LAND EVALUATION FOR BARLEY CULTIVATION IN AL-NOAMANIYA DISTRICT - IRAQ BY USING REMOTE SENSING AND GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Land evaluation is the assessment of land performance when used for a particular purpose.The research aims to evaluate Barley cultivation in Al-Naamaniya District in Wasit Governorate -Iraq at present (actual), and in the future (potential) after major improvements possible.Applying remote sensing for land cover and land use classification, it is urban or built-up land occupies 9%, agricultural land 75%, rangeland 1%, water 2%, wetlands 8%, barren land 5% of the total study area.Applying geographic information system in the input and editing spatial and attribute data, for building data bank of the land resources, land characteristics, and Barley requirements in the study area.Processing data (administration, analyzing) for actual and potential land suitability classification for barley cultivation in the study area.Output and display the results which showed that the actual Barley suitability classification in the study area is S1, S2, S3, and N1 which covered an area of 8%, 50%, 30%, and 12% respectively for each category.It is possible to repair some of the limitations for Barley cultivation in the future to change suitability classification to S1, and S2, which covers an area 93%, and 7% respectively for each category in the study area.