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KEYWORDS: LGP, LCC, NPP, Elevation, Agro Micro Meteorological Regions, Tamil Nadu
Received: Aug 29, 2016; Accepted: Sep 21, 2016; Published: Sep 27, 2016; Paper Id.: IJEEFUSOCT20166
INTRODUCTION
Original Article
merged and finally 54 micro zones was developed for the State of Tamil Nadu.
The Indian sub-continent was bestowed with vast natural resources and enshrined with heterogeneous
land forms, varying climatic condition and receives less than 100 mm to more than 11,000 mm of rainfall owing to
its geographical position. Accordingly there are lot of heterogeneity in the agricultural ecosystems of the country
as a whole and the Peninsular Indias State of Tamil Nadu in particular.
The State Tamil Nadu is naturally divided between the flat eastern coast and the hilly regions in the north
and west with semi-arid climate. The mountainous and hilly areas, especially in the extreme western part of the
State, receive the higher precipitation, while the lower-lying southern and south-eastern regions receive the least
rainfall. Apart from this, the river delta that is seen in the State is rich in alluvial soil, and other parts of the State
have dominant soil types like clay, loam, sand, and red late rite. The total cultivated area is around 5.610 million
hectares and the forests cover is roughly 18 per cent of the State. Along the eastern side of the Western Ghats and
in the hills of the northern and central districts, the plant life is a mixture of evergreen and deciduous species.
The Planning Commission of India during Seventh Plan Period (1985-1990) divided the whole India into
15 Agro-climatic zones based on physiographic and climate. Subsequently the State Agricultural Universities were
entrusted with the task of dividing those agro-climatic zones into State-wise sub agro-climatic zones which made
India into 127 sub zones. The delineations were aimed at allocation of resources and for intensification of
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agricultural activities through region specific transfer of technologies. But the purpose was not achieved fully.
The success of zoning a particular region lies in adoption of new research tools available, particularly the vital
inputs from space technologies such as Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Remote sensing
technology has been of great use to planners in planning for efficient use of natural resources at national, state and district
levels (Steven, 1993).
The National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning was divided entire India into 20 agro-ecological
zones for preplanning purpose. But that was not enough for micro level agricultural planning. So in this context, in the
current study, delineation of agro-micro meteorological region for Tamil Nadu was done by using remote sensing and
geographic information system.
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growing season was limited to 90-100 days in dryl ands, 14 weeks moving average was used. The number of consecutive
weeks in which the 14 weeks moving average of RF/PET ratio 0.75 was considered as LGP. The LGP was grouped based
on the classification suggested by Ramakrishna et al., (1996) viz., L1 (<10 weeks; short duration pulse), L2 (11-17 weeks;
mono cropping), L3 (18-25 weeks; inter cropping) and L4 (>26 weeks; double cropping).
Land Capability Classification (LCC)
LCC map derived from soil series data of NRIS were reclassified to form quality themes of land capability.
Grouping of LCC was based on the inherent soil characteristics, external land features and environmental features that
limit the use of land. The LCC was categorised viz., C1 (II; good), C2 (III; moderate), C3 (IV; poor), C4 (V; grazing cum
forestry).
Net Primary Productivity (NPP)
NPP was classified based on the productivity of crops viz., P1 (<1 Kg C/m2/yr ; low productivity) and
P2 (>1.1 Kg C/m2/yr ; high productivity).
Elevation
The elevation of a location decided the weather that prevailed in the region and accordingly the crop suitability
got varied. The elevation of Tamil Nadu with reference to mean sea level was ranged from 0 to 2617m and it was
categorised as E1 (<750m) and E2 (>751m).
Delineation of agro micro meteorological areas
Agro-micro meteorological region was delineated by overlaying the four layers such as length of growing period,
land capability classification, net primary productivity and elevation with the mask layer i.e.landuse / land cover. Only
agricultural lands were considered for agro-micro meteorological region delineation. An area of less than one square
kilometre (100 ha) was considered to be non-effective for transfer of technology and were merged with the adjacent zone
for delineation of zoning.
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duration pluses. Most of the areas of the State under the category L2 found in centre and southern parts of the State and
these areas were more suitable for inter cropping. Followed by L2, the area under L3 was more which was seen in the
extreme north eastern part of the State and these areas were most suitable for mono cropping. Bio-climatic variation with
LGP ranging from 90 to 210 days was observed for semiarid to sub humid area (Gajbhiyeet al., 1983).
Land Capability Classification Layer
Using LCC ranges, the cultivable land was broadly classified into four categories viz., good, moderate, poor and
grazing cum forestry. In the present study, the area under moderate (46.66%) was more followed by poor (30.75%).
