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Land Evaluation for Maize Based on Fuzzy Set and Interpolation

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Abstract

The objective of this article is to apply fuzzy set and interpolation techniques for land suitability evaluation for maize in Northern Ghana. Land suitability indices were computed at point observations using the Semantic Import (SI) model, whereas spatial interpolation was carried out by block kriging. Interpolated land suitability shows a high correlation (R 2 = 0.87) with observed maize yield at the village level. This indicates that land suitability is closely related to maize yield in the study area. Membership functions were further used to assess the degree of limitation of land characteristics to maize. Sixty percent of the data has membership functions ranging from 0.23 for ECEC to 1.00 for drainage. ECEC, organic C, and clay are the major constraints to maize yield. The use of the fuzzy technique is helpful for land suitability evaluation, especially in applications in which subtle differences in soil quality are of a major interest. Furthermore, the use of kriging that exploits spatial variability of data is useful in producing continuous land suitability maps and in estimating uncertainties associated with predicted land suitability indices.

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Acknowledgments

The German Federal Ministry for Education and Research and the Ministry for Schools, Science and Research of Northrhine Westphalia provided funding for the GLOWA project. The corresponding author also thanks the German Academic Exchange Services (DAAD) for funding his research studies. We sincerely appreciate the comments of Ayo Ogunkunle, Alex McBratney, and Anita Veihe on an earlier draft of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Development Research, University of Bonn, Walter Flex Str. 3 53113 Bonn, Germany

    Ademola K. Braimoh & Paul L. G. Vlek

  2. Mathematical and Statistical Methods Group, University of Wageningen, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Alfred Stein

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  1. Ademola K. Braimoh
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  2. Paul L. G. Vlek
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  3. Alfred Stein
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Correspondence to Ademola K. Braimoh.

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Braimoh, A., Vlek, P. & Stein, A. Land Evaluation for Maize Based on Fuzzy Set and Interpolation. Environmental Management 33, 226–238 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-003-0171-6

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