Philippine Land Suitability Assessment and Mapping for Coffea arabica and Coffea liberica Production using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) Techniques

Kris Rowell  Garcia,; Beng  Umali,; Jonathan  Flores,; Bessielyn  Videña,; Christian  Bagasin,; Jhon Laurence  Herrera,; Noel  Sedigo,

Philippine Land Suitability Assessment and Mapping for Coffea arabica and Coffea liberica Production using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) Techniques

Discipline: geography, earth and environmental studies

Abstract:

Land suitability analysis provides information on the potential and constraints of an area, a prerequisite for optimum crop production. The study assessed the suitability of the total land area of the Philippines for growing coffee using the five (5) agronomic factors as criteria namely: elevation, precipitation, temperature, soil pH, and soil texture; and one (1) socio-economic factor, the road density. Geographic Information System (GIS) and Multicriteria Decision Making (MCDM) approach were used to generate suitability maps for C. arabica and C. liberica. All criteria used were standardized and given assigned weights using the Analytical Hierarchy Process needed for the creation of the suitability maps. The results revealed that the majority of the country’s land areas are suitable for growing C. arabica and C. liberica. Most of the areas were found to be either highly, moderately, or marginally suitable. The use of road density as a socio-economic criterion is found to be significant for sustainability and profitability. The generated suitability maps were further validated using the volume of production and field validation. The study gives a baseline information to improve coffee production as well as its management and practices. Moreover, the findings also open the awareness of a more sustainable coffee farming.