Identification of Potential Areas for Horticulture Expansion using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques

Abstract

Horticultural crops play a unique role in India’s economy by improving the income of rural people. The cultivation and production of horticultural crops is known as “Golden Revolution” and India has emerged as the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world. The country has abundant sunshine throughout the year, surplus labor and widely varied agroclimatic conditions, which offer high potential for successful and profitable commercial horticulture mainly mango crop. Remote sensing and geographical information systems can be effectively used for generating such information and hence an attempt has been made to map the areas under mango crop and also potential areas for taking up its cultivation and identifying suitable areas for infrastructure development. The study was conducted in the parts of Krishna and West Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh using temporal digital data sets from AWiFS and LISS-III sensor onboard Resourcesat-1 satellite and IKONOS data. The digital analysis of satellite data was carried out in order to derive potential areas suitable for mango crop cultivation based on  soil, climatic and edaphic conditions in GIS environment. The IKONOS data was used for identification of mango plantations and also growth pattern in combination with other horticultural crops in the study. The land use/land cover mapping was done with AWiFS data in Krishna and West Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh and suitable areas were categorized as category 1 to 4 for expansion of mango cultivation areas. As horticultural crops are perennial and long-standing with increased commercial importance, long-term database on their extent, distribution, condition and necessary infrastructure is highly essential for strategic planning towards integrated development of horticultural crops in the state.

Keywords: Edaphic, GIS, HIS, IKONOS, remote sensing, suitability analysis