Predicting Suitability of Upland Rice for Adoption as Food Security and Poverty Alleviation Crop in Uganda

This study was carried out in Uganda with the aim of developing a suitability map for upland rice crop based on physio-chemical soil properties and climatic factors. The analysis used physio-chemical variables of soil pH, Cation Exchange Capacity of the soils (CEC), Soil organic carbon (SOC), Digital elevation (DEM) and 19 bioclimatic variables. The physio-chemical suitability maps were derived using Geographical information system approach based on weighted overlay analysis in ArcGIS10.3, while the climate suitability map was generated using MaxEnt species distribution model. The cross raster overlay operations were done in ILWIS 3.3 to combine the overall physio-chemical suitability and climate suitability maps into the final Upland rice suitability map and the area under each suitability class calculated. The overall results show that 18.1% (43598.71km2) of the arable land is suitable (S) for Upland rice production while another 20.8% (50135.63km2) is moderately suitable (MS) for Upland rice production. About the same proportions of the combined Moderately (MS) and Suitable (S), 37.8% (91278.96km2) is marginally suitable (mS) for Upland rice production, while just above 23.4 % (56376. 9km2) of the Arable land is currently not suitable (nS) for Upland rice production.