Land Suitability Appraisal for Tomato Farming Using a GIS and AHP Methods in Ede Region, South Western Nigeria

Agricultural land management and precision farming are considered key factors in food security and poverty reduction worldwide because they improve crop productivity, and guarantees increase of agricultural production. Land suitability analysis is one of the most beneficial applications in planning and managing land resources. The main objective of this study was to assess suitable areas for Tomato cultivation in Ede, Southwestern Nigeria by integrating an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) methods with Geographic Information System (GIS). Geology, Soil, Slope, Climatic, and Landsat 8 images were considered for suitability assessments in the study. The data were processed, classified and weighted in IDRISI 17.0 and ArcGIS 10.3 Software. The result of the MCE–GIS analysis shows that two of the land types are suitable for tomato cultivation. The potential land suitability results showed that 18,870.7 ha and 208.28 ha of the area are suitable and highly suitable for Tomato crop production respectively. The two types of lands accounted for 57.71% of the total area of the study area. Loamy soil has the highest impact in determining location suitable for tomato cultivation in the study location. It accounted for over 50 percent of soil in the study area. The study concluded that tomato cultivation in the study area is highly possible and that farmers are to be encouraged to embark on commercial farming of the crop in the two local government areas.