Comparative analysis of two methods for site suitability assessment of cacao (Theobroma cacao Lin.) in Bohol, Central Visayas, Philippines

Tomas Reyes Jr.; Severino Salera Jr.; Wilson Llegunas Jr.; Jorge Cabelin Jr.

Tomas D. Reyes, Jr. Institute of Renewable Natural Resources, College of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna, Philippines
Severino B. Salera, Jr. College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Bohol Island State University, Bohol, Philippines
Wilson U. Llegunas, Jr. College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Bohol Island State University, Bohol, Philippines
Jorge P. Cabelin, Jr. College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Bohol Island State University, Bohol, Philippines

Keywords: analytical hierarchy process, direct weight estimation, GIS, suitability analysis

Abstract

Suitability assessment has been used in many studies to identify on a particular patch of land the most appropriate defined use given a set of criteria. Such assessment must also consider the choice of proper methodological process and platform for analysis. The study aimed to compare two site suitability assessment models of cacao in the province of Bohol. Site factors considered in the suitability assessment included land cover, climate, elevation, and soil. Two different site factor weighting approaches combined with geographic information system (GIS) were compared through the process of accuracy evaluation. The geographic information system-analytical hierarchy process (GIS-AHP) stood as a better model with percent accuracy estimate of 97.5%. Using GIS-AHP, suitable areas for cacao farm expansion was determined to be 78.6% of the total land area of the province, which suggests the potential of the province in producing cacao-beans for local consumption and export. It is recommended to test the GIS-AHP model using additional site factors not considered in the study, together with other rank-ordering criteria weighting methods, statistical models, and variants fuzzy AHPs to determine the potential application of these models in site suitability analysis.