Abstract

Land evaluation, using a scientific procedure, is essential to identify the potential and constraints of a given land for defined use in terms of its fitness and ensure its sustainable use. In view of this, a study was conducted to evaluate physical land suitability for major agricultural crops under rainfed conditions at the Wadla Delanta Massif in the north central highlands of Ethiopia. Four common field crops Triticum aestivum L., Hordeum vulgare L., Vicia faba L. and Lens culinaris L. and four land mapping units (LMU1Ac and 2Ac, LMU2Bc, LMU3Ccl, and LMU4Dcl), identified based on soil types, were considered for this study. Climate, soil and landscape data were also collected. The maximum limitation method was used to decide the degree of suitability of the land. The results showed that among the total area (24025 ha) of the land evaluated, about 65.13, 23.62, and 11.25% of the land is moderately, marginally and not suitable, respectively for all the selected crops. The overall land suitability evaluation showed that LMU1Ac and 2Ac are moderately suitable (S2c,f,w) for all tested field crops, and LMU2Bc is moderately suitable (S2c,f) for barley and marginally suitable (S3c,f,w) for wheat, faba bean and lentil. Land mapping 3Ccl is moderately suitable (S2c,r,s) for barley and marginally suitable (S3c,f,r,t) for wheat and faba bean, not suitable for lentil and LMU4Dcl is marginally suitable (S3c,r,s.t) for barley and not suitable for others. As a whole, LMU 1 and 2 are suitable for all considered crops with integrated land and soil fertility management, and LMU 3 and 4 are not suitable for crop production and, hence, it is better to shift to other land use types.

Key words: Field crops, land mapping unit, physical land suitability, soil fertility management.