LAND EVALUATION FOR PADDY CULTIVATION IN THE RECLAIMED TIDAL LOWLAND IN DELTA SALEH, SOUTH SUMATRA, INDONESIA

Abstract

The research objective ofthis study is to carry out land evaluation for paddy cultivation in reclaimed tidal lowland area in Delta Saleh, South Sumatra, Indonesia. Research sampling was conducted based on the land typology of the area, i.e. typology ofA. B, C and D. The works were divided into two steps, field survey activities and laboratory work. The results showed that i.e, the land has the potency and suitability for paddy cultivation which can be divided into four main groups, i.e. high potency (classes ofS1 and S2), middle potency (classes ofS2 and S3), low potency (class ofS3) and less potency (class ofN). The high potency classes S1and S2 was a land suitability for paddy cultivation with, suitability > 75% and limited suitable < 25%. An acreage of this high potency land is around 17,982.3 ha (67.4% ofthe total research area) with its land productivity of more than> 6.0 tons dried paddy per ha per year. The middle potency classes of S2 and S3 were a land with suitability between 25-50% and limited suitable 50-75%. An acreage of this middle potency land is around 5,389.4 ha (20.2% of the total research area) with its land productivity of around 2-5 tons dried paddy per ha per year. The low potency classes S3 was land suitability for paddy cultivation with limited suitable 50-75% and not suitable 25-50%. An acreage of this low potency land is around 3,308.3 ha (12.4% of the total research area) with its land productivity of around 1-2 tons dried paddy per ha per year. The less potency classes ofN were land suitability for paddy cultivationwith limited suitable< 15% andnot suitable>75%. An acreageofthis lowpotency land is not found in the field (0% of the total research area) with its land productivity of around < 1 ton dried paddy per ha per year. The needed efforts to improve land capability from original suitability to potential land suitability for rice cultivation are i.e. (1) to develop drainage systems, (2) to develop water barriers to retain the water in the cultivated land, (3) to apply agricultural lime in the land, (4) to apply some organic matters in the land without removal in organic matters, (5) to remove cations ofNa and H, and (6) to apply the fertilizer ofN, P and K