the assessment of suitable lands for rain-fed safflower (carthamus tinctorius l.) cultivation in kermanshah province using the geographic information system and analytical hierarchy process model

Recognizing potential areas based on agricultural potentials and determining the suitability of land for specific productivity allows for the planning of increased production and sustainable land use, and provides a suitable foundation for human activities and land development. using the geographical information system (gis) and the analytical hierarchy process (ahp), this study was conducted to identify areas susceptible to autumn safflower cultivation in kermanshah province. altitude, maximum, average, and minimum temperature, precipitation, slope, and slope direction were used as parameters. the ecological needs of safflower were extracted from scientific sources in order to determine the areas suitable for safflower cultivation based on the desired parameters. then, the measurements-related maps were prepared and classified. using hierarchical analysis, the weight of each variable was determined in the subsequent step. finally, the safflower zoning map was extracted from the gis environment by overlapping and combining the obtained maps. the rainfall gauge and then the maximum temperature had the highest coefficients based on the results of the hierarchical analysis procedure (0.295 and 0.219). 52%, 33%, 13%, and 2% of the total arable land in the kermanshah province are classified as highly suitable, suitable, semi-suitable, and unsuitable, respectively. based on the investigated climatic and topographical variables, 85% of the cultivated land in the kermanshah province is suitable for safflower cultivation. they are predominantly regions with moderate and tropical climates, demonstrating the high potential of kermanshah province for safflower cultivation as a suitable plant for crop rotation.