Resource information
According to the current land utilization, about 11 million hectares or 16% of the total land area is under cultivation. Since a total of about 18 million hectares is estimated as suitable for agricultural purposes, some 7 million hectares of new land can be brought under crop cultivation and livestock farming. In bringing new land under agricultural use, it is important that the use of scientific techniques of land evaluation and land use planning be made mandatory to ensure the suitability and optimum use of land. In agricultural planning, land evaluation sets up a link between the basic survey of resources and the making of decisions on land use. As part of land use planning, the Land Resources Information System is vital to ensure that environmentally valuable lands are not encroached upon and that adverse environmental impacts can be avoided.
To ensure conservation of the resource base, the effective programmes should be designed to address the following constraints in agriculture;
* Low productivity due to agro climatic conditions;
* Low productivity due to water shortage;
* Low productivity due to soil degradation, irrigation induced water logging and salinity in dry zone...
A number of agricultural research stations and centres are presently carried out research on plant varieties, crop patterns, irrigation techniques, water storage techniques and soil analysis. The programmes and activities of those centres should be reviewed to ascertain their effectiveness and to assist in the formulation of new programmes that can address key productivity constraints...
CONTENTS:
1. Topography;
2. Climate;
3. Land Utilization;
4. Soils in Dry Zone;
5. Land cover;
6. Generation of Slope Maps, Erosion Susceptibility Maps;
7. Regenaration Mapping;
8. Land Degradation, Environmental Conditions And Socio-Economic Impacts;
9. Conclusions.
