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The main objective of this research is to compare two different irrigation methods according to parametric evaluation system in an area of 15831 ha in the North Molasani region`s soil located in Khuzestan province, Southwest Iran. Soil properties of the study area including texture, depth, electrical conductivity, drainage, carbonate content and slope were derived from a semi-detailed soil study regarding North Molasani plain in a scale of 1/20000. After analyzing and evaluating soil properties, suitability maps were generated for both methods by means of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS). The results showed that 163 ha of the studied area were highly suitable for Surface Irrigation methods. Whereas 2288 ha of the study area was highly suitable for drip irrigation methods. Also, it was found that some series coded 2, 3 and 5 covering an area of 7582 ha, were not suitable to be used for surface irrigation systems and two series coded 3 and 5 with an area of 1381 ha were classified not suitable for drip irrigation systems. Moreover, the results indicate that by applying drip irrigation instead of surface irrigation methods, suitability classes of 8732 ha (55.16%) of North Molasani plain`s land will improved. Ultimately, drip irrigation system was suggested as the best method to be applied to the said study area. The main limiting factors in using both surface and drip irrigation methods in this area were soil carbonate and drainage.
