SPATIO-TEMPORAL CHANGES IN WHEAT CROP CULTIVATION IN INDIA

Abstract. This study was conducted to understand the changes in spatiotemporal characteristics of wheat crop production including the changes in area and yield. We employed the emerging hot and cold spot analysis along with space time cube and space-time cluster density analysis to study the spatial changes in wheat crop production, area and yield, and understand the changes in spatiotemporal features. We made a comprehensive analysis of the changes in wheat crop production, area and yield on pan India basis for the period from 1999 to 2015. The major findings were: (a) During the study period significant increase in wheat yield occurred within the North Indian states of Punjab and Haryana and intensifying hot spots appeared within the Indo-Gangetic plains. (b) The Analysis of the area under wheat cultivation showed a persistent hot spot in the Northern states of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana, with new hot spots observed in the regions of Central India during the years 2014 and 2015. (d) The analysis of the wheat crop production showed significant new cold spots in Rajasthan and Gujarat, with intensifying hotspots emanating into the lower delta regions of Ganges. Present study also revealed the potential of GIS based data models when related with additional background information, to segregate the most significant clusters of changes (increase / decrease) happening over active wheat crop cultivation. We expect the results from this study to help in increasing the wheat crop yield and production in the future.