Determination of Suitable Lands for Sugar Beet Cultivation Using GIS and FUCOM

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the suitability of sugar beet lands using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) method, due to the limited number of crop-based land suitability studies on sugar beet cultivation in the literature. The research was conducted in the central and northern parts of the Karamenderes Plain, covering approximately 52,000 ha in NW Türkiye, where farmers have recently shifted to sugar beet cultivation for economic reasons but lack spatial decision-support tools. In the study, eight soil and land characteristics were evaluated: soil texture, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), soil depth, organic carbon content, slope, drainage, and the Soil Fertility Index Score (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) (SFIS). The Full Consistency Method (FUCOM) was used to determine the weighted values of soil and land characteristics. Present assessments revealed that of the evaluated lands, 28047,50 ha was highly suitable, 21290,10 ha moderately suitable, 394,42 ha marginally suitable, and 2105,16 ha not suitable for sugar beet cultivation. The combined use of FUCOM and GIS to determine suitable land for sugar beet cultivation facilitated assessments and provided significant advantages in terms of time and economic aspects. In addition to identifying suitable areas for sugar beet cultivation, the findings provide a practical decision-support approach for land-use planning and agricultural policymaking by enabling more efficient, sustainable use of land resources. The proposed model can be used under similar or different environmental conditions.