Assessment of land resources potentials for orientation of agriculture land use in Ham Thuan Bac district, Binh Thuan province
ISSN 2588-1299
VJAS 2020; 3(4): 817-830
Vietnam Journal
of Agricultural
Sciences
Assessment of Land Resources Potentials
for Orientation of Agriculture Land Use in
Ham Thuan Bac district, Binh Thuan
province
Nguyen Huu Thanh1, Hoang Le Huong2, Ngo Thanh Son1,
Luyen Huu Cu1, Nguyen Duc Hung1, Nguyen Tho Hoang1 &
Nguyen Van Thao1
1Faulty of Land Management, Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Gia Lam, Hanoi
131000, Vietnam
2Consulting Center of Technological Sciences for Natural Resources and Environment,
Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Gia Lam, Hanoi 131000, Vietnam
Abstract
Land resources potential assessment is a valuable method for
orienting land use planning in the world as well as in Vietnam. This
study aimed to (1) assess land suitability and (2) orient the effective
use of agricultural land in the study area. Results indicated that Ham
Thuan Bac had 107 land mapping units (LMUs) with 11 main land-
use types (LUTs) such as rice, cassava, vegetables, dragon fruit, and
other trees. Agricultural land with high (S1) and moderate suitability
(S2) for most LUTs was small; however, marginal (S3) and not
suitability (N) lands were quite large. Results of land suitability
evaluation on current land use showed that land area of annual crops
was mainly found at the S3 suitability level, specifically for the rice
area, 67.75% was marginally suitable and 23.29% of the area was
unsuitable; In terms of perennial trees, except for dragon fruits which
were mainly cultivated at the S2 suitability level (78.28%), the others
such as cashew and other fruit trees were S3 and N levels. Based on
land suitability classification, for mainstay LUTs, we proposed to
keep 8550.0ha with S1, S2, and a part of S3 area to be irrigated for
cultivating rice; 9071.7ha of dragon fruit land including 694.67ha of
S1 and 8377.03ha of S2 land; only cultivate annual crops, fruit trees
and grazing grass on the land with suitable levels from S1 to S3 of
the current status; and the remaining areas of S3 and N levels for rice
and areas of S2, S3, or N levels for dragon fruit would be converted
to lands for annual crops, fruit trees, or grass for livestock.
Keywords
Agricultural land use, land resources potentials, land suitability, Ham
Thuan Bac district
Received: March 11, 2020
Accepted: December 18, 2020
Introduction
Correspondence to
nguyenhuuthanh@vnua.edu.vn;
Assessment of land resource potentials is a fundamental step in
817
Assessment of land resources potentials for orientation of agriculture land use in Ham Thuan Bac district, Binh Thuan
the process of land use planning (LUP) when
land resources are limited (Bandyopadhyay et
al., 2009). The rapid population growth, as well
as human activities, has created pressure on
agricultural land. Intensified farming activities
without proper land management practices lead
to the degradation of land (Abdelrahman et al.,
2016). Land evaluation approach allows for
identifying fundamental limiting factors for
agricultural production, provides information in
terms of constraints and opportunities for the
utilization of land, and then guides decisions
based on the optimal prerequisite for land use
planning and development (Motuma et al., 2016;
Truong et al., 2014; Pham Quang Vinh & Pham
Thi Thanh Huong, 2012). Thus, land evaluation
is implemented before recognizing the need for
some changes in land use such as agricultural
development or forestry plantation schemes.
Ham Thuan Bac, a mountainous district of
Binh Thuan province, has an agricultural land
area of approximately 124 thousand hectares.
Land resources are playing an important role in
the economic development of the district.
However, a serious constraint in this district is
the lack of irrigation water during the dry season.
Drought is one of the major factors limiting crop
production in the area. Therefore, to maximize
the effectiveness of the land resources, it is
necessary to assess land suitability for
agricultural production in Ham Thuan Bac
district (Ngo Thanh Son et al., 2018; Hoang Le
Huong et al., 2018). In drought-affected
conditions, irrigation restricted areas are not
suitable for crops that require water such as rice.
Hence, it is an important step for the orientation
of agricultural land use planning in the future.
