Biotech Studies 2013, Vol 22, Num, 1     (Pages: 020-025)

Determination Of Potential Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Cultivation Areas of Turkey Using Geographic Information System Techniques

Meral PEŞKİRCİOĞLU 1 ,Harun TORUNLAR 1 ,Belgin Alsancak SIRLI 1 ,Kadir Aytaç ÖZAYDIN 1 ,Ali MERMER 1 ,Mevlüt ŞAHİN 1 ,Murat Güven TUĞAÇ 1 ,Osman AYDOĞMUŞ 1 ,Yavuz EMEKLİER 2 ,Yusuf Ersoy YILDIRIM 3 ,Süleyman KODAL3 3

1 Tarla Bitkileri Merkez Araştırma Enstitüsü Müdürlüğü, Ankara
2 Ankara Üniversitesi, Ziraat Fakültesi Tarla Bitkileri Bölümü, Ankara
3 Ankara Üniversitesi, Ziraat Fakültesi, Tarımsal Yapılar ve Sulama Bölümü, Ankara
- The objective of this study was to determine potential rice growing areas of Turkey. Rice is one of the main cereal crop in the world in terms of cultivation area, amount of production and its yield. Rice is grown mainly in Marmara, Mid Black Sea, Mid North and Aegean regions and the rice has also an economically valuable crop in Turkey. Since natural resources of country need to be utilized effectively, the growth requirements of rice were investigated, base maps were prepared and necessary queries were performed. Ecological requirements of rice were evaluated mainly using climatic base maps such as monthly mean, minimum and maximum temperatures. As a result, potential rice growing area map with two suitability classes were obtained by evaluating the digital climate and elevation databases of Turkey via Geographic İnformation Systems (GIS) techniques. Keywords : Crop suitability, rice (Oryza sativa L.), geographic information systems, potential rice cultivation areas