Land capability and land suitability refer to the potential of land for ecologically sustainable, long-term use. The use may be residential, industrial, transport infrastructure, agriculture, forestry or waste disposal. The term capability is generally used to describe broad potential such as rainfed agriculture whereas suitability usually refers to specific uses such as cereal cropping.
Traditionally, land capability/land suitability has been assessed for agricultural purposes using specifically designed classification schemes. These schemes allocate a land parcel into one of several classes based on its particular land qualities and the degree of limitation these qualities create to sustainable use. All classes are numbered; Class 1 is the most suitable with no significant limitations to sustainable use. The limitations increase with the class number and the highest class is not suitable for that particular use.