The objectives of the study were: (1) to
assess land suitability; and (2) to orient an
effective use of agricultural land in Ham Thuan
Bac district. The results of the study could help
to estimate the potential conversion of
agricultural land and to recommend an effective
agricultural land use system.
Land suitability assessment plays an
important role in agricultural development and
future planning (Belal et al., 2014). This has been
implemented to help decision-makers and
agriculture development planners determine the
optimal use of the land. Assessing land suitability
for various crops is necessary to choose the right
crop and variety for the area based on matching
the suitability of the area with the crop. Various
methods of land evaluation have been developed
throughout the years (FAO, 1976; Sys, 1985).
The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO,
1976) recommended an approach for land
suitability evaluation for crops in terms of
suitability ratings ranging from highly suitable to
not suitable based on climatic and terrain data
and soil properties. Sys (1985) proposed a range
of capability indexes to denote soil limitations
Study Area
Ham Thuan Bac district is located in Binh
Thuan province, Southern Central Coast of
Vietnam (Figure 1). The natural area is
1347.21km2 (Figure 1) with a population of
173,253 people (2017). In this area, the
topography is quite diversified including semi-
mountainous terrain, alluvial plain, and coastal
sand. The climate, characterized by the tropical
monsoon region, is divided into two seasons,
namely the rainy season from May to October
and the dry season from November to April. The
average temperature is approximately 26oC to
28oC and the annual total precipitation varies
from 1070mm (delta areas) to 1995mm (high
mountains). However, precipitation is highly
variable and unevenly distributed. Due to
reduced rainfall in the dry season (11% of the
total annual rainfall), the dry season often causes
serious water shortages for food production and
people's daily needs. According to reports from
the Department of Agriculture and Rural
for crop production.
A
land suitability
assessment could be viewed from three different
perspectives: (i) productivity; (ii) workability;
and (iii) sustained use of the land (Baja et al.,
2001). With advances in information and
communication technology, land evaluation
through map analysis techniques based on the
theoretical framework from FAO has been
completed using a geographical information
system (GIS) to analyze land capability to sustain
a defined land use.
Vietnam Journal of Agricultural Sciences
818
Nguyen Huu Thanh et al. (2020)
Development at Ham Thuan Bac district (2017),
agricultural activities in many areas still depend
on rain.
classes or land unit indices for nominated land
use. The first is produced from an approach
called a categorical system and the second from
a continuous method of land suitability
evaluation.
Methodology
There are at least two important groups of
land attributes for land suitability analysis:
inherent qualities of soils and external
characteristics. In this study, soil attributes,
topographic elements, and management were
used to represent all groups.
The assessment of land quality for a specific
type of land use is based on land use
requirements and constraints. Such requirements
and constraints are then used as the basis for
establishing what is termed ‘evaluation criteria’
(Figure 2).
Land-use factors are land use characteristics
in the study area such as land-use type or land
cover, thereby helping to define the land
attributes requirements appropriately. This study
focuses on agricultural land uses (annual and
perennial crops), identified through data
collection and field surveys.
Regarding these ‘evaluation criteria’, a set of
algorithms is then employed to match the
existing quality of land and the requirements of
that particular type of land use.
The matching procedure (FAO, 1976 and
after) then establishes a ranking of the potentials
of land for a given purpose. The final result of the
land evaluation is a map that portrays the
divisions of the area of interest into suitability
The analytical procedure developed
consisted of the following steps (Figure 3):
Figure 1. Study site - Ham Thuan Bac district, Binh Thuan Province
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Assessment of land resources potentials for orientation of agriculture land use in Ham Thuan Bac district, Binh Thuan
Figure 1. Components of land suitability assessment
Source: Baja et al. (2001)
Figure 2. Methodological framework
that of topography was based on the DEM which
had continuous values.
Step 1. Determination of individual ratings
of land characteristics
Each of the land attributes within variables
Inherent qualities of soils
in each group (i.e., soils, topography, and
Soil types in Ham Thuan Bac included 8
management) was first independently examined
groups with 17 soil types from G01 to G17
and rated from the collected data. The rating of
corresponding to the following specific soil types
(National Institute of Agricultural Planning and
Projection, 2003) (Table 1).
soil attributes was done based on the available
soil map which had ‘crisp’ boundaries, irrigation
areas identified from water resources data, while
Vietnam Journal of Agricultural Sciences
820
Nguyen Huu Thanh et al. (2020)
Table 1. Soil types in Ham Thuan Bac district
Sym.
