Land Suitability Assessment for Maize and Paddy Production in Bogur Microwatershed Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques

Abstract

˗˗˗˗The main aim of this study was to assess the soils of Bogur microwatershed in Northern Transition Zone of Karnataka for sustainable production of maize and paddy.Seven land qualities including water availability index (W), oxygen availability (O), nutrient availability index (NAI), water retention (I), rooting conditions (R), excess of salts (Sa) and topography (T) were selected and their suitability evaluated.Four soils series: Singhanhalli, Bogur, Mugli and Venkatapur and seventeen soil units including SGH-c-d4-Be1 belonging to Singhanhalli series; MGL-cl-d3-De2 belonging to Mugli series; BGR1-sl-d4-Ce2, BGR2-c-d5-Be1, BGR3-sl-d4-Ce3 and BGR4-cl-d5-Ce2 belonging to Bogur series; and VKP1-sc-d4-Ce2, VKP2-sl-d3-Ee4, VKP3-c-d5-Be1, VKP4-sl-d2-Be1, VKP5scl-d4-De3, VKP5-scl-d3-De2, Vkp5-scl-d4-Be2, VKP5-scl-d3-Ce2, VKP6-cl-d4-Ce2, VKP7-sl-d2-De3, and VKP8-sl-d4-De3 belonging to Venkatapur series, were identified.Singhanhalli series covers 78.5 ha (10.3%);Mugli series covers 22.1 ha (2.9%); Bogur series covers 237.3 ha (31.2%); and Venkatapur series covers 406.6 ha (53.5%).One mapping unit, VKP2-sl-d3-Ee4 which accounts for 10.2 ha (1.3%) of the study area, was not evaluated for crop production because it is a non-cultivable land.The results revealed that 33.8 ha (4.4%) is moderately suitable, 312.7 ha (41.1%) is marginally suitable and 387.7 ha (51%) is not suitable for maize; whereas for paddy, all sixteen mapping units which account for about 734.2 ha (96.5%) of study area is marginally suitable.These results could be used as baseline information needed for mapping specific soil resource constraints for sustainable production of these crops in the study area.