Evaluating the Ecological Capability of Agriculture in Estahban County

Land use planning based on its ecological capability has a significant role in environmental management and in preventing environmental degradation in the direction of sustainable development. Accordingly, the aim of the present study is to determine the ecological capability of agriculture and to select the most suitable places to allocate to this land use in Estahban county, Fars province. Descriptive-analytical method was used to measure the ecological capability of the study area. In this research, the multi-criteria decision making process has a very functional role to play by using the GIS. Due to the fact that part of the county of Estahban has protected areas and since there is no possibility of farming in these areas, the analysis and calculations of the present research have been carried out without considering the area of ​​the mentioned part. The results showed that 77 percent of the land area of ​​Estahban county is located in the ideal location for users, and only 23 percent of it remains in compliance with the land use and ecological capability of the county. According to the ecological capability of the study area, nearly 19% of the county's land is in a suitable and very suitable agricultural area. Also, the results showed that around 308 square kilometers of agricultural land use in Estahban county is contradictory with its ecological capability, but it is much less than 50 percent, and the prevailing area of ​​the county has favorable environmental conditions. Altogether, by policy-making, stopping the horizontal development of the city in the peri-urban agricultural lands, extending agricultural use in the southeastern direction of the county, creation of agricultural-related conversion industries, establishment of factories of fig tree products such as jam making, creation of producer organizations for fig producers and support and strengthen existing organizations, hold training programs for farmers on water management and storage, and preventing unbridled migrations of villagers to the periphery of cities, can help to improve agriculture in places with capability and to prevent further degradation of such lands.