Agricultural Suitability in India: Determining Op mal Loca ons for Rainfed Rice...
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Rice is one of the principal crops pro- duced and consumed in India. In 2010- 2011 the land area planted with rice was 42.86 million hectares (13% of the total land area). In 2010 India was the second largest producer of rice in the world, with a harvest of 95.98 million tones. In 2010- 2011 India exported 2.37 million tonnes of Basmati rice, valued at 113.55 billion rupees (2.1 billion current USD). Non- Basmati rice exports were signiϐicantly less, amounting to roughly 100 thousand tonnes and valued at 2.3 billion rupees (40 million current USD). Rice is a signiϐ- icant component of the Indian diet. In 2009-2010 annual rice consumption was estimated to be 74.7 kg per person in ru- ral areas and 56.64 kg per person in ur- ban areas. In 2009-2010, rice represent- ed just over 50 percent of total cereal consumption. The results of this analysis are seen in the Land Suitability for Rainfed Rice Produc- tion map. In this map the most suitable areas for rainfed rice production are shaded in light green, while unsuitable ar- eas are dark green. The ϐive suitability variables are displayed in Variable Maps 1 -5. any rainfed rice in 2000. Perhaps there is another crop grown in these areas that is more suitable for the agro-ecological con- text, or perhaps rice production is irrigat- ed. These results show that India is for the most part maximizing the cropland that is capable of producing rainfed rice; however, there are some areas where In order to maximize the country’s rice production, it would be ideal if the rice produced in India were grown on the ag- ricultural lands most suited for rice culti- vation. This study seeks to understand if the current rice production in India is grown on the land that is most suited for rice cultivation. This study will use GIS analysis to undertake a rice production suitability analysis and compare the re- sult of that analysis with the current loca- tion of rice cropland. Given the stressed state of India’s groundwater supply, the competing demands for surface water, and the fact that the majority of poor smallholders are not using irrigation, this analysis will focus on the suitability for rain-fed rice production. The land area that was identiϐied as suita- ble for rainfed rice production is closely aligned with the actual land area planted to rainfed rice in 2000. Interestingly there appear to be areas in the central part of the country and in south-western Gujarat that are suitable for rainfed rice production, but did not harvest much or rainfed rice production could be success- fully expanded. Future expansion of rain- fed rice production in the areas where it is viable may become a necessity if groundwater sources in India continue to be contaminated or depleted. Cartographer: Dana Goldman (May 2013) Coordinate System: UTM WGS 1984 44N Data Sources: European Space Agency GlobCover 2009 (Global Land Cover Map) (http://due.esrin.esa.int/globcover/) FAO/IIASA. Global Agro-Ecological Zones (GAEZ v3.0). FAO, Rome, Italy and IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria (2010). (http://gaez.fao.org/Main.html#) Fekete, B. M. et al. “High-resolution ϐields of global runoff combining observed river discharge and simulated wa ter balances” Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 16.3 (2002): 15-1 to 15-10. Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (2012) (http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/) References: FAO. “Guidelines for land-use planning” Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome (1996). Government of India. “Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2012” Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Agricul ture and Cooperation, Directorate of Economics and Statistics (2012). Mongkolsawat, C. et al. “A physical evaluation of land suitabil ity for rice: A methodological study using GIS” In Pro ceedings of the Asian Conference on Remote Sensing (ACRS’97), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1997). Agricultural Suitability in India: Determining Op Ɵmal Loca Ɵons for Rainfed Rice ProducƟon IntroducƟon There are ϐive variables that were used to perform the rice production land suitabil- ity analysis: nutrient availability, eleva- tion, slope, annual precipitation and cur- rent land cover. Each variable, except land cover, was reclassiϐied 1-4, with 1 being the most suitable for rainfed rice production and 4 being the least suitable. The 1 through 4 classiϐication system was selected based on the FAO guidelines for land use planning which employs a 1-4 classiϐication ranging from Highly Suita- ble to Not Suitable. The elevation classiϐication was selected because lower altitudes are more condu- cive to rice production. At higher alti- tudes colder temperatures restrict plant growth. The land cover classiϐication (suitable or unsuitable) was intended to eliminate areas that were impossible for rice production. The areas classiϐied as unsuitable are artiϐicial areas, bare areas, water bodies and permanent snow and ice. The nutrient availability classiϐica- tion was deϐined by the FAO and refers to soil fertility. The precipitation classiϐica- tion was selected because of the im- portance of rainfall in strictly rainfed pro- duction systems. The slope classiϐication was selected because ϐlat surfaces are ideal for rice production as equal water dispersion and depth is critical. After deϐining the 1-4 classiϐication for each suitability variable, a suitability map of ideal land for rainfed rice production was created by combining the variable scores in each location. Locations with land cover that were unsuitable for rain- fed rice production were automatically classiϐied in the suitability analysis as un- suitable. Finally, the harvested area of rainfed rice in 2000 was used as the point of comparison for the suitability analysis output. Methodology Land Suitability for Rainfed Rice ProducƟon Results and Conclusions Rainfed Rice ProducƟon in 2000 *The harvested area was mapped by plotting the square kilometers of rainfed rice harvested per grid. In this map the grids are 5 arc minutes. Therefore, the scale corresponds to the square kilometers harvested per eve- ry 25 square kilometers.
Transcript of Agricultural Suitability in India: Determining Op mal Loca ons for Rainfed Rice...
Riceisoneoftheprincipalcropspro-ducedandconsumedinIndia.In2010-2011thelandareaplantedwithricewas42.86millionhectares(13%ofthetotallandarea).In2010Indiawasthesecondlargestproducerofriceintheworld,withaharvestof95.98milliontones.In2010-2011Indiaexported2.37milliontonnesofBasmatirice,valuedat113.55billionrupees(2.1billioncurrentUSD).Non-Basmatiriceexportsweresigni icantlyless,amountingtoroughly100thousandtonnesandvaluedat2.3billionrupees(40millioncurrentUSD).Riceisasigni -icantcomponentoftheIndiandiet.In2009-2010annualriceconsumptionwasestimatedtobe74.7kgperpersoninru-ralareasand56.64kgperpersoninur-banareas.In2009-2010,ricerepresent-edjustover50percentoftotalcerealconsumption.
TheresultsofthisanalysisareseenintheLandSuitabilityforRainfedRiceProduc-tionmap.Inthismapthemostsuitableareasforrainfedriceproductionareshadedinlightgreen,whileunsuitablear-easaredarkgreen.The ivesuitabilityvariablesaredisplayedinVariableMaps1-5.
anyrainfedricein2000.Perhapsthereisanothercropgrownintheseareasthatismoresuitablefortheagro-ecologicalcon-text,orperhapsriceproductionisirrigat-ed.TheseresultsshowthatIndiaisforthemostpartmaximizingthecroplandthatiscapableofproducingrainfedrice;however,therearesomeareaswhere
Inordertomaximizethecountry’sriceproduction,itwouldbeidealifthericeproducedinIndiaweregrownontheag-riculturallandsmostsuitedforriceculti-vation.ThisstudyseekstounderstandifthecurrentriceproductioninIndiaisgrownonthelandthatismostsuitedforricecultivation.ThisstudywilluseGISanalysistoundertakeariceproductionsuitabilityanalysisandcomparethere-sultofthatanalysiswiththecurrentloca-tionofricecropland.GiventhestressedstateofIndia’sgroundwatersupply,thecompetingdemandsforsurfacewater,andthefactthatthemajorityofpoorsmallholdersarenotusingirrigation,thisanalysiswillfocusonthesuitabilityforrain-fedriceproduction.
