Crop Suitability Analysis in the Bijnor District, UP, Using Geospatial Tools and Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process

Land suitability analysis allows identifying limiting factors for agricultural production and enables decision-makers to formulate efficient agricultural management plans. In the present study, GIS-based multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) land suitability analysis was carried out for sustainable development of agriculture. Ten variables such as drainage, depth, rainfall, pH, slope, soil texture, distances to a major road and the closest town, and flooding risk were investigated to access cropland suitability in Bijnor. These suitability factors were ranked by Fuzzy analytical hierarchy process and the resulting weights were used to generate suitability map layers. The final suitability maps of major crops were using weighted overlay analysis. The findings revealed that sugarcane, wheat, paddy, and oilseed had largest area under moderately suitable class as land in this category had minor limitations. Alkaline soil reaction, gentle slope and shallow soil depth were the main limiting factors in this category. A fairly remarkable area under each crop selected was also found under marginal suitable category. These areas could be made suitable by modifying land-quality parameters. The methodology adopted and its application procedures can be utilized to evaluate land suitability and to suggest best agricultural practices.