Objective: Given the increasing population and the consequent increase in the need for food in Iran, and on the other hand, the limited availability of suitable water and soil resources in the country and the high risk of agricultural production for investors in production, the development of greenhouse crops as a high-efficiency solution has attracted the attention of policymakers and planners in the field of production and its promotion in the country. In this regard, choosing the most suitable location for the location of greenhouse complexes is one of the main problems of greenhouse growers in the country, which requires the evaluation and analysis of numerous factors. The purpose of this research is to locate areas susceptible to greenhouse complexes in Markazi Province using the fuzzy-analytical hierarchy process and geographic information system. Given that the area under greenhouse cultivation in the country is increasing and Markazi Province is considered one of the greenhouse poles of the country (the fifth province in terms of area under cultivation), the importance of locating the precise establishment of greenhouse complexes in this province doubles. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify environmental resources and zoning of Markazi Province by looking at the existing scientific and theoretical criteria regarding the establishment and development of greenhouse complexes based on domestic and international standards and guidelines. By implementing this research, the entire area of Markazi Province was briefly evaluated using the Geographic Information System (GIS), and the areas that have potential for this purpose will be identified and introduced.

Methods: In this study, in addition to identifying important factors in determining the appropriate location for greenhouse construction, climatic indicators (minimum, maximum, and average annual temperature, number of frost days, average annual sunshine hours, prevailing wind speed and direction of the region, and number of heating and cooling months required in the central province) and land indicators (water quantity and quality, slope and elevation above sea level, soil and land use suitability) were used to determine the appropriate location of greenhouse complexes and the role and extent of each of the above factors in location. Then, with the opinions of experts, the weights of the information layers were determined based on the hierarchical analysis method and the pairwise comparison matrix of the determining factors and the information layers were combined with the weights obtained from the hierarchical analysis method, and finally, the appropriate areas for greenhouse construction were determined. In this method, decision-making is decomposed into a hierarchical structure in which multiple criteria are analyzed for a specific objective. The first step in the analytic hierarchy process is to create a graphical representation of the problem in which the objective, criteria, and options are shown. Based on the experiences and conditions of the study area, different weights are assigned to the parameters in the location. In general, the most important criterion is always given the highest weight.

Results and Discussion: The results of the study showed that in the Markazi province, due to the limitations in climatic and land indicators and the impact of these indicators, there is no land that is very suitable for greenhouse construction, and the area of this province was divided into three groups with low (12%), medium (22%), high and very high limitations (the rest are almost unsuitable) for the construction of greenhouse complexes. Also, according to the results obtained, the weighting of zoning criteria (climatic and land), in which two criteria related to climatic parameters (0.29%) and water quantity and quality (0.27%) had the highest weight of the main criterion and the lowest was related to land use and ownership with (0.13%). Considering the number of restrictions identified at the level of the Central Province, the cities of Khomein, Arak, and Ashtian, respectively, have fewer restrictions on the construction of greenhouse complexes than the rest of the cities in the province.

Conclusions: Finally, it can be said that optimal location of greenhouse complexes using hierarchical fuzzy techniques and geographic information systems can be a vital planning tool to prevent the trial and error process in agricultural land use planning, especially in greenhouse complex development decisions at the level of Markazi province and consequently at the level of the country, which leads to reduced investment risk in this sector and also great savings in the energy sector (heating and cooling of greenhouses) and inputs (adequate and adequate water and soil, etc.), and ultimately reduces additional production costs in this sector, and also prevents environmental pollution, especially air pollution (especially in a polluted city like Arak). Thus, the practical results of this research can be used for future planning in the agricultural sector of the province, first of all by all managers and decision-makers, and then by promoters and users of the agricultural land sector (greenhouse complexes).