Chapter 2 Basic concepts - ROOT of content

42.3.2 Multiple and compound land useTwo terms,multiple and compound land utilization types,refer to situationsin which more than one kind of land use is practised within an area.A multiple land utilization type consists of more than one kind ofuse simultaneously undertaken on the same area of land, each use having its owninputs, requirements and produce. An example is a timber plantation used simultaneouslyas a recreational area.A compound land utilization type consists of more than one kind ofuse undertaken on areas of land which for purposes of evaluation are treated asa single unit. The different kinds of use may occur in time sequence (e.g.asin crop rotation) or simultaneously on different areas of land within the sameorganizational unit. Mixed farming involving both arable use and grazing is anexample.Sometimes an appropriate land utilization type can be found by making severalland mapping units part of the same management unit, e.g. livestock managementwhich combines grazing on uplands in the rainy season and on seasonally floodedlowlands in the dry season.Land utilization types are defined for the purpose of land evaluation.Their description need not comprise the full range of farm management practices,but only those related to land management and improvement. At detailed levelsof evaluation, closely-defined land utilization types can be extended intofarming systems by adding other aspects of farm management. Conversely, farmingsystems that have already been studied and described can be adopted as thebasis for land utilization types.2.4 Land characteristics, land qualities and diagnosticcriteriaA land characteristic is an attribute of land that can be measuredor estimated. Examples are slope angle, rainfall, soil texture, available watercapacity, biomass of the vegetation, etc. Land mapping units, as determinedby resource surveys, are normally described in terms of land characteristics.If land characteristics are employed directly in evaluation, problems arisefrom the interaction between characteristics. For example, the hazard of soilerosion is determined not by slope angle alone but by the interaction between14