This showed that the agriculture areas in Tamil Nadu were moderately suitable for cultivation of crops (Figure 2).
The land capability classification varied from good to grazing cum forestry with major area fell under moderate
cultivable land. This C2 (moderate) category type of soil was found almost in all part of the State which indicated that the
cultivable land was suitable for mono cropping as well as for double cropping. All these four categories of LCC were
found in the entire part of the State but only showed variation in the area coverage. The class I of LCC as brought out by
very good cultivable land was not found in Tamil Nadu State indicating the existence of one or other constraints in the soil
ecosystem of Tamil Nadu.
Net Primary Productivity Layer
In total agriculture area the majority of productivity came under P1 category (55.22%) which means low carbon
production (<1 Kg C/m2/yr).
NPP estimates vary from South to North of the State, as the carbon storage by terrestrial ecosystem played an
important role in limiting the increasing rate of atmospheric CO2. In Tamil Nadu most of the area came under low
productivity P1, in which most of the areas were found in the centre of the State and some parts in the western and southern
sides of the State Figure 3. This was due to the higher temperature rate that prevailed during summer coupled with the
higher evapotranspiration rate. Higher values of NPP were observed more in the Northern and Western part of the State and
it might be due to prevalence the medium to moderate rainfall associated with the higher solar radiation. Similar ranges of
values for NPP estimation was observed in Eastern Ghats using multi spectral MODIS data as reported by Mariappan
(2010), Ramesh et al (2013).
Elevation Layer
Mean sea level elevation of the State of Tamil Nadu did vary from 0 to 2617 m where most of the areas were
covered under E1 (<750 m). The presence of Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats mountain ranges was the reason for higher
elevation. However it covered only 4.05 per cent. The Western, Southern and the North western parts were hilly and rich in
vegetation. The major crops cultivated under these areas were perennial plantation crops and cool season vegetables Figure
4.
Agro Micro Meteorological Areas Identification
The agro-micro meteorological area approach had 4, 4, 2, and 2 categories of length of growing period, land
capability classification, net primary productivity and elevation respectively. Based on the logical combination, the layers
were overlaid and the resultant layer was the agro-micro meteorological areas. The four parameters combination could
have resulted in 64 zones however, there are eight zones where in the combination of L1 and E2 occurred did not find a
Impact Factor (JCC): 3.7216
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place. This might be due to higher LGP seen at higher elevation owing to the fact that the hilly regions generally did
receive higher rainfall. This resulted in 56 combination categories. In order to have a meaningful zonation, two zones
which has areas lesser than 100 ha were merged with their closest zone.
Finally 54 agro micro meteorological regions had been identified for the entire Tamil Nadu Figure 5. Nearly 50
per cent area was covered with zones which had LGP of 11 to 17 weeks. Similarly one third of the area was covered with
LGP of 18-25 weeks, which was found to be the second largest with reference to the area coverage. The zones viz.,
L2C2P1E1 (1473275 ha), L3C2P2E1 (1025138 ha) and L2C3P1E1 (948869 ha) ranked in order of first three places as favoured
by their LGP classes and area coverage.
CONCLUSIONS
The agro-micro meteorological area identified with 4, 4, 2 and 2 categories respectively for length of growing
period, land capability classification, net primary productivity and elevation respectively did bring 54 combinations for the
entire State of Tamil Nadu. Since the new classification yields disaggregated AEZs which greatly facilitate area-specific
land use planning and recommendations, land use planning policies, and allow research and extension services as well as
agro-technology transfer across similar zones.
REFERENCES
1.
Gajbhiye, K.S, and Mandal.C (1983).Agro-Ecological Zones, their Soil Resource and Cropping Systems Status of Farm
Mechanization In India, National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Nagpur, K 30, 1-32.
2.
Mariappan, N. (2010). Net primary productivity estimation of eastern ghatsusing multispectral MODIS data Int. J. Geomat
Geosci, 1(3), 406-413
3.
Ramakrishna, Y.S., Venkateshwarlu, J and Rao.A.S (1996) Agro-climatic zones of India Ann. Arid Zone, 35(1), 1-8.
4.
Ramesh, J and Lekeshmanaswamy.(2013). Studies on the primary productivity of thrPykara Dam, Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu,
India.Indian J. Natural Sci., 19(3), 976-997
5.
Reddy, S.J. (1983).Agro-climatic classification of the SAT 1.Method for the computation of classificatory variables.Agric
Meteorol, 30,185-200
6.
Steven, M.D. (1993). Satellite remote Sensing for agricultural management: Opportunities and logistic constraints.
Photogramm Remote Sensing, 48(4), 29-34
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APPENDICIES
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