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IAPRS & SIS, Vol.34, Part 7, “Resource and Environmental Monitoring", Hyderabad, India,2002 
  
A SPATIAL MODELLING APPROACH FOR LAND SUITABILITY ANALYSIS 
FOR AGRICULTURE USING GIS 
Gupta, R. D.**, Gupta, Y. K.?, and Srivastava, S.K." 
* Department of Civil Engineering, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad, 
211004, India. - (gupta rd, gupta yku)(grediffmail.com 
? Allahabad Development Authority, Indira Bhawan, VII/VIII Floor, Civil Lines, Allahabad, 
211004, India. - kumarsunil63@rediffmail.com 
KEY WORDS: GIS, Agriculture, Land, Classification, Modelling, Spatial 
ABSTRACT: 
Land is a prime natural resource and thorough knowledge on its suitability for a particular purpose 
is essential for proper planning and development of any region. Geographic Information System 
(GIS) is modern technological tool which may be used for delineating the land suitable for 
agriculture. A GIS-based spatial model for land suitability analysis for agriculture has been 
developed in the present work for a part of Phulpur tehsil of Allahabad district, Uttar Pradesh, India. 
The thematic layers used in the analysis include soil type map, slope map, rainfall intensity map and 
ground water potential map. The table criteria approach has been adopted and Arc Macro Language 
(AML) of ARC/INFO GIS has been used for model development under GIS environment. The 
study area has been classified into five suitability classes, namely, from Class I (highly suitable) to 
Class V (not suitable for agriculture). The highly suitable land constitutes nearly 30% of the total 
area. Various planning agencies of Allahabad district are expected to be benefited by the usage of 
above GIS based methodology for achieving a balanced development in the region. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
India is primarily an agricultural economy and 
nearly two thirds population of India is still 
dependent on agriculture. Self sufficiency in 
food in the wake of large population growth 
demands application of the most optimal 
technologies for ^ achieving sustainable 
development. - To properly plan thé various 
developmental activities in any region, it is 
essential to know the current status of its natural 
resources. The land should be put to its 
optimum use on the basis of its suitability for a 
specific purpose. 
The proper development of land requires 
collection of reliable information about 
agriculture related parameters like soil type, 
slope, ground water, rainfall intensity coupled 
with other developmental parameters like road 
network, socio-economic aspects and available 
amenities. All these parameters need to be 
  
suitably analyzed for assessing the potential of 
existing land and for formulating meaningful 
land related plans and policies. 
2. GIS AND LAND SUITABILITY 
ANALYSIS 
Land suitability analysis is a systematic method 
of appraisal of lands and their designation by 
categories or classes. It determines the quality 
of land being right or appropriate for a specific 
purpose. This is determined on the basis of 
similar characteristics and related 
environmental conditions with respect to its 
suitability for a task (Tiwari and Garg, 1997). 
The land suitability analysis requires large 
amount of spatial data which may be derived 
from satellite data, topographic maps, ground 
visits, efc. Since the suitability analysis requires 
overlay and modelling of several spatial land