not enough to create soil fertility

map. Thus, chemical properties (Table 2) obtained from analyzed
soil samples were averaged based on the designated elevation
ranges (R1-lower part, R2-middle part and R3-higher part) and
combined with topographic map and then overlaid with previ-
ously made soil textural map. Used of expressions and condi-
tional statements to automate the identification of features with
similar characteristics were implemented during the overlaying
process. As a result of this procedure, the Soil fertility map (Fig. 4)
has been developed.

Crop suitability mapping

Fig. 3 Soil textural map
Note: The Rough Broken Land (RBL) and the Mountain Soil
Undifferentiated (MSU) categories were adapted from the Soil
map of BSWM.
To generate crop suitability map, climatic factors affecting the
plant growth such as evaporation, temperature, relative humidity
and rainfall maps were firstly combined to produce agro-climatic
map of the study area (Fig. 5). Table 3 shows the climatic infor-
mation merged to generate this map. Agro-climatic map is a kind
of map showing the climatic characteristics of the given zone.

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Crop Suitability and Soil Fertility Mapping using Geographic Information System (GIS)
Fig. 4 Soil fertility map
Important inputs: Soil texture, soil chemical properties and
depth of plow layer.
Table 3 Criteria in categorizing agro-climatic map
Elevation Rainfall Temperature Evaporation
300500 masl 17002600 mm 25280C 2,107 mm
501900 masl 25003500 mm 22240C 1,570 mm
9011500 masl 28003500 mm 18210C 1,570 mm
Source: BSWM map and LREP 1985. The reduction however in Zone C was based on the premised that there is a 0.6C decrease of temperature for every
100 m increase of elevation (Nawata et. al, 2005).
These factors were found out to be important input since the cli-
matic condition in the area has varied per elevation.
The whole province was divided into three zones (zones A, B
and C) based on the amount of rainfall (per agro-ecological zone),
humidity, temperature and evaporation rate (Table 3). This infor-
mation was the only available data in the form of map from the
concerned government agency of the Philippines in time of col-
lection.
Zone A can be found in the lower elevation which is character-
ized by having low amount of rainfall (LR), high temperature
(HT), high evaporation (HE) and low humidity (LH). Zones B
and C which are characterized by having almost similar climatic
condition (HR, LT, LE and HH) were found in the middle and
highest portion of the province.
Secondly, the total area available for farming practice were
also determined using the geologic map overlaid with slope map
which accounted to 44.87% of the total area of the province while
the rest are unsuited for farming due to steep slope, presence of
rocks and gorges. The farming practices in the study area were
influenced by landform and slope. Landform conditions and per-
cent slope were described in geologic and slope maps respec-
tively, as shown in Table 4. Percent slope (034%) and land
characteristics were the primordial considerations in classifying
64
Fig. 5 Agro-climatic map
Abbreviations: LR - Low rainfall, HT-High temperature, HE-
High Evaporation, LH-Low humidity, HR-High rainfall, LT-
Low temperature, LE-Low evaporation, HH-High humidity.
Humidity Final Category
6575% Zone A
(Low rainfall, high temp., high evap., low humidity)
80% Zone B
(High rainfall, low temp., low evap., high humidity)
80% Zone C
(High rainfall, low temp., low evap., high humidity)
the area into highly, moderately, marginally suitable and unsuit-
able (Table 4 and Fig. 6). It can be observed that most of the area
falls within 1934% slope were classified as marginally suitable
due to steep slope.
Land suitable for farming practice map was produced to iden-
tify areas available for agriculture as well as portion of the prov-
ince that are potentially capable in such purpose. Each crop has
preferred suitable climatic condition, suitable land condition and
soil fertility.
The created agro-climatic map was overlaid with land suitable
for farming practice map and soil fertility map to finally generate
crop suitability map (Fig. 7).
Table 6, the classification of soil fertility factors for annual
crop was used as basis in determining level of fertility in the area.
A color coded legend was used to properly interpret the crop
suitability (Fig.7).
Table 5 shows how the legend is interpreted. For instance,
AHiH legend is referring to the area located in agro-climatic zone
A which was categorized as Highly suitable land for farming and
with High soil fertility. This area is distributed in lower portion of
the province with relatively higher temperature, 08% slope and
deeper plow layer, low sand content and higher available P. This
area could be suitable for paddy rice cultivation. BHiM on the
 Agricultural Information Research 17(2),2008