G01
G02
G03
G04
G05
G06
G07
G08
G09
G10
G11
G12
G13
G14
G15
G16
G17
FAO soil classification
Luvic Arenosols
Gleyic Arenosols
Haplic Solonchaks
Eutric Fluvisols
Cambic Fluvisols
Humic Fluvisols
Acrisols
Vietnam soil classification
Sand dune soil
Area (ha)
12,237.36
867.97
ARl
ARg
SCh
FLe
FLb
FLu
AC
Cc
Cg
Mn
P
Glay Sandy
high saline soils
53.38
Alluvial soils without deposited
Alluvial soil with the variegated horizon
Stream alluvial soil
7,591.98
5,810.88
3,872.60
23,893.09
175.83
Pf
Py
X
Gray soils
ACg
FRx
NTr
FRp
FRx
FRx
NTh
Fru
Gleyic Acrisols
Xanthic Ferralsols
Rhodic Nitisols
Plinthic Ferralsols
Xanthic Ferralsols
Xanthic Ferralsols
Haplic Nitisols
Xg
Fa
Fk
FL
Fp
Fs
Ft
Glay gray soils
Yellow-red soils on acid magma
Red-brown soil on basalt
30,950.05
13,717.42
555.43
Yellow-red soil changes due to rice cultivation
Yellow-brown soil on ancient alluvial and sandstone
Yellow red soil on clay rock
10,876.45
8,626.00
2,205.56
2,226.21
4,680.59
1,724.23
4,386.19
Purple brown soil on basalt
Humic Ferralsols
Eutric Fluvisols
Lithic Leptosols
Water
Ha
D
Red yellow humus on acid magma
Valley soil formed from accretion products
Eroded soil is exposed to gravel
Waterbody
FLe
LPq
E
W
10,468.92ha; 4,032.87ha; and 11,667.48ha,
respectively.
Soil thickness varied from 0 to 30cm
(14,812.18ha), 30÷50cm (55.09ha), 50÷70cm
(17,249.08ha), 70÷100cm (49,668.55ha), and the
rest was greater than 100cm (4164.80ha).
The irrigation area was determined based on
the irrigation map of Binh Thuan province in
combination with the collected primary data.
There were 88,676.01ha (65.95% of agricultural
and forest land) which depended on rain (or
irrigation regime from rainwater), about
23,998.99ha (17.85%) that was actively
irrigated, and the remaining 12,595.81ha
(9.37%) that was a semi-active irrigation regime.
Soil texture in Ham Thuan Bac district was
mainly light texture (sand, loamy sand, and
sandy loam) occupying 82,924.30ha (61.68%).
Heavy soil texture (clay loam, silty clay, and
clay) occupied 34,342.36ha (25.54%). The area
of medium soil texture (sandy clay loam, loam,
silty loam, silty, silty clay loam, and sandy clay)
was approximately 6,383.36 ha (4.75%).
Step 2. Group ratings of land
characteristics
External characteristics
Land attributes within each group were then
combined using a ‘combination’ function. The
result was land capability or land mapping units
indicating areas with qualities that differed
sufficiently from other land units to affect their
suitability for different land uses (FAO). Land
Mapping Units (LMUs) of the Ham Thuan Bac
district were built in the area of agricultural land
and unused land by overlaying thematic maps
including soil types, slope, thickness, soil
texture, and irrigation regime (Figure 4). These
The slope was divided into 6 levels with
approximately 50% of the natural land of Ham
Thuan Bac having a very gentle slope ranging
from 0 to 3o and 3 to 8o accounting for
54,043.51ha (40.20%) and 13,459.75ha
(10.01%), respectively. The semi-mountainous
area of the district has steep slope (>25o)
accounting for 31,598.28ha (23.50%). Gentle
slope (8÷15o), moderate slope (15÷20o), and
moderately steep slope (20÷25o) occupied
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Assessment of land resources potentials for orientation of agriculture land use in Ham Thuan Bac district, Binh Thuan
were the factors that had the greatest influence on
farming of the study area, and in particular, there
were regional differences in the study area, thus
it determined the difference in the suitability of
land use.
