Agroclimatological zoning of Hormozgan province for tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) cultivation

Subject Areas : Journal of Plant Ecophysiology

Gh. Beigipour ¹ (گروه مهندسی آب، واحد بندرعباس، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی ، بندرعباس، ایران)
F. Abdolahi ² (گروه زراعت و اصلاح نباتات، دانشگاه هرمزگان، بندرعباس، ایران)
E. Shakerizadeh ³ (دفتر آمار و اطلاعات و GIS استانداری هرمزگان، بندرعباس، ایران)

Received: 2015-01-06 Accepted : 2015-04-30 Published : 2016-06-01

Keywords: Hormozgan province, Tomato, Agroclimatological zoning, Water Salinity,

Abstract :

Agroclimatology is among the methods having been in use in the last three decades for areas that have similar climate properties. By adhering to an awareness of climate properties, we will be able to not only manage agricultural affairs properly but also to reduce the farmers’ concerns in croping with climate change. This paper deals with soil structure arrangements in tomato planting in Hormozgan province, Iran. According to topographical and soil maps, more than 74 percent of the province consists of mountain areas with scant shallow soil or otherwise low quality soil for agriculture. The rest (i.e. nearly 26 percent) in the province has the potential for various products. At the first stage, the areas having the potential for agriculture were identified by eliminating unsuitable areas. At the next stage, agroclimatology for planting tomato in suitable areas was carried out according to the following elements: The product’s needs including climate, water quality, and suitable soil. It was done with the aid of climate data, statistics in meteorology, descriptive-explanatory reports, topographical maps with the scale of 1:2350000, and Ilwis and ArcGIS software. With combining different maps, suitable areas for planting the product were indentified. It was also revealed that among the areas used for agriculture, 78.5 percent (20.41 percent of the whole province) are suited and highly suited to tomato agriculture. However, 21.5 percent are not suited to planting tomato.