Thelandareathatwasidenti iedassuita-bleforrainfedriceproductioniscloselyalignedwiththeactuallandareaplantedtorainfedricein2000.Interestinglythereappeartobeareasinthecentralpartofthecountryandinsouth-westernGujaratthataresuitableforrainfedriceproduction,butdidnotharvestmuchor
rainfedriceproductioncouldbesuccess-fullyexpanded.Futureexpansionofrain-fedriceproductionintheareaswhereitisviablemaybecomeanecessityifgroundwatersourcesinIndiacontinuetobecontaminatedordepleted.
Cartographer:DanaGoldman(May2013)CoordinateSystem:UTMWGS198444NDataSources:EuropeanSpaceAgencyGlobCover2009(GlobalLandCover Map)(http://due.esrin.esa.int/globcover/)FAO/IIASA.GlobalAgro-EcologicalZones(GAEZv3.0).FAO, Rome,ItalyandIIASA,Laxenburg,Austria(2010). (http://gaez.fao.org/Main.html#)Fekete,B.M.etal.“High-resolution ieldsofglobalrunoff combiningobservedriverdischargeandsimulatedwa terbalances”GlobalBiogeochemicalCycles,16.3 (2002):15-1to15-10.ShuttleRadarTopographyMission(2012) (http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/)References:FAO.“Guidelinesforland-useplanning”FoodandAgriculture Organization,Rome(1996).GovernmentofIndia.“AgriculturalStatisticsataGlance 2012”MinistryofAgriculture,DepartmentofAgricul tureandCooperation,DirectorateofEconomicsand Statistics(2012).Mongkolsawat,C.etal.“Aphysicalevaluationoflandsuitabil ityforrice:AmethodologicalstudyusingGIS”InPro ceedingsoftheAsianConferenceonRemoteSensing (ACRS’97),KualaLumpur,Malaysia(1997).
Agricultural Suitability in India: Determining Op mal Loca ons for Rainfed Rice Produc on
Introduc on
Thereare ivevariablesthatwereusedtoperformthericeproductionlandsuitabil-ityanalysis:nutrientavailability,eleva-tion,slope,annualprecipitationandcur-rentlandcover.Eachvariable,exceptlandcover,wasreclassi ied1-4,with1beingthemostsuitableforrainfedriceproductionand4beingtheleastsuitable.The1through4classi icationsystemwasselectedbasedontheFAOguidelinesforlanduseplanningwhichemploysa1-4classi icationrangingfromHighlySuita-bletoNotSuitable.
Theelevationclassi icationwasselectedbecauseloweraltitudesaremorecondu-civetoriceproduction.Athigheralti-tudescoldertemperaturesrestrictplantgrowth.Thelandcoverclassi ication(suitableorunsuitable)wasintendedtoeliminateareasthatwereimpossibleforriceproduction.Theareasclassi iedasunsuitablearearti icialareas,bareareas,waterbodiesandpermanentsnowandice.Thenutrientavailabilityclassi ica-
tionwasde inedbytheFAOandreferstosoilfertility.Theprecipitationclassi ica-tionwasselectedbecauseoftheim-portanceofrainfallinstrictlyrainfedpro-ductionsystems.Theslopeclassi icationwasselectedbecause latsurfacesareidealforriceproductionasequalwaterdispersionanddepthiscritical.
Afterde iningthe1-4classi icationforeachsuitabilityvariable,asuitabilitymapofideallandforrainfedriceproductionwascreatedbycombiningthevariablescoresineachlocation.Locationswithlandcoverthatwereunsuitableforrain-fedriceproductionwereautomaticallyclassi iedinthesuitabilityanalysisasun-suitable.Finally,theharvestedareaofrainfedricein2000wasusedasthepointofcomparisonforthesuitabilityanalysisoutput.
Methodology
Land Suitability for Rainfed Rice Produc on
Results and Conclusions
Rainfed Rice Produc on in 2000
*Theharvestedareawasmappedbyplottingthesquarekilometersofrainfedriceharvestedpergrid.Inthismapthegridsare5arcminutes.Therefore,thescalecorrespondstothesquarekilometersharvestedpereve-ry25squarekilometers.
