land suitability of Lorestan province lands for the second cultivation of forage millet using Geographic Information System (GIS), Network Analysis Process (ANP) and fuzzy logic

This study was conducted aimed to identify the potential of lands in Lorestan Province for the second cultivation of forage millet using Geographic Information System(GIS), Network Analysis Process(ANP) and fuzzy logic.In order to identify the potential of lands, first the raster layer of environmental factors affecting forage millet cultivation including the minimum, maximum and mean temperature, elevation, slope, pH, texture, organic matter, total nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus available in GIS was prepared. Then, using fuzzy functions, the map of each factor was standardized. The weight of each factor was determined by ANP. By combining the weighted layers, the final layers were produced and zoned into four highly suitable, suitable, marginally suitable and unsuitable classes based on fuzzy logic.The results showed that fuzzy value of agricultural lands for forage millet was between 0.35 and 0.88. The highest study area level belonged to the suitable class(60.42%) and the lowest study area level belonged to the highly suitable class(16.35%). Investigation of climatic suitability, topography and soil fertility maps showed that these factors caused severe limitations in 38.27, 38.15 and 7.44% of lands, respectively. Evaluation of climatic maps, topographic and soil factors showed that except for soil pH, all other factors in a part of the study area caused limitations for forage millet cultivation.Investigation of the land suitability final map showed that about 77% of the study area are highly suitable and suitable and cold regions, especially the east. Northeast of the province, are marginally suitable for forage millet double cropping.