Modeling the land suitability using GIS and AHP for cotton cultivation in Punjab,Pakistan

The main goal of this research was to establish a spatial model for identification of suitable land for cotton in punjab,pakistan through evaluation of multidisciplinary variables by applying geographic information system (gis) and analytical hierarchy process (ahp) approach. in this model,rivers were used as constraint and seven factors were temperature,soil physical and chemical properties,soil ph,aridity classes,agro-ecological zones,and river command area. on the basis of these parameters suitability maps were generated. by pair-wise comparison matrix (pwcm) of ahp,weights were extracted by means of principal eigen vector by saaty.s method,with accepted consistency ratio of 0.09. multi-criteria evaluation (mce) employing weighted linear combination aggregates all suitability maps to generate final suitability map. it was found that more potential sites exist along with existing cotton practiced area. the result provided important information for farmers to establish linkage between policy decisions and regulatory actions and to improve agricultural land management.