Mapping the sensitivity of agricultural land: A study of agricultural land conversion in Yogyakarta urban area

Agricultural land conversion is considered the most important type of land use change, particularly in the countries where agriculture is the primary source of income, including Indonesia. The government of Republik Indonesia has issued a number of programs for preserving agricultural land and controlling the conversion rate. One of the programs is known as sustainable agricultural/cropland. To support the program, any information regarding agricultural land conversion is indispensable. The objective of the study is to provide spatial information called the sensitivity of agricultural land. The study was conducted in the urban area of Yogyakarta. As urban growth or expansion mainly changes land use, agricultural land in this area is highly vulnerable to conversion. The sensitivity of agricultural land was analyzed and mapped using a combination of spatial and statistical analysis. Multitemporal land use maps,i.e., 2000 and 2020 previously derived from remotely sensed imagery, were used as the primary data for the analysis. Logistic regression was used to analyze the conversion probability and determine the sensitivity index. This study shows that about 650,1 hectares of agricultural land had been converted between 2000 and 2020. It left around 1364,55 hectares of agricultural land in 2020. The remaining agricultural lands were classified into three categories regarding their sensitivity, i.e., high, moderate and low. The proportion of area for each category is 7.5, 42.7 and 49.8, respectively. Regarding agricultural land preservation, authorized agencies could utilize this information to determine the preservation priority. © 2021 SPIE.