Agricultural Land Suitability Assessment Based on GIS at the County Scale in Yibin, China

Abstract

As agricultural land resources scarce, food security has emerged as a pressing global concern. Conducting a suitability assessment of agricultural land is crucial for agricultural resources and food security. To establish an evaluation index system, we incorporated land, water, climate, and society four dimensions of 16 indicators. And we incorporated Entropy Weight Method (EWM), an objective method, with integrated evaluation model to assess agricultural land suitability in Yibin. Based on actual agricultural production, areas of land of urban construction, rural settlement and mining and water are subtracted. The Findings found that agricultural land suitability in Yibin presented a significant spatial heterogeneity. Areas with suitability and relative suitability accounted for 57.61% of Yibin’s land areas, which suggest Yibin has an abundance of agricultural land resources. Regions moderately suitable predominantly lie in the western and southern areas, covering 32.22% of the land area. Generally suitable areas accounted for 10.03% of Yinbin’s land areas, spatial distribution of which is similar to moderately suitable regions. Moderately and generally areas are potential areas for agricultural production. And regions for unsuitable accounted for only 0.14% of land areas. Overall, results mentioned above indicate that Yibin's agricultural land resources are in good condition. Considered terrain and water sources, this study revealed that the spatial distribution of topography and annual precipitation in Yibin closely mirrored both suitable and relatively suitable regions.