Spatio-temporal analysis of agricultural land use in Thane district

Abstract

Agriculture continues to sustain millions of people in India. This is despite the rapid industrialization which has acquired significant proportion in many regions of the country. Agriculture still forms the backbone of Indian economy. The twin processes of industrialization and urbanization are transforming the traditional economic relations between the rural and the urban segments. Agriculture geography is not concerned simply with describing the nature of farming in a region, in its broad sense; it includes aspects of farm operations and transport and marketing of agricultural commodities. Thane is one of the districts in North Konkan situated to the north of Mumbai. Complemented by fertile soil and market due to high connectivity of railway and highway ensuring access to the market of Mumbai, Surat and Ahmedabad. The study region has significant location in respect to the ‘Sahyadri’ (Western Ghats) in eastern side, relatively broad coastal plain i.e. western coast, is a fair coast-line (about 100 kilometers long), plateaus between the coastal range, the hills of Sahyadri and the western steep slope of the Sahyadri, lies between 72037’and 73045’ East longitudes and between 18042’ and 20020’ North latitudes. This study is concerned with the spatial analysis of agricultural landuse. To assess and analyse geographically. To describe and interpret the patterns of agricultural landuse in a selected area. Thus the study of agricultural pattern and its spatial variation form the central idea of the study. With respect to investigations certain physical and socio-economic variables involved in landuse patterns provide meaningful results for proper and efficient landuse.