Fig. 6 Land suitable for farming practice map. Fig. 7 Crop suitability map

Table 4 Criteria of land suitable for farming practice Table 5 Showing the information contained in the crop suitability map

Land suitable for Agro-climatic Land suitable for

Slope Landform Soil fertility Legend
farming practice zones farming practice
Broad alluvial plain Highly suitable A Highly suitable High AHiH
Collu-alluvial terraces Highly suitable A Moderately suitable High AMoH
Misc. land types Unsuitable A Marginally suitable High AMrH
08% Plateau Highly suitable B Highly suitable Medium BHiM
Sedimentary hills Marginally suitable B Moderately suitable Medium BMoM
Volcanic footslopes Moderately suitable B Marginally suitable Medium BMrM
Volcanic hills Moderately suitable C Highly suitable Medium to high CHiMH
Broad alluvial plain Highly suitable C Moderately suitable Medium to high CMoMH
Collu-alluvial terraces Moderately suitable C Marginally suitable Medium to high CMrMH
Misc. land types Unsuitable
918% Mountains Moderately suitable
Sedimentary hills Marginally suitable Table 6 Classification of soil fertility factors for annual crop
Volcanic foot slopes Marginally suitable Class
Volcanic hills Moderately suitable Soil fertility factors
High Moderate Low
Collu-alluvial terraces Moderately suitable
pH (1:1 H2O) 5.57.5 5.05.5 <5.0 & >8
Misc. land types Unsuitable
O.M. (%) >3 13 <1
Mountains Marginally suitable
CEC (meq/100 g soil) >15 815 <8
1934% Plateau Moderately suitable
Available P (ppm) >10 610 <6
Sedimentary hills Marginally suitable
Volcanic foot slopes Marginally suitable Source: BSWM-ELREP, 1985
Volcanic hills Marginally suitable

erations in selecting crops to be planted. It has a greatest influence

other hand are area with agro-climatic condition, zone B (lower
temperature), Highly suitable land for farming and Medium soil
fertility, and CHiMH are those areas located in higher elevation
categorized as zone C, Highly suitable land for farming and hav-
ing Medium to High soil fertility which are suited for crops grown
in lower temperature.
In order to find out what particular crops are suited in the area,
their specific biological requirement for growth was identified
(Table 7) and matched with the information embodied in the map.
Results and Discussion
Soil texture and soil chemical properties are important consid-
in both agricultural and non-agricultural uses. This study has
made soil fertility and crop suitability maps as the main outputs.
Other maps generated such as soil textural, land available for
farming practice and agro-climatic maps were merely prerequi-
sites to complete the parameter requirements during the process.
Soil fertility
Volcanic ash derived-soils are among the most productive soils
in the world (Miller and Donahue, 1992 and Shoji et al., 1993).
The ability to support plant growth lies on various factors includ-
ing the soil physical and chemical composition. Though located
in the same place, soil has different inherent fertility or capacity
to supply the necessary nutrient for the crops (Dela Cruz and

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Crop Suitability and Soil Fertility Mapping using Geographic Information System (GIS)

Table 7 Crops and their common biological requirements for growth contained in each overlaid map.

