Suitability Evaluation for Agriculture with Regard to Ecological, Economic Power and Social Demand in Semnan Watershed

Optimal and principled use of natural resources and land use management based on ecological potential, has an important role in environmental management and prevention of environmental degradation in the direction of sustainable development. However, ignoring the social need, despite considering the economic and especially the ecological potential in land use planning, leads to inconsistency with the terrestrial reality, which is one of the basic principles of any land use planning.

In this study, using weighted linear combination method and hierarchical analysis and standardization of criteria using fuzzy sets, in addition to preparing an ecological and economic potential map for agricultural use, the social needs to change land from barren lands to agriculture were also mapped. By combining all of them, a map of the desirability of changing barren lands to agriculture in the Semnan watershed was obtained, which can also be used in modeling land use changes.

In this study, unemployment rate and population growth rate in the next ten years as the most important social factors of agricultural land use change, access to roads and electricity as the most important economic factors, and soil and water as the most important ecological resources of agricultural land use were determined.

Considering the social needs and economic potential along with ecological capability, is more in line with the ground reality and can be used in the optimal allocation of agricultural land.