What is Agro-Climatic Zone?
Green Revolution provided the much needed food security to the vast population of the Indian Nation but in spite of being one of the top producers of almost all agricultural commodities, the productivity is still very low compared to many other countries in the world. The Agro-Climatic Zone is one of the tools to maximize the production from the available resources and prevailing climatic conditions, need-based, location specific technology needs to be generated.
What is Agro-Climatic Zone?
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defined an agro-climatic zone (ACZ) as a land unit represented accurately or precisely in terms of major climate and growing period, which is climatically suitable for certain range of crops and cultivars. In other words, it is an extension of the climate classification keeping in view the suitability to agriculture.
Green Accounting System- Objectives and Importance
Agro-Climatic Zone/ regions in India
The Planning Commission of India has divided the India into fifteen broad agro-climatic zones on the basis of physiography, soils, geological formation, Climate, cropping patterns, and development of irrigation and mineral resources for extensive agricultural planning and developing future strategies. The main objective was to integrate plans of the agro-climatic regions with the state and national plans to enable policy development based on techno-agro-climatic considerations. The agro-climatic zones in India are given below:
1. Western Himalayan Region
Area: Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and the hill region of Uttarakhand
Major Crops: Saffron, maize, barley, oats and wheat; peaches, apricot, pears, cherry, almond, litchis, walnut
2. Eastern Himalayan Region
Area: Arunachal Pradesh, the hills of Assam, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, and the Darjeeling district of West Bengal
Major Crops: Rice, maize, potato, and tea; orchards of pineapple, litchi, oranges and lime
3. Lower Gangetic Plain Region
Area: West Bengal (except the hilly areas), eastern Bihar and the Brahmaputra valley
Major Crops: Rice, jute, maize, potato, and pulses
4. Middle Gangetic Plain Region
Area: Parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar
Major Crops: Rice, maize, millets, wheat, gram, barley, peas, mustard and potato
5. Upper Gangetic Plains Region
Area: Central and western parts of Uttar Pradesh and the Hardwar and Udham Nagar districts of Uttarakhand
Major Crops: wheat, rice, sugarcane, millets, maize, gram, barley, oilseeds, pulses and cotton
What is Natural Biogas and Manure management Programme?
6. Trans-Ganga Plains Region
Area: Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and the Ganganagar district of Rajasthan
Major Crops: wheat, sugarcane, cotton, rice, gram, maize, millets, pulses and oilseeds
7. Eastern Plateau and Hills
Area: Chhotanagpur Plateau, extending over Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Dandakaranya
Major Crops: rice, millets, maize, oilseeds, ragi, gram, potato, tur, groundnut, soyabean, urad, castor, and groundnut
8. Central Plateau and Hills
Area: Bundelkhand, Baghelkhand, Bhander Plateau, Malwa Plateau, and Vindhyachal Hills
Major Crops: millets, wheat, gram, oilseeds, cotton and sunflower
9. Western Plateau and Hills
Area: Southern part of Malwa plateau and Deccan plateau (Maharashtra)
Major Crops: Wheat, gram, millets, cotton, pulses, groundnut, oilseeds, sugarcane, rice, wheat, oranges, grapes and bananas
10. Southern Plateau and Hills
Area: Interior Deccan and includes parts of southern Maharashtra, the greater parts of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu uplands from Adilabad District in the north to Madurai District in the south
Major Crops: millets, oilseeds, pulses, coffee, tea, cardamom and spices
What is Western Disturbance and its impact on the Indian subcontinent?
11. Eastern Coastal Plains and Hills
Area: Coromandal and northern Circar coasts of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa
Major Crops: Rice, jute, tobacco, sugarcane, maize, millets, groundnut and oilseeds
12. Western Coastal Plains and Ghats
Area: Malabar and Konkan coastal plains and the Sahyadris
Major Crops: Rice, coconut, oilseeds, sugarcane, millets, pulses and cotton
13. Gujarat Plains and Hills
Area: Hills and plains of Kathiawar, and the fertile valleys of Mahi and Sabarmati rivers
Major Crops: Groundnut, cotton, rice, millets, oilseeds, wheat and tobacco
14. Western Dry Region
Area: West of Aravalli (Rajasthan)
Major Crops: Bajra, jowar, moth, wheat and gram
15. Island Region
Area: Andaman-Nicobar and Lakshadweep
Major Crops: rice, maize, millets, pulses, arecanut, turmeric and cassava
The agro - climatic zone division will help to achieve the optimum utilization in a suitable manner within the framework of resource constraints and potentials of each region. This classification will also help in the development of efficient farming systems and crop improvement research programmes, and establishing principles for improved resource management.