GIS and Remote Sensing Based Land Suitability Analysis for Sesame Production and Land use Land Cover Change in West Gondar Zone

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the land suitability and Land use Land Cover Change for sesame production in West Gondar Zone. The study used quantitative research design. The study was based on both primary and secondary sources. Primary data was collected by using GPS, while secondary data such as satellite imageries and soil data was collected from earth explorer and from International Soil Reference Information Center. The data was analyzed using ArcGIS 10.5 and ERDAS Imagine 2015 for suitability analysis and for image preprocessing and supervised classification purposes. Moreover, descriptive statistics was used to corroborate the result. The overall results of the study indicated that, the expansion of farm land to other land uses amounted to 16,220 ha per year during the last 30 years’ time period. The study also concluded that farm lands substantially expanded to shrub lands followed by grass lands. The study also concluded that, the conversion of forest covers in to farm and shrub lands were also among the most important land use transitions occurred in the study area. In relation to the land suitability for sesame production was concerned, the study also concluded that 447,000ha, and 663,000 ha of land was found to be highly suitable and moderately suitable area for sesame crop cultivation. In addition to the above the result of the study also concluded 7644 ha of hectare was found moderately suitable for sesame cultivation. In contrary the study concluded that, 27% of west Gondar Zone area was found not suitable for sesame production. On the basis of the findings of the study, it should be noted that the combined use of organic and inorganic fertilizers, appropriate tillage management coupled with soil and water conservation measures should be taken into consideration to enhance the current land suitability of the study area and improve the yield of the selected crop.