Comparison of AHP and TOPSIS Methods in Zoning Lands Suitable For Rainfed Wheat Cultivation in the Balekhlo-Chai Basin of Ardabil

Azari Sanjebad, Roghaye; Salahi, Bromand

Comparison of AHP and TOPSIS Methods in Zoning Lands Suitable For Rainfed Wheat Cultivation in the Balekhlo-Chai Basin of Ardabil

Document Type : Article extracted from dissertations

Authors

Roghaye Azari Sanjebad ¹ ^¶

Bromand Salahi ²

¹ MSc Student of Climatology, Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran.

² Department of Physical Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran

Abstract

Background and Objective: Wheat, as one of the strategic agricultural products and staple grains in the global food basket, plays a key role in ensuring food security and livelihoods of human societies. According to the report of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), wheat is the third most important cereal crop in terms of production in the world after corn and rice, which plays a fundamental role in providing calories and protein needed by humans. Considering the strategic importance of wheat and the increasing need to increase its production, locating and optimally allocating suitable lands for cultivating this crop is considered one of the main priorities in the agricultural sector. The aim of this study is to compare the AHP and TOPSIS methods in order to zone lands suitable for rainfed wheat cultivation in the Balekhlo-Chai watershed of Ardabil.
Methodology: In this study, precipitation, temperature, altitude, slope and soil depth data of the Balekhlo-Chai watershed of Ardabil were used. Then, by processing the data in a GIS environment, a map of information layers was prepared for each of the criteria. The AHP method was used to determine the weight of the criteria and the TOPSIS model was used to prioritize the options. Then, by overlapping and combining the studied criteria, the final map of areas susceptible to rainfed wheat cultivation was determined.
Findings and Results: The results of data analysis using the AHP method showed that about 37 percent of the land in the Balekhlo-Chai watershed is very suitable for rainfed wheat cultivation, 22 percent suitable, 24 percent slightly suitable, and 17 percent unsuitable. Also, based on the TOPSIS method, about 37 percent of the area of the Balekhlo-Chai watershed is suitable, 32 percent slightly suitable, and 31 percent unsuitable for rainfed wheat cultivation. The results of the AHP method indicate that the slope criterion with a weight of 0.220, the height with a weight of 0.144, the annual precipitation with a weight of 0.122, and the precipitation during the ripening and grain-setting stages with a weight of 0.106 are the most important criteria in the stages of wheat cultivation in the Balekhlo-Chai watershed. Also, the results of the TOPSIS model prioritization showed that Nir station is the closest option to the positive ideal, followed by Sarein and Ardabil, respectively.

Keywords

Agroclimate

AHP

Balekhlo-Chai

Rainfed Wheat

TOPSIS

Zoning

Subjects

Physical geogeaphy

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