Geospatial application for agroforestry suitability mapping based on FAO guideline: case study of Lohardaga, Jharkhand State of India

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Photo by Peter Hammer on Unsplash

Photo by Peter Hammer on Unsplash

Why is it important?

In view of climate change scenario, the increasing population, higher food demand and deteriorating land productivity are the key issues which need to be addressed in present time frame because it will be more critical in the future. The scientific evaluation of land for agroforestry is a step towards sustainability for achieving the socio-economic and environmental goal of the community. The objective of the present study was to investigate the suitability of land use/land cover of Lohardaga district of state of Jharkhand, India for agroforestry use based on FAO land suitability criteria utilizing Landsat-8 images (NDVI/wetness), ASTER DEM (elevation/slope/drainage and watershed), ancillary data source (rainfall/organic carbon/pH and nutrient status). The analysis of our study for agroforestry suitability reveals that 50.5% area as highly suitable (S1), 28.2% area as moderately suitable (S2), 20% area as marginally suitable (S3) and 1.3% area as not suitable (NS). Only 2.9% of the total land area is dominated by two season crop which is a matter of serious concern. The statistical analysis of the results reveals that the lands have huge potentiality for harnessing agroforestry crops if utilized scientifically. Such results will greatly help to the state level policymakers for achieving the national agroforestry policy goal for extending it to the new areas in the districts of Jharkhand.