LMU = “Soil type” & “Slope” & “thickness”
& “texture” & “irrigation”
= Gi & SLj & Dk & Tl & Im
Where, Gi - type “i” of soil, i = 01-17;
SLj -level “j” of slope, j = 01-06;
(a)
(d)
(b)
(e)
(c)
(f)
Figure 3. Thematic maps: (a) Soil types, (b) Thickness, (c) Soil texture, (d) Slope, (e) Irrigation regime, and (f) Land mapping units
of the Ham Thuan Bac district
Vietnam Journal of Agricultural Sciences
822
Nguyen Huu Thanh et al. (2020)
Dk - level “k” of thickness, k = 01-05 & E;
Tl - level “l” of texture, l = 01-03 & E;
physiological requirements of a specific crop(s)
and the existing biophysical land conditions.
Im - level “m” of irrigation, m = 01-03.
The first stage in matching was to compare
the requirements of each land-use type with the
land qualities of each land unit. The simplest
procedure was to check the measured values of
each land quality or characteristic against the
class limits, and then allocate each land unit to its
land suitability class according to the most severe
limitation.
Step 3: Calculation of overall land
suitability indices
Land-use requirements are described by the
land qualities needed for sustainable production;
land quality is a complex rating of land that has a
direct effect on its use (evaluation criteria).
At this stage, based on the cell-by-cell
operation in the GIS database, all groups of land
variables and land requirements were utilized to
produce the overall indices of land suitability for
cropping. The present study used the four-level
land suitability classification commonly used by
FAO (1976, 1983, 1985, and 2007) including:
For cases in which at least one limitation was
enough to render the land unsuitable for use, the
method of taking the most severe limitation was
valid. For example, for maize cultivation, it was
of no use having level land and sufficient rainfall
if the soils were highly saline. For less severe
values of limitations, alternative methods of
combining ratings for individual qualities could
be used.
S1 - Highly suitable, Land having no
significant limitations to the sustained
application of a given use or only minor
limitations that will not significantly reduce
productivity or benefits and will not raise inputs
above an acceptable level;
Step 5: Final matching
The interim suitability classifications
produced in the preceding step might be re-
evaluated taking into consideration a range of
additional factors, e.g., potential land
improvements, environmental impacts, and
economic and social analysis. This is a key step
to help managers/planners make the most
appropriate decision.
S2 - Moderately suitable, Land having
limitations which in the aggregate are moderately
severe for sustained application of a given use;
the limitations will reduce productivity or
benefits and increase required inputs to the extent
that the overall advantage to be gained from the
use, although still attractive, will be appreciably
inferior to that expected on Class S1 land;
Results and Discussion
S3 - Marginally suitable, Land having
limitations which in the aggregate are severe for
sustained application of a given user and will so
reduce productivity or benefits, or increase
required inputs, that this expenditure will be only
marginally justified; and
Land mapping unit
Land mapping units were identified as one of
the key bases for diagnosing the problem with
land suitability. There were 107 LMUs in Ham
Thuan Bac District in which: 6 LMUs belonged
to Arenosols* (AR) group or sandy soils** (C)
group (10.15% of total agricultural and unused
land); 2 LMUs belonged to Solonchaks (SC) -
saline soils (M) (0.02%); 18 LMUs belonged to
Fluvisols (FL) - alluvial soils (P) (12.37%); 17
LMUs belonged to Acrisols (AC) - gray soils (X)
(18.51%); 53 LMUs belonged to Ferralsols (FA)
- yellow-red soils (F) (52.24%); 1 LMU belonged
to Ferralsols (FA) - reddish-yellow humus soils
in the mountains (H) (3.74%); 2 LMUs belonged
to Fluvisols (FL) - lowland soils (D) (1.68%);
N - Not suitable, Land which has qualities
that appear to preclude sustained use of the kind
under consideration.
Step 4: Interim matching of land-use
requirements with actual land qualities
Interim matching of land-use requirements
with actual land qualities: matching (i.e.,
suitability assessment) for each land-mapping
unit could be considered only for the
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Assessment of land resources potentials for orientation of agriculture land use in Ham Thuan Bac district, Binh Thuan
and 8 LMUs belonged to Leptosols (LP) - eroded
soils (E) (1.29%) (Note: * FAO’s soil
classification; ** Vietnam’s soil classification).
