17 Oil Palm Bulletin 67 (November 2013) p. 17-29. ABSTRACT Land evaluation is the process of assessing the characteristics of a given piece of land to determine its suitability and viability for development. For oil palm cultivation, land development involves planning, land clearing, road and drainage networks development and oil palm planting. This article reports the results of land evaluation carried out in Sungai Asap, Belaga, Sarawak to investigate the efectiveness of geographic information system (GIS), global positioning system (GPS) and remote sensing (RS) in evaluating whether a land is suitable for oil palm cultivation. Results of the study indicated that only 61.8% of the study area was suitable to be cultivated with oil palm. The rest of the area was unsuitable because of steepness, accessibility and allocation for bufer zones. SPOT (Systẻme Pour d’Observation de la Terre 5) satellite data was able to provide preliminary information of landform, land use and infrastructures of the evaluated land. GPS and GIS employed in this project were able to precisely track and collect ground data. The technologies could predetermine length and density of roads and terraces, and the number of planting points. The information was manipulated to produce land assessment report and very useful for preparation of budgets and contracts for plantation development. ABSTRAK Penilaian tanah ialah satu proses menilai ciri- ciri sebidang tanah bagi menentukan kesesuaian dan kebolehupayaan tanah tersebut untuk dibangunkan. Untuk penanaman sawit, penilaian tanah melibatkan proses merancang, membersihkan kawasan, membina jaringan jalan perhubungan dan perparitan, serta menanam sawit. Kajian ini telah dijalankan di Sungai Asap, Belaga, Sarawak, bagi mengkaji keberkesanan teknologi sistem Land Evaluation for Oil Palm Cultivation using Geospatial Information Technologies Nordiana, A A*; Wahid, O*; Esnan, A G*; Zaki, A*; Tarmizi, A M*; Zulkifli, H* and Norman, K* * Malaysian Palm Oil Board, 6 Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia. E-mail: nordiana@mpob.gov.my maklumat geograf (GIS), sistem penentududukan global (GPS) dan penderiaan jauh (RS) bagi menilai sama ada sesuatu kawasan sesuai untuk penanaman sawit. Hasil kajian menunjukkan bahawa hanya terdapat 61.8% daripada keseluruhan kawasan adalah sesuai ditanam sawit. Baki kawasan tersebut adalah tidak sesuai kerana terlalu curam, tidak boleh dimasuki dan terdiri daripada zon penampan. Data satelit SPOT telah digunakan kerana berupaya memberikan maklumat awal berkaitan bentuk muka bumi, penggunaan tanah dan infrastruktur yang terdapat di kawasan tersebut. Teknologi GPS dan GIS diaplikasikan bagi mengumpul maklumat yang tepat di lapangan. Ia digunakan untuk mengetahui panjang dan kepadatan jalan, teres dan jumlah lokasi penanaman sawit. Maklumat tersebut dimanipulasi untuk menghasilkan satu laporan penilaian kawasan dan amat berguna dalam penyediaan bajet dan kontrak untuk pembangunan perladangan. Keywords: GPS, remote sensing, GIS, oil palm cul- tivation, SPOT satellite. INTRODUCTION The advances made in geospatial information tech- nologies such as global positioning system (GPS) and geographic information system (GIS) have infuenced plantation managements to be more inclined towards using the computer support sys- tems in decision-making. Technologies such as GPS and GIS have been used to establish diferent levels of oil palm databases. Xaviar et al. (2001) reported that GPS has been used for area mapping and po- sitioning, while Ooi and Tey (1998; 2001) suggested GPS for navigation work. Many researchers (Tey et al., 1997; Sugih et al., 1998; Chew and Annuar, 2000) have reported using GPS for mapping and sur- veying of oil palm plantations to produce precise digital maps. They found that GPS is capable of producing cheaper, more accurate and more rapid digital maps compared to the conventional land surveying and mapping methods. The accuracy of GPS mapping depends on the type of GPS used, the way mapping is carried out and the data pro-