Application of GIS in assessing natural conditions for the development of raspberry growing at the territory of the municipality of Štrpce

The paper presents the analysis of natural conditions for the development of the agricultural branch – raspberry growing in the municipality of Štrpce. The following analyses were carried out using GIS technology: the analysis of pedological cover, terrain aspect and slope, hypsometric conditions, precipitation and land use methods. The paper also presents the materials and methods for obtaining the final evaluation of the conditions and assessing the natural characteristics for the territory of Štrpce. By cabinet work, elimination method, and valorisation method through software packages, the analysis and interpretation of natural characteristics was carried out on all maps individually. In the geographic information systems, one of the most important materials in research is the database, i.e. its availability and scope. The final version of the work is formed by processing all natural conditions through GIS. The final result of the work and research is a synthetic map of the benefits for raspberry growing in the area of Štrpce, with pronounced areas suitable for the development of raspberry growing. The main reason for determining these locations is the uncertain economic stability and insufficiently informed local population due to the unfavourable political situation in the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija