Potential land use planning of Ceyhan plain soils

Ceyhan Plain, has very fertile soils in terms of agriculture, hosts to many field and horticultural plants due to the favorable climatic conditions. In the research, it was aimed to determine the suitability for field crops, vegetables and fruit plants in order to obtain the highest yield from Ceyhan Plain soils and to reach the maximum production target in the plain by choosing the right plant in the right place. By using the detailed soil map data of the plain, the suitability of the mapping units in the soil map for the agricultural land uses that can be produced in the ecological conditions of the Ceyhan Plain and other necessary uses were determined. As a result, suitability maps for field crops, horticultural crops and non-agricultural uses of 69.586 hectares of land have been prepared for the potential users. Moderately saline soils, sloping lands of 20-30%, poor and very poorly drained lands, stony and/or rock outcrops areas, shallow to very shallow soil depth, dense basalt debris and occasionally flooded soils are the most important limitations for the crop production of the study area. Among the most cultivated grains in the Ceyhan Plain, wheat production is take place in first place, while the plain soils are suitable for loquat, persimmon, pomegranate, citrus, drupes, barley, strawberry, corn, tomato-pepper-eggplant, sunflower, cotton, watermelon-melon, soybean, lettuce and cabbage-spinach.In the Ceyhan Plain, there are 64.503 ha highly suitable land for pomegranate, 59.603 ha for citrus production, 58.023 ha for loquat and persimmon. For the field crops similar results obtained, such as; highly suitable land for cotton 59.505 ha, for sunflower 59.032 ha and for corn 58584 ha. Only, 2.780 ha of land is suitable for non-agricultural uses, such as urbanization, recreational needs. Key Words: Ceyhan Plain, Land evaluation, İlsen, Potential land use planning