Application of Geographic Information System to Identify the Potential and Status of Soil Damage in Sukasada District, Buleleng Regency

Fertile land for agriculture often switches to non-agricultural land, as a result agricultural farming activities shift to critical lands that require high and expensive inputs to produce quality food products (Mahfuz, 2003). In addition, activities that are generally carried out in agriculture, such as the use of fertilizers or chemicals that aim to increase excessive production can cause soil damage. Arsyad (2006) states that soil damage is the loss or decline of soil function, both as a source of plant nutrients and as a matrix where roots grow, anchor and where water is stored.

Procedures for measuring soil damage in agricultural, plantation, forestry and urban park areas are stipulated in Minister of Environment Regulation No. 07 of 2006. In PP No. 150 of 2000 concerning the standard criteria for soil damage, what is meant by soil damage is the change in the nature of the soil which exceeds the standard criteria for soil damage in certain conditions at a certain place and time which is assessed based on the standard criteria for soil damage. More soil damage is caused by the influence of human activities with management that does not consider the ability and suitability of  land.

Sukasada District is one of the sub-districts in Buleleng Regency. Geographically, Sukasada Subdistrict is in the position of 8 ° 11ʹ 6ʺ - 8 ° 18ʹ 53ʺ South Latitude and 115 ° 1ʹ 47ʺ - 115 ° 4ʹ 17ʺ South Latitude. Topographical conditions of the region are mostly upland areas with elevations reaching 1,903 meters above sea level. The physiography of the Sukasada District area is in the form of hills, based on the slope of this region is dominated by a slope of> 15%. The area is 172.93 km2 or 12.66 percent of the area of ​​Buleleng Regency. The use of land varies, namely: 1). 1943 ha of paddy fields, 2). upland land 4,543 ha, 3). plantation land 5,486 ha, 4). yard of 507 ha, 5). forest 2,966 ha 6). state land 27,135 ha, 7). others 318.61 ha.  Average rainfall of 1,651 mm / year (BPS Sukasada, 2017). Currently Sukasada Subdistrict does not yet have condition data and maps of land damage status, both area and distribution. Given the increasingly limited available agricultural land in the Buleleng region and the intensive use of land, this study was conducted to determine the current soil conditions.