ABSTRACT
Agriculture is the major livelihood of the majority of the rural population in India. Farmers are forced to produce more food resources with limited land and in adverse climatic conditions in order to cater for the exponentially increasing demand for food. The assessment of the suitability of the crop land can provide a suitable solution for sustainable agricultural production. In this study, efforts have been made to carry out land suitability assessments at farm level using easily available evolution parameters. A methodology has been developed for land suitability assessment using soil health card data. The aim of this study is to determine the physical suitability of the land for producing major crops using a Spatial Multi-Criteria Evaluation (SMCE) approach, and to compare present land use against potential land use. The study was carried out in Badipur village in the Patan district of Gujarat state. The relevant parameters listed in the soil suitability manual of the National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning (NBSS & LUP), such as Soil Texture, Soil pH, Soil Salinity, Soil Sodicity, Soil Depth, Soil Electrical Conductivity, Ground Water Quality, Soil Nutrients [Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P), Potassium (K)] and Organic Carbon, are considered for suitability analysis. The land evaluation criteria were developed based on farmers’ knowledge, the suggestions of agriculture experts, literature, and available crop land suitability criteria. All data were stored in a Geographical Information System (GIS) environment and the maps were generated for each and every parameter. For Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE), the pairwise comparison matrix known as the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was applied, and the areas suitable for major crops were identified. Each farm in Badipur village was classified and mapped into four categories of suitability (Highly suitable, Moderately suitable, Marginally suitable, and Unsuitable) as per the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) (1976) qualitative evaluation. The study demonstrates that the spatial Multi-Criteria Decision Making Method (MCDM) technique is a powerful support system for agriculture resource management at farm level. The methodology used in this study can be utilized for implementing crop land suitability at farm level.
