Agricultural Land Classification

Agricultural production is vital to provide the subsistence base for every civilization and society. Land classification is the grouping of soil map units “primarily on the basis of their capability to produce common cultivated crops and pasture plants without deterioration over a long period of time” (Klingebiel and Montgomery, 1966). The land capability classification is based on the aggregation of soil map areas, and the units of classification are published for each soil map unit in modern soil survey reports. A bulletin and set of 50 color slides is available to introduce the concepts of the classification in a format readily understood by laypersons (SCS, 1969).