Evaluating Land Suitability for Some Principal Crops in Ngeun District, Sayaboury Province, Lao PDR

A total land areas of 39.139 hectaresincludingagricultural land, productive forest land and unused land of Ngeun District were evaluatedfor the suitability ofland use by FAO guideline for land evaluation. The principal crops of concerns werelowland rice, upland rice, maize, groundnuts, tobacco, garlic, vegetable, pineaple, citrus, litchi, mango and rubber. Based on land use requirements of the selected crops and the natural characteristics of the district, the following factors were chosen for Land mapping Unit (LMU): soil type, slope, depth of fine soil layer, soil texture, rock fragment content, irrigation ability and fertility of the top soil. The land evaluation results showed that due to complex topographic features and soil/land characteristics, 80 LMU were identified in the area of agriculture land. Highly suitable (S1) area for lowland rice, upland rice, maize, groundnuts, tobacco, garlic, vegetable, pineaple, citrus, litchi, mango and rubber in the Ngeun district were 867.83; 15,303.74; 5,316.80; 5,138.45; 3,669.53; 3,669.53; 14,789.86;22,517.95; 15,473.94; 18,777.39; 7,521.76; 10,823.63 hectares, respectively. These results serve as an important basis for agricultural land use planning in Ngeun district.