LAND ARABILITY CLASSIFICATION IN A PART OF SAHARANPUR DISTRICT

Abstract

.Pressure on the land is increasing to meet out various demands apart from food. Hence land is very limited for agriculture and so increased agricultural production is essential. This can be achieved by using more irrigation, fertilizers, pesticides, seeds etc. But, gradually, they get saturated and land degradation starts. Therefore, for optimal and sustained return, well planned strategies for land utilization is essential. For useful and successful planning, a reliable information of Land Arability is essential and so the Land Arability Classification. The Land Arability is defined as the inherent capacity of land to perform a given level of agricultural production. The Land Arability CLassification is a systematic arrangement of land according to those properties that determine the ability of land to produce the agricultural products on a virtually permanent basis. The importance of land arability classification was recognized since the primitive days. Various developments may be suitability grouped in to three era, viz., pre USDA classification scheme USDA classification scheme and FAO approach. The FAO approach is preferred as it considers more logical and reliable factors for the classification. This brings the arability classification in to multidisciplinery field, involving varied and large data. From the literature review, the gaps noticed are: non availability of standardized approach at peasant level planning, subjectivity in almost all methods, lengthy and tedious decision making. Citi) It was decided to carry out a study with an objective to propose a standardized automatic method for land arability classification (keeping in view the FAO approach and experiences gained by the follow up studies) free from subjectivity, applicable at all levels and to validate the proposed methodology in a sample area. A six phase automated method has been proposed which may be an integrated Land Classification Approach. It is a crop specific capability system that is based on comparision of plant growth and production requirements with the prevailing environmental condition. The phases are (1) Identification of Land utilization types, C2) Definition of its growth requirements, C3) Data collection and analysis of the study area, (4) Fixation of patine criteria, C5) Digitization. and (6) CLassifecation.. Though the method is scale independent, the study has been carried out at a scale 1:250,000 with a grid cell size of 500m x500m. The proposed method worked satisfactorily for the study area. The study contemplated here may be useful in enhancing the agriculture production in the study area. A proper cropping pattern may be set out on the basis of arability classes. It is expected that study may sound as innovation in the field of land use, agriculture, geography and planning.