Land suitability classification
Based on the land characteristics and land
use requirements of the LUTs of Ham Thuan Bac
district, the land suitability classification was
determined for 11 land-use types for 61,126.09ha
of agricultural production land in Ham Thuan
Bac district (Table 3).
Land use requirement
Based on the current land use map
(Department of Natural Resources and
Environment of Ham Thuan Bac district, 2017)
and the results of the survey on crop distributions
in the district, there were 11 LUTs identified for
agricultural purpose in Ham Thuan Bac district
(Table 4 and Figure 5).
Table 3 demonstrates the maximum suitable
total area (S1/S2/S3) for each type of land use
that could be obtained under the current
conditions of the study area. The results of land
suitability classification for each LUT separately
indicated that for LUTs including rice, cashew,
rubber, coffee, and other fruit trees (1, 8, 9, 10,
and 11), if grown on the entire existing area,
more than 50% of the area would be unsuitable.
The remaining LUTs would be unsuitable lands,
if cultivated in the entire existing area, which
would vary from 6,579.72ha to 15,377.54ha,
(10.76% to 25.16%) of the agricultural land. The
suitability assessment for LUTs in the Ham
Thuan Bac district showed that there was a small
area that was highly suitable (S1) for all crops. In
terms of moderate suitability level, most of LUTs
had a certain area of compliance with S2
suitability level, the largest areas were
cultivating dragon fruit (46.24%) and grass
(54.87%). Under the marginal suitability level, if
all LUTs were cultivated on the entire area, had
a quite large part of the area only reaching this
level, ranging from 19,265.92ha (32.52%) to
44,740.94ha (73.19%). The main limiting factors
for all LUTs were inadequate rainfall and
irrigation.
As can be seen in Table 4, the fruit tree area
occupied the largest area (31,348.82ha), of which
dragon fruit accounted for 61.73% of orchard
land (or 32% of total agricultural land -
19,352.71ha), whereas other fruit trees including
custard-apple, avocado, jackfruit, banana,
mangosteen, and mango occupied 11,996.11ha
(38.27%). The annual crop was predominantly
paddy rice (12,588.97ha); however, rice
cultivation was dependent on rain and irrigation
conditions. Thus, paddy rice could be
transplanted from 2 to 3 seasons a year. Other
annual crops such as peanuts, beans
(5,696.45ha), cassava and sweet potato
(3,070.56ha), and maize (2,372.07ha) were
widely cultivated in Ham Thuan Bac. Rice was
mainly cultivated in drought-prone areas,
therefore, in the winter-spring season, rice and
other crops were often strongly affected by
drought due to water shortage. In contrast to
other LUTs, grass for livestock was not allocated
in the district’s land use planning. Local people
often grew grass in the land of annual crops or
gardens, so the land area of this LUT was
negligible (3.7ha).
Applying land suitability classification for
the current land use of agriculture in Ham Thuan
Bac (Table 4, Figure 5, and Figure 6) indicated
that land area of LUTs for annual crops was
mainly found at the S3 suitability level, the
percentage of these LUTs ranged from 67.75 to
100.00% of the current land area where, for the
current cultivated rice area, 23.29% of the area
was unsuitable, and 67.75% was marginally
suitable; In terms of perennial trees, except for
dragon fruits which were mainly cultivated
on the land at the S2 suitability level (78.28%),
the other perennial trees such as cashew, rubber,
coffee, and other fruit trees were cultivated on
In this paper, the suitability criteria (land
characteristics) for land use types were divided
into four levels from highly suitable to not
suitable (Table 2).
Limiting values are the values of a land
quality or land characteristic that determine the
class limits of land suitability for a certain use. In
orientation and land-use planning, the first and
most important decision is to determine whether
or not the land is suitable or unsuitable for
production.
Vietnam Journal of Agricultural Sciences
824
Nguyen Huu Thanh et al. (2020)
Table 2. Land use requirements of LUTs in Ham Thuan Bac district
LUTs
6
No.
