The Use Of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) And Geographic Information System (GIS) In Selection Of Greenhouse Site Location: The Case Of Aydin Region In Türkiye

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the most suitable areas for greenhouse sites and the suitability of the sample sites in Aydin region by using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis methods. For this purpose, in line with the literature researches and expert opinions, five main location selection criteria (topography, soil, climate, water and economy) and two separate location selection constraints (land use capability class and distance from the surface water resources) were considered. In addition, 160 sample sites were selected from existing greenhouse sites in the study area through purposeful sampling method and their suitability was questioned. The scoring and pairwise comparison methods used in the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method were preferred for weighting the evaluation criteria. In the review, according to all criteria and constraints, it was determined that 2.4% of the study area was “most suitable”, 33.4% was “suitable”, 31.4% was “moderately suitable”, 0.7% was “slightly suitable”, 29.6% was “unsuitable”, and 2.5% was “out of evaluation” area. In addition, it was determined that 1.9% of the sample sites selected were “most suitable”, 10.1% were “suitable”, 0.6% were “moderately suitable”, and 87.3% were “unsuitable”. According to these results, it was understood that the lands in the study area were not generally suitable for the greenhouse site in terms of the distance from the surface water resources and the land use capability class. In addition, recommendations have been made for realizing more comprehensively the selection of suitable places for greenhouse production and other agricultural production areas in both study area and other fields.