agriculture Article Assessment of Potential Land Suitability for Tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze) in Sri Lanka Using a GIS-Based Multi-Criteria Approach Sadeeka Layomi Jayasinghe 1,2,*, Lalit Kumar 1 and Janaki Sandamali 3 1 School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia 2 Department of Export Agriculture, Faculty of Animal Science and Export Agriculture, Uva Wellassa University, Passara Road, Badulla 90000, Sri Lanka 3 Department of oceanography and marine geology, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences & Technology, University of Ruhuna, Matara 81000, Sri Lanka * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +61-040-535-5742 Received: 6 May 2019; Accepted: 5 July 2019; Published: 8 July 2019 Abstract: The potential land suitability assessment for tea is a crucial step in determining the environmental limits of sustainable tea production. The aim of this study was to assess land suitability to determine suitable agricultural land for tea crops in Sri Lanka. Climatic, topographical and soil factors assumed to influence land use were assembled and the weights of their respective contributions to land suitability for tea were assessed using the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) and the Decision-Making Trail and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) model. Subsequently, all the factors were integrated to generate the potential land suitability map. The results showed that the largest part of the land in Sri Lanka was occupied by low suitability class (42.1%) and 28.5% registered an unsuitable land cover. Furthermore, 12.4% was moderately suitable, 13.9% was highly suitable and 2.5% was very highly suitable for tea cultivation.