GIS-based Locating of Suitable Orchards for Organic Apple Production in Urmia

suitable location for organic apple production is the important factors involved in site selection including elevation, slope of land, access to water, land units, the average annual temperature and average rain fall and access to markets, each with more variables were separated and proportional to their importance in site selection were ranked and weighted. Then, with GIS, digital layers of each of these factors were prepared and integrated with the digital layer of apple orchards and the final map of suitable orchards for organic apple production was prepared. Results showed that in the studied area, from 26, 000 ha of apple orchards, about 25.5 and 707 ha were grouped as most suitable and suitable, respectively. The main features of the suitable area are desired topography (elevation more than 1,300 m) and slopes (8 -20%), type of land (with sediment and deep soil) and favorable average daily temperature (5-10 ° C) as well as access to the river and the market. However, much of apple orchards in Urmia (over 17,000 ha) were determined not suitable for organic apple production, because of the lower altitude less than 1300 meters, low quality water for irrigation, and higher average daily temperatures or poor access to the roads and markets. It can be recommended that the only suitable and most suitable orchards as determined in this study should be involved in programming for sustainable production of organic apple.