Assessment of effective climatic elements and factors on grape crop cultivation using ARAS, AHP and WLC methods (Case study: Meshgin Shahr region)

Assessment of agricultural crop potential areas based on potential climatic and natural talents plays an effective role in land use design and planning. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the elements and factors affecting grape crop cultivation by multi-criteria decision making methods. Using data such as temperature (mean, minimum and maximum), rainfall, percentage of slope, elevation above sea level and soil depth data were used to evaluate and zonation of grape crops. In this research, hierarchical process (AHP), ARAS method and weighted linear combination method (WLC) were used to evaluate the effects of elements and climatic factors for cultivating grapes in Meshgin region. The results of the study showed that eastern and southern areas of Meshginshahr, Doostbeigloo and Moshiran, which are located in Gharehsoo River and downstream of other rivers, are suitable for growing grapes. The evaluation carried out by AHP method, land use, altitude, sunshine hours, rainfall and temperature among the studied criteria had the greatest effect on the cultivation of grapes in the region, respectively. According to the maps extracted from WLC method in GIS medium, about 34% of the area of Meshginshahr area is very suitable, 28% is suitable, 22% is slightly suitable and 16% is unsuitable for grape crop cultivation.