Determination of suitable region for saffron cultivation based on water and soil characteristics using hierarchical analysis process method (Case Study: Torbate Hydariyeh City)

Saffron as the world's most valuable agricultural and medicinal product is among the plants that has a significant role in the economic and social conditions of arid and semi-arid areas of Southern and Central Khorasan. On the other aspect, the basic point in agricultural development is having detailed knowledge of the environmental characteristics in any place and applying specific management. Therefore, knowledge of the special dependency of soil and water characteristics of plantations is important to achieve higher production and better management. In this study, soil and water quality variables for saffron cultivation in Torbate Heidariyeh City located in Khorasan Razavi Province was evaluated. For this purpose, multi-criteria decision-making methods were used based on Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) by using Arc GIS software and the modeling and spatial analysis of information was conducted. Research process included data collection, data entry into GIS, criteria valuation, spatial modeling and integrating information. Finally, different regions were categorized into five groups based on their potential for saffron cultivation. The results showed that from the total 9570.2071 km2 area of the Torbate Hidariyeh city according to saffron cultivation zoning, 8.5% has a very good quality, 46.5% of the area has a good quality, 16.5% has relative conditions for cultivation, 17% has poor and 11.5% of the area has a quite unsuitable quality for the cultivation of saffron. Finally, the main limiting factor for saffron production was primarily poor quality of irrigation water and then soil properties.