REMOTE SENSING APPROACH FOR ESTIMATING AGROFORESTRY AREA, SUITABILITY MAPPING AND CARBON SEQUESTRATION POTENTIAL OF AGROFORESTRY SYSTEMS IN SOLAN DISTRICT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH
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Date
2024-04-24
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UHF Nauni
Abstract
The present investigation entitled " Remote sensing approach for estimating agroforestry area,
suitability mapping and carbon sequestration potential of agroforestry systems in Solan district of
Himachal Pradesh " was carried out in Solan district of the Himachal Pradesh during the year 2021-
2023 for delineation of area under agroforestry practices, assessment of land suitability to agroforestry
and estimation of carbon stock and carbon sequestration potential. The study demonstrates the
superior performance of the random forest classification in land use mapping, particularly in Solan
district. The district's land cover distribution, as determined by the random forest classifier, reveals
that agroforestry constitutes 26.34 percent, making it the second-largest land cover. Forested areas
encompass 43.40 percent, while agriculture occupies 9.03 percent. Grasslands and built-up areas
contribute 7.03 percent and 6.77 percent, respectively. Barren land makes up 6.24 percent, and water
bodies account for 1.20 percent of the district's total land cover. The overall accuracy of the
classification is commendable at 85.78%, accompanied by a robust Kappa Coefficient of 0.8092.
Notably, agroforestry class exhibits high accuracy, with producer and user accuracies reaching
88.56% and 80.81%, respectively. Utilizing the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), the study
categorizes 17.32 per cent of the district as highly suitable for agroforestry, 22.37 per cent as
moderately suitable, 20.19 per cent as marginally suitable, 26.45 per cent as currently not suitable, and
13.67% as permanently not suitable. Employing the Fuzzy-AHP technique, the results indicate 11.33
per cent highly suitable, 24.76 per cent moderately suitable, 15.74 per cent marginally suitable, 26.30
per cent currently not suitable, and 21.87 per cent permanently not suitable for agroforestry in Solan
district. In terms of environmental impact, the projected carbon storage of 22.807 Tg C shows a
substantial increase of 1.780 Tg C over 20 years, contributing to climate change mitigation. The Net
Present Value of carbon sequestration is estimated at $27.037 million. Overall, the findings provide
valuable insights for policymakers, facilitating informed decision-making and intervention strategies
for the adoption, development, and management of agroforestry in Solan District, to address the
challenges posed by climate change.