Agroforestry Site Suitability for Wasteland Greening - A case study of selected districts of various agroclimatic zones

Agroforestry being an agroecological practice has potential benefits of climate adaptation and mitigation while preventing land degradation and increase in agricultural productivity. In the present study, GIS based methodology was followed to identify suitable sites for agroforestry in 17 districts, representing different agroclimatic zones of India. A weighted index approach was adopted to integrate all parameters (land use land cover, wasteland, soil carbon, slope and surface water body) using GIS techniques. Weightages are given to each parameter based on its importance towards objective of the study and subsequently ranks are assigned to each category within the parameters. By multiplying weightage and rank, Agroforestry Suitability Index (ASI) was derived. The ASI has been further classified in 5 categories (High, Moderate, Less, Very Less, and Not Suitable). The model was validated based on ground truth (GT) data collected in selected districts. Comparison of GT points collected in High and Moderate suitable wasteland regions showed good agreement with the model and registered an accuracy of about 86.60%. District-wise agroforestry systems with multipurpose trees species have been recommended in high and moderate suitability classes for 17 districts across India. This approach is efficient and uses simple integration to prioritize the wastelands suitable for various other land use purposes vis-à-vis restoration projects expanding green cover and help to achieve national commitments under UNFCCC and UNCCD focussed on Ecosystem restoration, Paris Agreement, Land Degradation Neutrality and UN-sustainable development goals.