Potential distribution of sugar palm in Jepara Regency for soil conservation and climate change mitigation

Abstract

Agroforestry can be developed for climate change adaptation and mitigation. Farmers in Jepara Regency have long been developing sugar palm agroforestry for starch. Increasing the use of sugar palm and the low knowledge of farmers about the potential of sugar palm plants are a threat to the existence of sugar palm agroforestry. This study aims to inventory the potential distribution of sugar palm with the support of remote sensing and field surveys in Pakis Aji, Bangsri, and Kembang sub-districts which was carried out in August-December 2020. The interpretation results used Landsat 8 imagery and Google Earth images in 1161 sugar palm objects with the largest number in Bangsri District. Remote sensing accuracy testing with the Omission-Commission method obtained a value of 90.8%, which means the accuracy value is very high. The correlation test between the value of vegetation density (NDVI) and the survey results obtained a value of R2 = 0.575 with a significance value of 0.00 <0.05. The overall potential of palm plantations is predicted to be 5740 m3 with an area for the development of sugar palm agroforestry of 10,008.9 ha.