Abstract
The objective of a present study was to evaluate the land of Uttarakhand for suitability of Willow. The study area located between latitude 28º43'N and 31º27'N and longitude 77º34'E and 81º02'E. and covers approximately 53,485 sq km. A suitability resulting from the overlay process of the identified theme layers has unique information of tree requirement on which the suitability is based. The identified theme layers include temperature (maximum, minimum and average temperature), precipitation and soil texture. All thematic layers with their associated attribute data were encoded in GIS database. Overlay operation was performed on these layers through the model developed using Model Builder module of ARC-view 3.2. The model was a result of the crop requirements and the range of input variables in the state. Model was applied to formulate the suitability classes. The results indicate that 38%, 29.3%, 13.2% and 19.5% area of the total geographical area of the state fall under the most suitable, suitable less suitable and not suitable categories, respectively for Willow plantation. On the basis of the results, it can be recommended that Willow can be grown on the larger area of Uttarakhand state, especially the wastelands can be utilized for cultivation of Willow, which will not only be beneficial for socio-economic point of view but also sequester large amount of the carbon from the atmosphere.
Highlights
Most of the plant species in India are exploited for their commercial values with least or no consideration for their sustainable exploitation
The leaves and barks of the willow tree have been mentioned in ancient texts from Assyria, Sumer and Egypt as a remedy for aches and fever, willows contains salicin a substance that chemically resembles aspirin (Breasted, 2007)
Will save the huge cost of experimentation and save precious time (Harasheh, 1994). Keeping this in view present study aimed to use GIS to classify the suitability of land with integrated information for Willow plantation
Summary
Most of the plant species in India are exploited for their commercial values with least or no consideration for their sustainable exploitation. Willow is one such species on which several local level livelihoods are dependent. Willow is used for biofiltration, ecological wastewater treatment systems, hedges, landscaping, phytoremediation streambank stabilization (bioengineering), slope stabilization, soil erosion control, shelterbelt and windbreak, soil reclamation tree and wildlife habitat. Will save the huge cost of experimentation and save precious time (Harasheh, 1994). Keeping this in view present study aimed to use GIS to classify the suitability of land with integrated information for Willow plantation. The spatial information resulted from this study could be utilized the wastelands for plantation which will help to increased income of villages and minimize environmental problems
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