Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Computers and Electronics in Agriculture journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/compag The application of LSE software: A new approach for land suitability evaluation in agriculture Ha Nguyen a , Tuan Nguyen b, ⁎ , Ngoc Hoang a , Dung Bui a , Huong Vu a , Tap Van c a Institute of Geography, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay District, Hanoi 10000, Viet Nam b Vietnam National Museum of Nature, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet, Cau Giay District, Hanoi 10000, Viet Nam c Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Thai Nguyen University of Sciences, Tan Thinh ward, Thai Nguyen city, Viet Nam ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Land suitability Orange Tea LSE software Vietnam ABSTRACT Land suitability evaluation has been considered one of the viable approaches for limiting conflicts regarding agricultural land use and stabilizing specialized croplands for the sustainable development of mountainous re- gions. There are various land assessment tools that have been applied worldwide. Recently, new software called LSE (Land Suitability Evaluation) was developed and applied. This article aimed to assess the performance of LSE and the automated land evaluation system (ALES) software by comparing the results generated from ALES and LSE. This study was carried out to compare and verify the outputs of ALES and LSE software in determining the appropriate lands for orange and tea cultivation in western Nghe An, Vietnam. Fifteen ecological criteria were used to evaluate the land suitability for orange cultivation, and 10 ecological criteria were used to evaluate land suitability for tea cultivation. The study results show that the land evaluation process of LSE software has some outstanding advantages, such as high flexibility, time savings, and higher objectivity, confidence and accuracy. It is a new tool for land evaluators, scientists, and managers to use in determining land suitability and land use planning. The overall land suitability evaluation revealed that lands very suitable for orange cultivation cover 64,505.9 ha and that those suitable for tea plantation cover 69,388.8 ha, fully meeting the regional cultivation planning up to 2030 in the western Nghe An region. 1. Introduction Mountain agriculture has always played an important role in en- hancing food security and environmental sustainability in many coun- tries around the world (Roozitalab et al., 2013), especially developing ones. Mountainous areas are rich in biodiversity and have a high con- centration of poor people in one of the most unfavourable living con- ditions in the world. Mountainous terrain occupies three-quarters of Vietnam's land, where a number of large rivers originate (Quy, 1995). In spite of the region’s great potential, agricultural development has encountered substantial constraints. Therefore, the Government of Vietnam has made efforts towards developing policies, schemes and programmes for the socio-economic development of mountainous areas (VG, 2016; 2017). One of the most disadvantaged mountainous areas of Vietnam is western Nghe An. Its economy predominantly depends on agriculture, with 177,699 ha of agricultural production land and 1,073,521 ha of forests (NASO, 2018). In 2017, the average product value obtained per 1 ha of the cultivated land of western Nghe An was low at 53.34 million VND (2,303 USD), which was equivalent to 75% of the average value of Nghe An (NASO, 2018). The main crops are annual (rice, maize, cassava, sweet potatoes, peanuts, sesame and sugarcane) and perennial (rubber, tea, coffee) crops and fruit trees. The latter consist of orange, mango, pineapple and longan, which cover ap- proximately 70,058 ha (NASO, 2018). Orange and tea are among the 10 major agricultural products, which have been identified for develop- ment in western Nghe An (PCNAP, 2016b). In 2017, the orange culti- vating area was 4,872 ha (accounting for 87.2% of the whole orange growing area of Nghe An), with two traditional orange varieties, Xa Doai and Van Du, with an average yield of 15.58 ton/ha in 2017 (NASO, 2018). The commercial growing area is 7,134 ha, of which the productive area is 6,054 ha, with a total output of 69,062 tons (NASO, 2018). Orange and tea cultivation in the study area has been facing a number of challenges. Many cultivation areas are scattered and are not controlled, which results in low production efficiency and unstable product quality. Consequently, conflicts about different types of land use in the region have occurred. Therefore, it is necessary to generate exact and timely results of land suitability evaluation in the case study in order to control and manage the extension of the crop cultivation https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compag.2020.105440 Received 15 January 2020; Received in revised form 8 April 2020; Accepted 11 April 2020 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: legis_tuan@vnmn.vast.vn (T. Nguyen). Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 173 (2020) 105440 0168-1699/ © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. T