Crops (Scientific names) Soil fertility Land suitable for farming practice Agro-climatic
Rice pH between 5.5 to 6 0 to 8% slope 20 to 30C temperature
(Oryza sativa) Heavier soil are preferred Broad alluvial plains and collu-alluvial Evapotranspiration is between 450 to
terraces 700 mm
Pineapple Soil pH of 4.5 to 6.5; 0 to 25 % slope Evapotranspiration varies between 700
(Ananas comosus) Sandy loam and well-drained soil Broad alluvial plains and collu-alluvial and 1000 mm/year B
terraces; Mean daily temperature of 22C to 26C
Sedimentary hills and volcanic
footslopes
Mango Soil pH of 6 to 7 0 to 1200 meter asl; Up to 45C temperature
(Mangifera indica) Broad alluvial plains and collu-alluvial
terraces;
Sedimentary hills and volcanic
footslopes
Tomato Soil pH of 5 to 7 9 to 34 % slope Optimum daily temp. are 18C to 25C
(Lycopersicon esculentum) Preferred well-drained soils, light loam Sedimentary hills and volcanic with night temp. between 1020C;
footslopes
Potato Soil pH of 5 to 6; High altitude Optimum daily temp. are 18C to 20C;
(Solanum tuberosum) Relatively sensitive to soil water deficits. 9 to 34 % slope Water requirements for 120150 days is
Sedimentary hills and volcanic 500700 mm depending n the climate;
footslopes
Corn Relatively high fertility soils 0 to 8% slope Temp. below 45C;
(Zea mays) Preferred well-aerated and drained soil Broad alluvial plains and collu-alluvial Tolerates hot and dry atmospheric
Grows well on most soils but less so on terraces condition so long as water supply is
heavily dense clay and very sandy soils available;
Requires 500800 mm of rainfall
Banana Optimum pH of 5 and 7; 0 to 25 % slope 20002500 mm/yr in rainfed production
(Musa spp.) High demand for nitrogen and potash; Broad alluvial plains and collu-alluvial A min. of 16C and max. of 38C;
Preferred fertile, deep and well-drained terraces; Preferred a humidity of 60% or more
loam soil with high water holding Sedimentary hills and volcanic
capacity and humus content footslopes
Alluvial plains to inland latosols of the
tropics;
Sugarcane Optimum soil pH is 6.5 0 to 8% slope Temperature between 2230C. For
(Saccarum offcinarum) Needs high nitrogen and potassium Broad alluvial plains and collu-alluvial ripening period 1020C are desirable.
terraces Water requirement is 15002500 mm
over the growing season
Cassava Preferred light sandy loam of medium Preferred altitude of below 1000 m Preferred warm and moist climate with
(Manihot esculenta Crantz) fertility or low fertility 0 to 8% slope Broad alluvial plains and temp. of 2529C;
Preferred sandy loam soil; good drainage collu-alluvial terraces Rainfall is 100150 cm/yr and well
distributed;
Coconut Preferred soil with enough K content; Usually planted in estuarine soils and Well-distributed rainfall in the range of
(Cocos nucifera) pH of between 58; alluvial river it can survive too in areas 12703810 mm is required for optimal
Freely drained soil; below 500 masl (BSWM-1985) yield
Volcanic ash soils 0 to 8% slope
Broad alluvial plains and collu-alluvial
terraces

Yoshida, 2004). Thus, it is important to be aware of soil condition
before a decision to devote certain piece of land into farming is
made.
The topography in the study area affects the soil texture, plow
layer and amount of particular soil nutrients as it is vulnerable to
constant digging and occurrence of surface run-off during the
heavy rain. Study revealed that the province is dominated by light
clay soils (Fig. 3). Though light clay soils, it can be observed that
sand ratio was higher particularly in R2 and R3 (Table 1). The
average sand ratio in R1 was the lowest as compared to R2 and
R3 while the average clay ratio was the lowest in R3 followed by
R1 and R2. Using the classification of soil fertility factors for
annual crop (Table 6) as guide in determining the level of soil fer-
tility, the soil pH, OM available P and CEC in R1 and R3 were
categorized as high, while pH and CEC in R2 were medium
whereas OM and available P were high. Sandy soil has low nutri-
ents holding capacity. Sand ratio in R3 was the highest. The aver-
age depth of plow layer was the deepest in R1 followed by R2 and
R3. Considering the soil chemical, physical properties and depth
of plow layer, soil fertility classes were categorized as high soil
fertility in R1, medium soil fertility in R2 and medium to high fer-
tility in R3 (Fig. 4).
The higher percentage of sand particles has influenced in the
degree of soil fertility. The medium to high soil fertility in R3

