Land suitability and crop water requirement of vegetable cultivation through spectral signatures and crop water model in the feeder zones of chennai city

Abstract

Agriculture and its allied sectors, is unquestionably the largest livelihood provider in India, more so in the vast rural areas. It is a promising sector in a countries economy and also highly associated with natural resources such as land and water. Vegetable production is a very good source of income to small and marginal farmers. Chennai city is the capital of the state Tamil Nadu. It is expanding at a very fast rate with peri-urban area, which was once agriculturally dominated, now becoming a hub for industrialization and urban dwelling. Due to urbanization and industrialization, the farming community living in the nearby districts face a number of problems such as an increase in production cost, labor shortage, increased labor cost, market price fluctuation, water marketing and agricultural land reduction for the habitation of growing population etc., The industries located in the urban area, send their vehicle to nearby villages to pick up the daily wages in the morning and to drop in the evening. Hence, the number of people involved in the agricultural activities has been reducing rapidly. Compared to the urban community, the socio - economic status of the farming community in the sub-urban districts are quite low. Based on their economic status, the farming community is being pushed to cultivate short duration crops like vegetables to get regular income for sustenance of the family and for self-reliance. Hence the farmers are trying to maximize the net profitability through sustainable short duration vegetable production in the existing agricultural land holding. newline