Land suitability evaluation for Arenga pinnata cultivation as a source of traditional cuisine, Horog-Horog, in 3 districts of Jepara Regency, Central Java

Abstract

Arenga pinnata (sugar palm) is an economically and ecologically important palm in Jepara Regency. People of Jepara have been extracting the starch from its stem as the main raw material for traditional cuisine, horog-horog. Sugar palm stands can conserve soil and water. Their large stems store relatively much carbon rather than other agricultural monocot plants. Thus, sugar palm cultivation plays an important role in climate change mitigation. However, the areal of sugar palm cultivation was limited. Thus, land evaluation was needed to predict land performance over time to support sugar palm cultivation. The purposes of the present study were to identify land characteristics and their suitability for sugar palm cultivation. This research was conducted in Bangsri, Kembang, and Pakis Aji Districts. The purposive sampling method was used for the field survey. In total, there were 20 land units (9,232.17 ha) across those three districts. Furthermore, to determine land suitability for sugar palm cultivation, the matching method was applied. Thus, the data from field surveys and laboratory tests were used. The obtained results in the present study indicated that 13 land units were classified as S3 (marginal) and 7 land units were classified as N (not suitable). However, there were some limiting factors in the field that must be addressed to support sugar palm cultivation in S3, such as water availability (wa), rooting condition (rc), and nutrient retention (nr). Furthermore, in the land unit that was classified as N the main limiting factor was slope (>30%).