Land properties
Code
1
2
3
4
5
7
8
9
10
11
Soil types (FAO/Vietnam)
ARl / Cc
1
2
G01
G02
G03
G04
G05
G06
G07
G08
G09
G10
G11
G12
G13
G14
G15
G16
G17
N
3
N
N
N
1
2
1
2
N
3
1
2
3
3
1
3
2
N
N
N
N
2
N
N
N
1
3
N
N
1
2
2
1
3
1
1
2
1
2
1
2
1
N
2
2
N
1
3
1
3
N
3
1
3
2
3
1
2
3
N
3
N
N
1
1
1
1
3
1
2
N
1
2
2
N
2
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
2
N
N
N
N
N
N
3
N
N
N
N
N
N
3
N
N
N
1
ARg / Cg
SCh / Mn
FLe / P
3
N
1
4
5
FLb / Pf
2
3
2
1
6
Flu / Py
1
2
2
1
7
AC / Xa
3
3
3
N
2
8
ACg / Xg
FRx / Fa
NTr / Fk
2
N
2
N
3
3
N
3
N
3
9
N
N
3
2
3
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
1
1
1
1
1
1
FRp / Fl
N
2
N
3
N
1
N
2
3
N
2
FRx / Fp
FRx / Fs
NTh / Ft
N
N
N
N
3
3
1
2
3
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
Fru / Ha
3
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
3
N
N
N
FLe / D
N
N
N
N
LPq / E
N
Slope
I
< 3⁰
SL1
SL2
SL3
SL4
SL5
SL6
1
N
N
N
N
N
1
1
2
3
3
N
2
1
2
3
3
N
1
2
1
1
1
2
1
2
1
1
2
2
3
N
1
1
2
2
3
N
1
2
1
1
2
2
3
N
II
3 - 8⁰
III
IV
V
8 - 15⁰
3
2
3
3
3
15 - 20⁰
N
N
N
3
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
20 - 25⁰
N
N
VI
> 25⁰
Soil thickness
> 100cm
100 - 70cm
70 - 50cm
50 - 30cm
< 30cm
1
2
3
4
5
D1
D2
D3
D4
D5
E
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
3
1
3
1
3
1
3
2
2
2
3
2
2
3
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
3
3
3
N
N
N
3
3
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
Eroded soil
Soil texture
Eroded soil
Light texture
Medium texture
Heavy texture
Irrigation
Rainfed
E
N
2
1
3
N
2
1
3
N
1
2
3
N
1
2
3
N
2
1
2
N
1
2
3
N
2
1
2
N
2
1
2
N
2
1
2
N
3
2
1
N
2
1
2
1
2
3
T1
T2
T3
1
2
3
I1
I2
I3
3
2
1
3
2
1
3
2
1
3
2
1
3
2
1
3
2
1
3
2
1
3
2
1
3
2
1
3
2
1
3
2
1
Semi-active
Active
Note: LUTs: 1 - Rice, 2 - Maize, 3 - Cassava & sweet potato, 4 - Sugar cane, 5 - Grass for livestock, 6 - Other cash crops, 7 -
Dragon fruit, 8 - Cashew, 9 - Rubber, 10 - Coffee, 11 - Other fruit trees
Land suitability levels: 1 - S1 (High suitability), 2 - S2 (Moderate suitability), 3 - S3 (Marginal suitability), and N (Not suitability).
Source: MARD (2008) and consultations with experts.
825
Assessment of land resources potentials for orientation of agriculture land use in Ham Thuan Bac district, Binh Thuan
the land with S3 and N levels in which the
unsuitable land area was 65.13%, 44.47%,
85.61%, and 75.42%, respectively (in the total
area of these LUTs).
much different from LUTs under the land use
plan in 2017 (Table 5).
Currently, the area of rice cultivated was
from 8,515 to 9,232ha depending on the season,
whereas the cultivated rice area under the land-
use plan in the district was 12,588.97ha, land-use
efficiency was about 73%. The same was
observed in all LUTs in the district. The reason
for its difference is that Not suitability (N) or
Marginal suitability (S3) occupied a majority of
The orientation of agricultural land use
According to survey results and statistics
(Department of Agriculture and Rural
Development of Ham Thuan Bac district, 2017;
2018), the actual cultivated areas of LUTs were
Table 3. LUTs and land suitability potential of agricultural land in Ham Thuan Bac
Suitability levels (ha)
Total area
(ha)
No.
