Land Suitability Assessment for Potato Cultivation in an Italian Region: a GIS Based Analysis

The knowledge of soil characteristics and climate conditions is of primary importance for choosing the production techniques more suitable for improving crop yields. Through methods that include the use of georeferenced information (weather, soil, etc.) and GIS (Geographical Information Systems), the environmental characteristics can be properly analyzed, crop requirements compared and type and degree of land suitability identified in relation to product yields. In potato cultivation the performances and qualitative aspects are both closely linked to environmental factors. In particular, crop profitability is influenced by soil texture, pH, organic matter content and climatic factors such as water availability and temperatures. The chapter presents a methodology to evaluate the suitability of some areas of Emilia Romagna Region, characterized by high quality production or by high production potential. In order to demonstrate the validity of the methodology, a GIS analysis was conducted to evaluate the actual potato crop distribution compared with a suitability map derived from land evaluation. The results provide some guidelines for planning and management of potato cultivation in the Region.