LAND SUITABILITY FOR HORTICULTURAL (FRUIT) CROPS DEVELOPMENT IN MUKOMUKO DISTRICT, BENGKULU PROVINCE

Horticulture commodity is one of important commodities to develop in Indonesia considering climate in
Indonesia is appropriate for it. Fruits were one of high valued-commodity of hortilculture that could be souce of
revenue for small scale, medium scale and big scale farmers due to its high value, land resources availability, and
potential market uptake from domestic and international market. The objective of this study was to evaluate the
land suitability for fruits (mango, durian, rambutan, papaya, banana, pineapple, and mangosteen) development
and its limiting factors. This study was done in four stages: 1). Spatial analysis for landform; 2). Evaluation
Survey; 3). Laboratory Analysis, and 4). Compilation and Data interpretation. Land suitability analysis using
Sistem Penilaian Kesesuaian Lahan (SPKL) or expert system of land suitability from Center for Research and
Development of Agricultural Land Resources in Bogor. Results showed that the suitability of land for
development of fruits can be classified according to altitude with criteria of marginal (S3), the limiting factors for fruits development were water and oxygen availability, nutrient retention, erosion hazard, and temperature.