LUTs
Notation
S1
S2
S3
N
1
2
Rice
LUC
CHN
1487.49
1487.49
1075.24
14143.29
26757.20
34165.17
31806.17
11330.15
61,126.09
61,126.09
Maize
Cassava and sweet
potato
3
CHN
-
9399.02
39872.98
11854.09
61,126.09
4
5
Sugar cane
Grass for livestock
Other cash crops
Dragon fruit
Cashew
CHN
CHN
CHN
CLN
CLN
CLN
CLN
CLN
8.58
2,419.33
33540.54
9385.49
28266.76
6299.06
2557.13
-
43320.63
20752.83
44740.94
22200.08
19265.92
22849.49
26146.86
6621.59
15377.54
6679.91
6579.72
9079.72
35561.12
35719.47
34979.23
38600.02
61,126.09
61,126.09
61,126.09
61,126.09
61,126.09
61,126.09
61,126.09
61,126.09
152.81
6
419.93
7
1579.53
8
-
9
Rubber
-
10
11
Coffee
-
Other fruit trees
1579.53
14324.95
Table 4. Land suitability classification for current agriculture land use in Ham Thuan Bac
Current suitability level (ha)
Current area
(ha)
No.
LUT
Notation
S1
S2
S3
N
1
2
Rice
LUC
CHN
CHN
CHN
CHN
CHN
CLN
CLN
CLN
CLN
CLN
12,588.97
2,372.07
3,070.56
497.91
700.19
74.55
427.49
325.95
102.41
7.04
8,529.07
1,848.85
2,455.73
486.09
2,932.22
122.71
512.42
4.78
Maize
3
Cassava & sweet potato
Sugar cane
4
5
Grass for livestock
Other cash crops
Dragon fruit
3.69
3.69
6
5,696.45
19,352.71
3,507.57
1,887.19
152.86
31.00
1,389.46
4,166.07
2,455.06
1,222.95
1,048.06
22.00
109.91
1,052.88
2,284.61
839.14
7
694.67
15,150.11
8
Cashew
9
Rubber
10
11
Coffee
130.86
Other fruit trees
11,996.11
61,126.09
112.94
2,835.29
9,047.87
Total agricultural land
Vietnam Journal of Agricultural Sciences
826
Nguyen Huu Thanh et al. (2020)
(a)
(b)
Figure 4. The current status map of agricultural land use in 2017 (a) and Map of land suitability classification for current agricultural
land-use (b) of Ham Thuan Bac district
Figure 5. Land adaptation map (or land potential)
827
Assessment of land resources potentials for orientation of agriculture land use in Ham Thuan Bac district, Binh Thuan
Table 5. The actual cultivated area in 2017 and 2018 in Ham Thuan Bac district
Actual cultivated area (ha)
No.
LUT
Area (ha)
Winter-spring
Summer-autumn
Autumn
16-17
17-18
8,545.0
68.0
2017
9,171.0
528.0
2018
2017
2018
1
2
Rice
12,588.97
2,372.07
8,515.0
75.5
9,000.0
619.0
9,323.0
1,327.0
9,079.0
1,526.0
Maize
Cassava and sweet
potato
3
3,070.56
9.5
10.0
1,086.0
1,148.0
44.0
10.0
4
5
Sugar cane
Grass for livestock
Other cash crops
Dragon fruit
Cashew
497.91
3.69
269.0
3.7
164.0
3.7
1,552.0
3.7
1,403.0
3.7
39.0
3.7
41.0
3.7
6
5,696.45
19,352.71
3,507.57
1,887.19
152.86
1,031.0
9,000.0
1,365.0
1,531.0
1,550.0
858.0
797.5
1247
1,410.0
1,134.0
1,438.0
7
9,071.7
1,728.0
1,531.0
1,634.0
1,300.0
8
9
Rubber
10
11
Coffee
Other fruit trees
11,996.11
the land area (Table 4). The district was not able
to effectively use the land resources potentials if
the limiting factors such as irrigation and shifting
crop structure to adapt to water shortage
conditions were not improved. Besides, the
general limitation of the region was drought in
the dry season (November to April),
corresponding to winter-spring and early
summer-autumn seasons.
