The application of LSE software: A new approach for land suitability evaluation in agriculture

Land suitability evaluation has been considered one of the viable approaches for limiting conflicts regarding agricultural land use and stabilizing specialized croplands for the sustainable development of mountainous regions. There are various land assessment tools that have been applied worldwide. Recently, new software called LSE (Land Suitability Evaluation) was developed and applied. This article aimed to assess the performance of LSE and the automated land evaluation system (ALES) software by comparing the results generated from ALES and LSE. This study was carried out to compare and verify the outputs of ALES and LSE software in determining the appropriate lands for orange and tea cultivation in western Nghe An, Vietnam. Fifteen ecological criteria were used to evaluate the land suitability for orange cultivation, and 10 ecological criteria were used to evaluate land suitability for tea cultivation. The study results show that the land evaluation process of LSE software has some outstanding advantages, such as high flexibility, time savings, and higher objectivity, confidence and accuracy. It is a new tool for land evaluators, scientists, and managers to use in determining land suitability and land use planning. The overall land suitability evaluation revealed that lands very suitable for orange cultivation cover 64,505.9 ha and that those suitable for tea plantation cover 69,388.8 ha, fully meeting the regional cultivation planning up to 2030 in the western Nghe An region.