Site Suitability for the Production of Fonio (Acha) in Adamawa State, Nigeria: GIS Approach

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the potentials of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies for mapping and delineating site suitable for fonio production in Adamaewa State. Site Suitability is necessary to create a data bank and guide to the farmer in decision making. (site that suitable for crop production). The six criteria that are used for the study include soil map, Relief (Topographiy) map, Vegetation map, Temperature map, Annual rainfall map and Rainfall Length map of Adamawa State. Combination of both non-GIS and GIS software were used. Corel draw 12 was used for data capture, ILWIS 3.7 was used for georeferencing, Arcview 3.2 Academy was used for digitizing the map while idrisi 32 were used for overlay and other calculation. The study reveals that about 70% of the state's landmass is suitable and most suitable for the production of fonio. As part of the recommendation Government should encourage the production of the cereal in the state, especially in the central part of the state to meet the need of the people.