Analysis and Evaluation of the Geographical Potential for Agricultural Development in the Choman District Using the AHP Model

Abstract

Agricultural development is considered one of the most important developments, whether as a type of development or at the level of economic activity sectors. The importance of the agricultural sector and agricultural development has a great impact on the livelihood of the population and economic and national income. It is strongly linked to economic growth and trade. In this context, an attempt was made to conduct research on this important issue in an important geographical area, namely the choman region.

The research area has several important geographical capabilities that can be developed, provided that the shortcomings are addressed appropriately. The main objective of this research is to identify the nature of the geographical location and natural and human capabilities, as well as to evaluate the positive and negative points of each capability, with the presentation of appropriate solutions. It relies on inductive methods and the use of quantitative tools and the use of geographic information systems to identify problems and choose the best development sites.

To achieve all of the above, the research content was divided into four main sections, and the first, second and third sections were devoted to defining the research field. The last topic consists of the criteria used for agricultural development indicators. The indicators were highlighted in two separate criteria and the best places for agriculture were identified through the AHP model. Finally, the research reached several conclusions and recommendations. The most important results are the decrease in the area of ​​land cultivated with crops in the study area between (2012 - 2023) from (7132) acres to (7020) acres of cultivated land. This is not a good indicator for the development process. On the one hand, according to the choice of the best place for agriculture, the area of ​​suitable land is 67.72% and the unsuitable land is 6.10%, which is a positive and important point for its agricultural development.