AGRICULTURE POTENTIAL ZONE IDENTIFICATION USING GIS TECHNIQUE IN THE HILLY TERRAIN BLOCK OF UTTARKASHI DISTRICT

Abstract. Management could be improved through the use of current technologies including Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS).The present study was carried out to identify the potential agriculture sites in the Yamuna basin of Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand. The characterization of natural resources of Yamuna basin of Uttarkashi district was undertaken using satellite imagery (Sentinel -2, LISS IV, LISS III, Aster DEM (30 m) and Survey of India Toposheet to generate several layers of maps such as Watershed Boundaries,Drainage, Soils, Land use and Land cover, Geology, Geomorphology, Lithology,Ground water, Slope and Aspect using Geographic Information System. The most influencing parameters of each layer were chosen based on literature and operational methodologies and they were extensively studied while taking in to consideration their role in determination of potential agriculture sites. Accordingly they were assigned definite weight in order to characterize the sites on basis of their potential Agriculture/Irrigation site values. Individual resources information was integrated in the GIS environment with the help of the weighted sum method to identify potential irrigation sites. Quantile classification was used to get more refined result. Census data sate agriculture department and irrigation department were used to verify the outcomes of result.