Land suitability assesment for jujube: Eskişehir case

The homeland of the jujube (Ziziphus jujuba) tree is China and it is known to have been cultivated for more than 4,000 years. There is also information about jujube in American and Iranian historical sources. There are more than 400 varieties of jujube in the world. Jujube can withstand temperatures as low as -29 degrees Celsius and thirst in winter. Within the scope of this study, land suitability assessment was carried out on jujube cultivation in Eskişehir. Due to the health and commercial importance of jujube fruit, determining areas with suitable conditions in order to increase the production share will contribute to our country. In this study, spatial analysis and analytical hierarchy process method were carried out using geographic information systems software. The criteria required for jujube cultivation were land use capability, land use capability subclass, soil depth, large soil groups, soil erosion severity, annual average temperature, annual precipitation average, elevation, slope, aspect, comparison matrices were created and weight calculations were made. The suitable value ranges of the criteria for jujube cultivation were determined and the pre-reclassification scores in accordance with the AHP method were given for reclassification. After the reclassification process, the appropriate lands were determined as a result of the weight matching analysis of the criteria whose weights were calculated. From the produced suitability map, settlement areas, insufficient drainage, high erosion, and areas belonging to restrictive factors that are not suitable for agriculture were removed. As a result, land suitability assessment was made in Eskişehir and suitable areas for jujube cultivation were determined.