IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ibn/jasjnl/v6y2014i4p10.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Using Geospatial Information Technology for Rural Agricultural Development Planning in the Nebo Plateau, South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Brilliant Petja
  • Edward Nesamvuni
  • Albertina Nkoana

Abstract

This study uses geospatial technologies (remote sensing and geographic information system) to assess the agricultural potential of the Nebo Plateau, a rural area in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. This approach entails assessing the suitability in terms of land/soil and climate, which are determinant factors for agricultural development. The environmental requirements of selected crops were analyzed using ArcViewâ„¢ GIS. Various spatial analysis techniques were used to model and assign classes of suitability based on the most important and yield-limiting parameters such as rainfall, temperature and soil characteristics. Results indicate that the area is potentially suitable to a variety of agricultural commodities where 65% of the area is suitable for cultivation. This is however considerate of environmental and climatic constraints such as the availability of water for irrigation, improvement of the state of the environment, prevention of soil degradation due to erosion and compaction, improvement of soil fertility by means of sound farming and management practices. These outputs are presented within a user friendly GIS platform for a better decision support to the development agencies and government. The results also help to provide inputs for assessing financial feasibility of farming projects. This study therefore emphasizes the importance of geospatial technologies in informing and promoting sustainable agricultural development.

Suggested Citation

  • Brilliant Petja & Edward Nesamvuni & Albertina Nkoana, 2014. "Using Geospatial Information Technology for Rural Agricultural Development Planning in the Nebo Plateau, South Africa," Journal of Agricultural Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 6(4), pages 1-10, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:ibn:jasjnl:v:6:y:2014:i:4:p:10
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jas/article/download/31941/19939
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jas/article/view/31941
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Roland Abah & Brilliant Petja, 2016. "Crop Suitability Mapping for Rice, Cassava, and Yam in North Central Nigeria," Journal of Agricultural Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 9(1), pages 1-96, December.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ibn:jasjnl:v:6:y:2014:i:4:p:10. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Canadian Center of Science and Education (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cepflch.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.