Land Suitability Classification for Agricultural Crops in Bidanagere Micro-Watershed, Tumkur District, Karnataka using Geospatial Techniques

Abstract

Land resource inventory of Bidanagere micro-watershed (649 ha) situated between 77°4′47.99′′ to 77°6′35.94′′ E longitude and 13°8′45.6′′ to 13°10′40.8′′ N latitude, Tumkur district, Karnataka was prepared using geospatial techniques. Cadastral map at 1:7,920 scale was used as base map for the study. The satellite images (Cartosat-1, PAN 2.5 m, Resourcesat-2 LISS-IV MX merged image) and SOI toposheet were used for the delineation of landforms and physiographic units in the micro-watershed. Transects in the study area were identified so that it represents different landforms for soil profiles examination. Soil samples horizon wise were collected and analysed for various physical and chemical properties. On the basis of analytical data and the morphological features, 29 phases were identified and map was prepared to show their distribution in the micro-watershed. The results revealed that soils of Bidanagere micro-watershed were slightly acidic (5.93) to alkaline (7.79) in reaction, low to medium in electrical conductivity (0.04 to 0.93 dS m-1) and low to high in organic carbon status (0.8 to 9.6 g kg-1). In general, the exchangeable cations increased [Ca (2.7-19.01 cmol(p+) kg-1), Mg (0.1-9.9 cmol(p+) kg-1) and Na (0.11-0.93 cmol(p+)kg-1) with increase in depth in both upland and lowland profiles except exchangeable K [0.03-0.42 cmol(p+)kg-1]. Nearly 59.5% of total area in the micro-watershed is highly suitable (S1) for the cultivation of crops like finger millet, groundnut, castor and pigeon pea. The database will be helpful to choose best cropping system suitable for given land.