A study of land suitability for developing corn in West Sumatra: an approach of GIS-based multi-criteria and legacy soil data

Abstract

In 2020 Indonesia imported 911,194 tons of corn. Therefore, each region needs to optimize their land-use. One of the potential areas for corn development is in West Sumatra. Therefore, this research was conducted with the objectives of a) assessing land suitability for corn and b) analyzing limiting factors and alternatives for land improvements. The geodatabase analysis used an approach of GIS-based multi-criteria and legacy soil data. Land suitability was analyzed using the Matching method with classes highly suitable (S1), moderately suitable (S2), marginally suitable (S3), and not suitable (N). The results showed that 33.9% of the land in West Sumatra was suitable for corn cultivation (1,210,592.9 ha). The suitability class consisted of an S1 of 169.5 ha, an S2 class of 143,761.2 ha, and an S3 class of 1,066,662.2 ha. As much as 66% of the land was not suitable for corn cultivation due to slope factors and rooting media. The S2 and S3 classes had main subclasses S2.tc.wa.eh widely distributed in Dharmasraya and Sijunjung, S3.wa.oa in Pesisir Selatan, and S3.wa in West Pasaman. The limiting factors of subclasses S2 and S3 of corn in West Sumatra were due to high rainfall, steep slopes, and poor drainage.