Abstract :
The village of Gunung Kelir is located in hilly area and flat land. The hilly
area has a problem namely shallow solum soil and also low water availability
during the dry season that make this area becomes marginal land. In dry season,
agriculture is less productive it is required plant which is resistant to drought.
Sweet Sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor) is one of the plants that can be cultivated on
marginal land especially for the drought hit in the dry season. This plant can grow
in many marginal lands.
The objectives of the study were to understand the soil properties and the land
sustability for the sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) in Gunung Kelir County,
Pleret Village, Pleret District, Bantul Regency
This study consists of observation method (survey) and the system of land
units to determine the sample point. In addition tracking using Global Positioning
System (GPS) used to determine contour pattern.The area of marginal land is
divided into several land units based on two parameters that were slope and
landform. The chemical parameters tested were texture of the land (Hidrometer),
base saturation, pH H
2
O and pH KCl using pH meters, base saturation, cation
exchange capacity using 1 M NH
4
Oac solutionat pH 7.00, Electrical conductivity,
permeability using ring samples, level of organic matter by Walkley-Black acid
digestion method. For phisycal parameters were monthly temperature, the number
of dry months per year, the amount of rainfall per year, drainage land, effective
depth, rocks surface, rock density, soil erosion done by observation in the field.
The result shows that the class the suitability of the land for the plants sweet
sorghum in the area around the village of Gunung Kelir is N (rc) with the
constraint factor is soil effective depth.
Keywords : sweet sorghum, land evaluation , maginal land, land units.