A geographical analysis on land capability of Meiktila Township

An assessment of the land capability is an important issue in the development of land use plans. This paper investigates how the physical bases of the township influence land capability and how these features relate to the efficiency of agricultural land use. The study area is Meiktila Township lying in the undulated land of the Dry Zone of Central Myanmar. There are many methods to classify the land capability of an area. Among them, the method of land capability classification devised by R.B Mandal (1981) is applied in this research. By using the R.B Mandal’s method, a map of land capability region in Meiktila Township has been prepared and the suitable crops and cropping system for these regions are proposed from this map. According to the classes of land capability, the various cropping patterns can be practised. The western part of the study area is less in land capability due to the lack of irrigation facilities. Therefore, the irrigation infrastructure is found to be the major cause of land capability assessment in the study area