Agroclimatic zoning of citrus cultivation in Khuzestan province using AHP method

The aim of this study is classification of suitable climatic regions of Khuzestan province, southwest of Iran, for Citrus cultivation using a four level Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach using climatic and environmental information of the region during a 20 years period of (1981-2010).After determination reference options and their ranking, the weighing coefficient of criteria and sub-criteria were calculated using Expert Choice software based on pairwise comparison matrices method. Then, using AHP model, the corresponding values of layers were allocated and generated maps were combined in GIS environment. According to final weight of each climatic and environmental sub-criteria affecting citrus cultivation, the suitable regions maps were obtained. The results of this study revealed that AHP method is capable of classification by incorporating qualitative and quantitative criteria. The generated agro-climatic suitability map of citrus cultivation regions of province consists of four classes, i.e. poor, medium, good and excellent. The northern and eastern regions are the most favorable areas. The less suitable regions are located in southern, western and central parts of province.