INHIBITING FACTOR OF LAND SUITABILITY FOR PEPPER (Piper nigrum L.) IN HILLY AREA, TIRTOMOYO DISTRICT, WONOGIRI

Pepper ( Pipper nigrum L . ) is one of the spices that has a high selling value and earned the nickname "King of Spices" in the culinary world. The price of pepper in the domestic or international market which is always high can be a great opportunity to increase farmers' income. Tirtomoyo District has a landscape dominated by hilly areas with common soil types of Litosol and Latosol. As one of the efforts to develop the regional economic rate, especially in areas dominated by hills, pepper can be a solution offered by the agricultural sector. The research was conducted with explorative descriptive survey methods through direct field observation supported by laboratory analysis. The unit of analysis used was Land Map Unit (LMU) obtained from soil map. Observation points were selected through purposive sampling according to the research objectives which representative research location. The results show that the actual land suitability for pepper plant in Tirtomoyo District is marginal suitability on all LMU. The main limiting factors on the land are water availability and nutrient availability, thus Tirtomoyo district still has potency for pepper cultivation by adding some improvement measures such as fertilization, irrigation, organic material addition, and cover crop planting.