Land Suitability Evaluation for Tea and Food Crops in Kabarole District, Western Uganda
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Date
2013-05-29
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Greener Journal of Agricultural Sciences
Abstract
The study was conducted in Busoro Sub County in Kabarole District to assess the
physical and economic suitability of the land for Tea, Maize and Bananas. Physical
suitability was evaluated using a soil map of the study area. Soil types with their
parameters of Cation Exchange Capacity, base saturation, pH, organic matter,
nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorous were studied. The climate of the area was
studied using annual monthly rainfall and temperature values for the area for more
than thirty years. Production costs, market prices and annual yields per hectare for
tea, maize and bananas were computed. Using Net Present Value approach, the
economic suitability of each crop was computed. The economic and physical
parameters were entered into a model built in Automated Land Evaluation System
(ALES) software using the decision trees. Overall suitability evaluation results were
produced for each of the respective crops. The results of the study indicated that
different soil types (management units) had varying suitability among the three
crops. Tea registered higher overall economic suitability followed by Bananas and
then Maize. However, Bananas presented a higher overall physical suitability on all
soil types followed by Tea and Maize. The study recommends conducting a mini
agro-ecological zonation in planning and decision for maximum utilization of the
land resources for a potential LUT is an important tool in ensuring improved
agricultural livelihoods and household income.
Description
Keywords
Land evaluation, automated land evaluation system, physical suitability, economic suitability
Citation
Nuwategeka, Expedito, Robert Ayine, and Denis Thaddeus Ofoyuru