GIS-Based Evaluation of Soil Suitability for Optimized Production on U.S. Tribal Lands

Harrison W. Smith, Amanda J. Ashworth () and Phillip R. Owens
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Harrison W. Smith: Environmental Dynamics Program, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA
Amanda J. Ashworth: Poultry Production and Product Safety Research Unit, USDA-ARS, 1260 W. Maple St., Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA
Phillip R. Owens: Dale Bumpers Small Farms Research Center, USDA-ARS, 6883 S. Hwy 23, Booneville, AR 72927, USA

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-10

Abstract: Optimizing soil—crop—landscape occurrence is essential for sustainable intensification and food security, but little work has been done to evaluate these parameters on Tribal lands. The objective of this study was to develop first ever high-resolution crop suitability maps and compare two established crop suitability models for their ability to optimize soil resource management of the Quapaw Tribal lands. We built on previously developed continuous soil properties maps for 22,880 ha of Quapaw Tribal lands that used a digital elevation model and a fuzzy-logic based data mining approach to calculate and evaluate the Dideriksen and Storie crop suitability indices. Suitability index results were evaluated against observed yield ( n ≥ 130,000) within the study area. Results showed that the observed yield was positively correlated with the Storie suitability index (Spearman rho = 0.16, p < 0.01), but not the Dideriksen index, suggesting the Storie index is more appropriate than the Dideriksen for modeling crop suitability in this area. Additionally, very little (<13%) of the highly suitable soils in the Quapaw Tribal lands are currently used for crop production, suggesting potential yield gaps from the underutilization of highly suitable soils. Future research could improve estimates through the development of novel suitability indices for closing yield gaps and further improved sustainable intensification.

Keywords: crop suitability modeling; geographic information systems; digital soil mapping; Tribal lands (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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