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IT potential in agriculture - A GIS implementation in evaluating cardamom potential in Sikkim Himalayas


Parameters For Development of Cardamom Cultivation Potential
Sikkim grows 90% of the total country's cardamom, which is a cash crop. Government is also encouraging cardamom cultivation and has setup Species Board to help farmers and do research work. Here, an attempt is made to find the suitability for cultivation of cardamom.

Requirement for cardamom cultivation: -

Soil requirement: pH value should be 5 to 5.5 i.e., soil should be acidic having organic carbon 23.8 mg/gm and nitrate about 3.30 mg/gm and phosphorus about 0.75 mg/gm. Soil depth should be greater than 9 inches.

Altitude requirement: Cardamom can be cultivated from 900 mts. to 2000 mts. above sea level. 900-1200 is best suited for Golsey variety, 1200-1600 is best suited for Sawney type and above 1600 is best suited for Ramsey variety and Varlangeo variety.

Tree shade requirement: Cardamom requires shades so that it gets diffused light as direct rays are harmful. Common shade trees are Alnus nepalensis,Schima wallichi, Bucklandia populnea.

Rainfall requirement: Rainfall should be between 3000-3500 mm. for 200 days. During dry seasons (winter and summer) irrigation can be arranged through sprinkler or hoses preceded by heavy mulching the plant base with dry leaves and trashes or weed material.

Land topography: Cardamom can be grown at any slope but the aspect of slope should be north or north east or south or south east as temperature buildup in these areas are minimum.

Potential for cardamom cultivation is calculated by using altitude, forest type, aspect, soil depth and soil type.

Development of Model
Altitude Weight Forest Type Weight Incidence Weight
1000 4 Agriculture 1 0 5
1500 4 Alpine Barren 1 30 4
2000 3 Alpine Scrub 2 45 3
2500 3 Degraded 4 60 2
3000 2 Dense Forest 5  
3500 2 Forest Blank 3
4000 1 Open Forest 5
4500 1 Rock 1
  Scrub Forest 1
Soil Depth Weight Assigned Soil Type Weight Assigned
Deep 5 Coarse Loamy 5
Moderate Shallow 3 Fine 4
Moderate Deep 4 Fine Loamy 4
Shallow 2 Loamy Skeletal 4


Result of potential for cardamom cultivation
Sl. No Potential Area(%) Cumm Area Area(sq km)
1 Very Good 3.39 3.39 2.8214
2 Good 55.21 58.59 46.0128
3 Satisfactory 20.75 79.34 17.2960
4 Not Recommended 20.66 100.00 17.2185
5 Total 100.00   83.3487


Result of potential for cardamom cultivation at Non Reserve
Sl. no Cardamom Potential Area(%) Cumm Area % Area(sq km)
1 Very Good 7.61 7.61 1.7261
2 Good 82.34 89.95 18.6713
3 Satisfactory 10.05 99.99 2.2779
4 Not Recommended 0.01 100.00 0.0016
  Total 100.00   22.6770


Distribution of Potential Along Altitudes in Non Reserve Forest
Altitude/ Cardamom 
Potential		 Very Good Good Satisfactory Not Recommended Total
1000 0.4480 9.9138 1.2188 0.0016 11.5822
1.98 43.72 5.37 0.01 51.07
3.87 85.59 10.52 0.01  
25.95 53.10 53.51 100.00  
1500 0.8894 5.2723 1.0294 0.0000 7.1911
3.92 23.25 4.54 0.00 31.71
12.37 73.32 14.32 0.00  
51.53 28.24 45.19 0.00  
2000 0.3311 3.0109 0.0296 0.0000 3.3716
1.46 13.28 0.13 0.00 14.87
9.82 89.30 0.88 0.00  
19.18 16.13 1.30 0.00  
2500 0.0576 0.4744 0.0000 0.0000 0.5320
0.25 2.09 0.00 0.00 2.35
10.84 89.16 0.00 0.00  
3.34 2.54 0.00 0.00  
1.7261 18.6713 2.2779 0.0016 22.6770
7.61 82.34 10.05 0.01  



Potential At Watershed Level


Potential In Non Reserve Forest


Conclusion
Thus from the above analysis we can conclude that the potential for cardamom cultivation is fairly high at around 80% both at whole watershed level and non-reserve forest level. As a matter of fact the cultivation of cardamom is limited to non-reserve forest. For improvement of cardamom production and proper marketing following measures are suggested,
  • As Ramsey and Varlangey varieties are very susceptible to fookey and chirke diseases proper management like pest control, use of modern seeding techniques should be used and the potential cultivators need to be properly educated in this regard.
  • As this watershed is located very near to Gangtok, capital of Sikkim, the product can be marketed easily. For this communication facilities must be upgraded.
  • Using IT like remote sensing and GIS based studies to properly monitor the cardamom cultivation.
  • The cardamom suffers from major diseases like Chirkey and Foorkey which should be properly dealt and further study can be made on this issue.
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