cultivated area of dragon fruit was only 9,000ha,
which was much lower than the approved land
use plan (19,352.71ha) of the district. Therefore,
for this LUT, we recommend cultivating dragon
fruit under the S1 suitability level (694.67ha) and
approximately 8,377.03ha under the S2
suitability level. The proposal of dragon fruit
(6,773.08 ha) under the district’s plan should be
shifted to annual crops, other fruit trees (mango
and grapefruit, etc.), and grass for livestock. In
terms of the perennial crop, the majority were
cultivated under Suitability level (S3) and Not
suitability level (N); therefore, we propose
keeping these crops growing under S3, and the
remaining area (12,302.49ha) under N level
should be converted to afforestation and soil
improvement plants.
Hence, to meet the requirements of
sustainable land use to land use sustainable we
proposed to: (i) Maintain the land areas which
have High suitability (S1) and Moderate
suitability (S2) levels; (ii) Renovate or convert to
other suitable plants/afforestation for Marginal
suitable (S3) land areas; and (iii) Convert to
afforestation or use plants that could improve soil
quality of the Not Suitable (N) land areas.
Conclusions
Thus, based on the actual land use in Ham
Thuan Bac district, we proposed to keep stable
rice cultivation in the area of 8550ha (including
1,127.68ha of rice under S1 and S2 suitability
levels and 7,422.32ha rice under S3 suitability
level) due to light soil texture (S3) but with active
irrigation regime. The remaining area should be
converted to other annual crops including rice
area with remaining S3 and N suitability levels
(due to yellowish-red soil). More importantly,
due to the consumption market, the actual
The analytical procedures developed in the
five specific steps for assessing land suitability
were used to develop an effective use of
agricultural land in Ham Thuan Bac district,
which had an area of 61126.09ha agricultural
land and unused land with 11 common land-use
types, with rice (21% of total agricultural land)
and dragon fruit (32%) as the two main crops.
Two important groups of land attributes for land
suitability analysis including inherent qualities of
Vietnam Journal of Agricultural Sciences
828
Nguyen Huu Thanh et al. (2020)
soils (soil attributes) and external characteristics
(topographic elements, and management) were
used. Soil attributes included three factors: soil-
type consisting of 17 soil types (in 8 soil groups),
soil thickness consisting of 6 levels, and soil
approximately 8,377.03ha under the S2
suitability level; and the remaining areas, with S3
and N suitability levels for rice; and S2, S3, or N
levels for dragon fruit, will be converted to other
annual crops, other fruit trees, or grass for
livestock.
texture consisting of
characteristics consisting of 6 levels. The
management characteristic is irrigation
consisting of 3 regimes.
4
levels. Slope
Acknowledgments
We would like to express our sincere thanks
to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development (MARD) in Vietnam for funding
this research. We also want to thank the
Department of Agriculture and Rural
Development and the Department of Natural
Resources and Environment in Ham Thuan Bac
district for providing information on land use
planning, crop calendar, and irrigation practices.
As a result of land mapping, based on the
land characteristics, 107 LMUs were obtained
over the entire agricultural and unused land of the
study area. The majority belonged to Ferralsols
(FA) groups (53 LMUs - 52.24%), followed by
Acrisols (AC) (17 LMUs - 18.51%), Fluvisols
(FL) (18 LMUs - 12.37%), Arenosols (AR) (6
LUMs - 10.15%), and the rest are other soil
groups. The combination between characteristics
of 107 LMUs and land use requirements were
employed to evaluate current land use in the
study area from suitable (S1, S2, and S3) to not
suitable (N). The land area of LUTs of annual
crops was mainly found at the S3 suitability
level, where, for the current cultivated rice area,
23.29% of the area was unsuitable (N), and
67.75% was marginally suitable (S3).
Meanwhile in terms of perennial trees, except for
dragon fruits which were mainly cultivated at the
S2 suitability level (78.28%), the other perennial
LUTs (cashew, rubber, coffee, and other fruit
trees) were cultivated with S3 and N levels, in
which, the unsuitable land area was 65.13%,
44.47%, 85.61%, and 75.42%, respectively (in
the total area of these LUTs).
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