66

Table 8 List of recommended crops for every zone in crop suitability map
Crops AHiH Zone AMoH Zone AMrH Zone BHiM Zone
Rice
Pineapple
Mango
Banana
Sugarcane
Corn
Coconut
Cassava
Tomato
Potato
Note: =Unsuited to the zone =Suited to the zone
could be attributed to low temperature prevailing in the higher
altitude resulting to low decomposition rate of soil organic mat-
ters and undisturbed soil surface. Categorizing the soil fertility
map entails the soil texture, soil chemical information as well as
depth of plow layer. The soil fertility has long been discussed
from the aspect of soil capacity for plant absorption requirement
of nutrients, that is to say, soil chemical conditions. In this study,
newly determined soil textural classes, chemical properties and
plow layer were combined to generate new soil fertility map.
Though, the number of soil sample was few, extrapolating the
result to the rest of the area with similar elevation and having the
same soil series were done in order to cover the entire province.
This was adopted because it was observed on the old soil map that
the soil types were distributed based on elevation.
The created soil fertility map is very useful to select suitable
crops in the area as it has been combined with soil physical con-
ditions (soil texture).
Crop suitability
As part of rational cropping system, land suitability for agricul-
ture has long been assessed and recognized (FAO, 1976). This
has been implemented to optimize the use of piece of land for the
desired use (Sys et al., 1991). Though the criteria may change, the
climate, soil, topography, slope, soil fertility and water availabil-
ity are essential categories of environmental information needed
for determining crops suitability. Matching biological require-
ments of plants for growth to the characteristics of soil as well as
the environmental condition in the area has enabled to draw and
discover specific type of crops believed to be applicable in the
study area.
The study area is a mountainous province, agricultural environ-
mental conditions varied in a given range of elevation. The devel-
oped crop suitability map was a kind of map wherein
environmental factors, physical characteristics of the area and fer-
tility factors (agro-climatic, land suitable for farming practice and
soil fertility) were considered in the selection of specific plants.
Agricultural Information Research 17(2),2008
BMoM Zone BMrM Zone CHiMH Zone CMoMH Zone CMrMH Zone
The area in agro-climatic Zone A is basically located in the allu-
vial plain (low areas) while Zones B and C areas are located in the
middle and higher elevation. The low humidity, high temperature
and evaporation were likewise found in the area of Zone A. As
elevation increases, temperature had dropped in Zone B area
ranging from 2224C and 1821C for Zone C area. Such char-
acteristics made the areas (Zone B and Zone C) suited for crops
that strive in cool surroundings. The kind of crops suited to be
planted varies with respect to agricultural environmental condi-
tions. Each crop has different agricultural environmental condi-
tions and biological requirement for growth. Crops with the
corresponding preferred biological requirements were also enu-
merated in Table 7. For instance, the rices biological requirements
for agricultural environmental conditions were heavier soil, 08%
slope and 2030C temperature. The tomatos biological require-
ments for agricultural environmental conditions however were
well-drained soil, volcanic foot slopes and 1825C temperature.
Matching specific plants biological needs for growth had sug-
gested which specific crop species are suited in the given area
based on the climatic and soil characteristics in the province
(Table 7). List of suggested crops were enumerated in Table 8
including the corresponding zones where particular plant is rec-
ommended.
Research suggested that rice, sugarcane, corn, coconut and cas-
sava are well-fitted in the zones located in the lower area but
believed to be unsuited in the zones located in the higher eleva-
tion. Pineapple, mango and banana however were found out to be
appropriate in the lower elevation up to areas having 900 masl.
Moreover, tomato and potato are best in higher altitude where
humidity is relatively high, temperature is cool and evaporation is
low.
Conclusion
Creating a province wide soil fertility map was developed to
provide information regarding the current soil condition and crop
67
Crop Suitability and Soil Fertility Mapping using Geographic Information System (GIS)
cultivation since it was found out that agriculture was considered
as primary source of income by the residents. Maintaining soil in
good condition is not the only concern in growing crops to ensure
good harvest. This matter could be easily addressed by applying
necessary amount of fertilizer to enhance soil fertility. Therefore,
level of soil nutrients must be known. It plays a vital role in plant
growth and therefore an important aspect that the stakeholders
and landowners must be aware of.
Generating crop suitability map however was conceptualized
to correct conventional practices of planting crops wherever the
farmers/landowners preferred without taking into consideration
the plants preferred ecological niche. Favorable environmental
condition is a factor beyond our control but need to be considered
in growing crops. Worthy to note that this research has also dis-
covered other sites potentially available for agriculture and deter-
mined which specific plants are applicable in a certain part of the
province given the prevailing environmental condition and soil
fertility.
A thorough study in this regard is suggested however in order
to get more detailed information that could be beneficial to the
farmers and general public to include administrators, land plan-
ners and stakeholders, etc. Albeit GIS tools are being familiar in
any aspect of analysis using spatial and statistical data, the
approach implemented in analyzing various vectorized informa-
tion and combining them to develop soil fertility and crop suit-
ability maps of the province are believed to be new idea.
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Received September 3, 2007
Accepted January 7, 2008
Environmental information