Geostatistical and visualization analysis of crop suitability for diversification in sub-mountain area of Punjab, North-
- PDF / 961,383 Bytes
- 16 Pages / 516 x 707.75 pts Page_size
- 51 Downloads / 164 Views
J. Indian Soc. Remote Sens. (June 2010) 38 : 211–226
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Geostatistical and Visualization Analysis of Crop Suitability for Diversification in Sub–mountain Area of Punjab, North-West India R. Kumar . P.K. Mehra . B. Singh . H.S. Jassal . B.D. Sharma
Received: 21 January 2009 / Accepted: 7 January 2010
Keywords GIS . Geostatistics . Crop suitability . Diversification
Abstract This study presents a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based geostatistical and visualization analysis of crop suitability in two blocks of submountain area of Punjab under diversification programme. It combines the limitation approach of land capability classification, productivity potential evaluation procedure and crop suitability evaluation framework of FAO. Two blocks from the sub mountain Siwalik region of Punjab viz., Mahalpur and Garhshankar were selected. This study evaluates the R. Kumar ( ) . P. K. Mehra . B. Singh . H.S. Jassal . B.D. Sharma Department of Soils, Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana-141004, Punjab, India
email: [email protected]
capabilities of the study area for traditional crops like wheat, paddy and maize, and recently introduced crops like sugarcane, sunflower, pea, rapeseedmustard, potatoes and kinnow for agricultural diversification. The suitability of the crops has been worked out at the village level. About 35-40 per cent of total area mostly in Siwallik hills is not fit for growing any type of crop. Sandy texture, uneven topography, moderately steep slopes and excessive drainage are responsible for unsuitability of this area. The GIS based suitability analysis for traditional crops as well as for new crops, under diversification of agriculture has been undertaken. The geostatistical analysis points towards suitability of relatively large areas for new crops like sunflower, potato, pea (green) and sugarcane. Forty three and 14 per cent of total area has been found highly suitable and suitable respectively for growing green pea - a cash crop. Thirty three per cent of total area is suitable for growing kinnow fruit. The success of diversification programme is subject to logical government policy in terms of
212
providing cold storage, food processing facility and marketing infrastructure.
Introduction Suitability of land is assessed as part of a rational cropping system, for optimizing the use of a piece of land for a specified use (FAO, 1976; Sys et al., 1991). It should be based upon its attributes (Rossiter, 1996). Land may be considered either in its present condition, or after specified improvements. Though, criteria vary from place to place, yet these are essentially based on climate, soil, topography and water availability which are the most important categories of environmental information required for judging land suitability. In order to define the suitability of an area for a specific practice, several criteria need to be evaluated (Belka, 2005). Multi Criteria Evaluation (MCE) has been developed to improve spatial decision making when a set of alternatives need to be e
Data Loading...
