Land Suitability Analysis for Agricultural Crop using Remote Sensing and GIS- A Case Study of Purulia District

Land suitability assessment for the agricultural crop of Purulia district is the primary objective of this study. In the study, an attempt was made using the remote sensing and GIS to distinguish the land type suitable for crops production. The characteristics are determined by various parameters to be specific land use type, slope, surface elevation above MSL, drainage pattern and so on. All these factors determine the suitability of a given area for a particular type of crop cultivation. The various agricultural crop produce in this investigation zone are paddy, maize, wheat, potato, and oilseed etc. Distinctive parameters utilized to be specific, LU/LC, soil, slope, water level, geology and hydro-geomorphology of Purulia district, weighted overlay analysis is finished with the help of ArcGIS software. The weighted overlay method based on the multi criteria decision making analysis was adopted. The final suitability map discovered five class i.e., Not Suitable zone, Low Suitable zone, Moderate suitable zone, High suitable zone and Very high suitable zone. The Not suitable zone cover 129.3 sq. km (2.06%) found in Tanto Pahar, near Kashipur, near to the Panchkot block, Low suitable zone covers 309.5 sq. km (4.93%) found in near Kashipur, Raghunathpur-I, Para block, Moderate suitable zone covers 943.7 sq. km (15.03%) found in Western part of Arsha block, southern parts of Santuri block, High suitable zone covers 2751.2 sq km (43.84%) found in Hura, Jhalda-I, Baghmundi, Puncha and Very high suitable zone covers 2141.8 sq km (34.12%) found in Purulia-I, Purulia-II, Manbazar, Jaipur and a few part of Raghunathpur of the aggregate investigation zone.