Land Resource Inventory (LRI) for Sustainable Watershed Development-A Case Study of Bisarahalli-1 Microwatershed of Semiarid Region of Koppal District, Karnataka, India
K. V. Niranjana
ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Regional Centre Hebbal, Bangalore-560 024, Karnataka, India.
M. B. Mahendra Kumar *
ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Regional Centre Hebbal, Bangalore-560 024, Karnataka, India.
Rajendra Hegde
ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Regional Centre Hebbal, Bangalore-560 024, Karnataka, India.
K. V. Seema
ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Regional Centre Hebbal, Bangalore-560 024, Karnataka, India.
B. A. Dhanorkar
ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Regional Centre Hebbal, Bangalore-560 024, Karnataka, India.
S. Srinivas
ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Regional Centre Hebbal, Bangalore-560 024, Karnataka, India.
R. Srinivasan
ICAR-National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, Regional Centre Hebbal, Bangalore-560 024, Karnataka, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
A land resource inventory (LRI) of Bisarahalli-1 microwatershed was located in the central part of northern Karnataka in semiarid region of Koppal taluk and district. A case study was taken under Sujala III project sponsored by the Watershed Development Department of Karnataka and funded by the World Bank. The analysis and interpretation of the spatial and non-spatial database generated has revealed that most of the areas suffer from major problems. In most of the areas, very gently sloping and alkalinity affected even up to 80% of the microwatershed area followed by gravelly and low available water capacity, thus reducing the production potential and crop choices. The soils are either moderately or marginally suited for growing most of the agricultural and horticultural crops. By interfacing land resource data with Remote Sensing, GIS and GPS, different management scenarios were analysed to arrive at the best management alternatives (optimum land use plans) that would be most suitable. This data handling system will be useful for making land use decisions and providing proactive advice to farmers on a real time basis protecting the health of natural resources.
Keywords: Land resource inventory, spatial and nonspatial database, remote sensing, GIS and GPS