A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, School of Advanced Technologies

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology 2000

Land is a non-renewable natural resource. It is the basic resource to provide human beings with food, shelter, enjoyment, as well as all other needs. Population growth, technological and social hazards, and environmental degradation have all to be taken into greater account today by policy-makers, resource planners, administrators and individual citizens who make decisions about the land. Agriculture is an important branch of economy and society, and is what land should be dedicated to. The maintenance and enhancement of existing land and natural resources to meet present needs and those of future generations have become major issues in economic and social development. Decision support system (DSS) is a useful tool for decision makers to survey and understand the complex spatial and temporal land information. DSSs for sustainable development should address decision making contexts and processes in; the development of software toolkits for DSSs including development of databases, knowledge-based systems, geographic information systems (GISs) and process models. This thesis study adopts an integrated approach, with the assistance of geographical information system (GIS), in collecting and building an integrated land information database for land use study within a certain administrative unit, Magwe division, in the union of Myanmar. It was focused on the generation of data on land resources, specifically soil. The soil map was used in combination with other physical and socio-economic parameters to assess and evaluate the area into suitability classes for paddy. The results are able to show potential land productivity and suitability under respective situations. The decision makers can exercise this DSS for optimum agricultural land use management.