LU/LC Development in Semi-arid Tropics: Large-Scale Wasteland Mapping for Sustainable Development - A case study of Achampet Mandal, Mahaboobnagar Dist, AP, India Dr. N C Gautam Sr. Advisor (Geomatics)  B K Mishra Speck Systems Limited B-49, EC, Kushaiguda, ECIL Post Hyderabad – 500 062, AP, India Tel: +91 40 27133828 (Off.), Fax: +91 40 27120044 (Off.) Email:bkmishra@specksystems.com Abstract The semi-arid tropics include parts of 48 countries in the developing world: most of India, locations in south east Asia, a swathe across sub-Saharan Africa, much of southern and eastern Africa, and a few locations in Latin America, which are characterized by unpredictable weather, long dry seasons, inconsistent rainfall, and soils that are poor in nutrients. This part of the world is quite sensitive to land degradation and increase in coverage of wastelands. Land resources are also found to be under stress due to pressure of population. Hence for optimum use of land resources, wastelands need to be mapped to be brought under productive use. For effective developmental planning for wastelands, correct assessment is needed, which is being taken up by various Land use development boards and organizations across the globe using remote sensing techniques. Even if some countries have taken up wasteland mapping assignments, required detailed information at village level is still at large. It is being strongly felt that wastelands need to be mapped at sufficiently large-scale (i.e. 1; 12,500 or 1:10,000 scale) and maps need to be generated on a cadastral base. Further to mapping, a detailed action plan can be generated for reclamation of wastelands with due regard to other resource information. Since no such study has been taken up by any department except a few discussions and proposals, Speck Systems Ltd., Hyderabad took up a study in this direction to map wastelands at a larger scale with due reference to available cadastral maps, land-use, soil type, groundwater prospects etc., and develop a comprehensive action plan for development/reclamation. Achampet mandal of Mahaboob Nagar District, AP was selected as the study area for the purpose. Advanced tools in Remote Sensing & GIS were used for the purpose. The paper presents the scope, methodology and outcomes of this pilot scale project on large-scale wasteland mapping. A comparison was also carried out with regard to wasteland mapping undertaken at smaller scales. The advantages of large-scale mapping have been established and results have been presented in graphical form. The paper can be of use for decision makers/mapping scientists who are dealing with Land Resources and related developmental planning. 1. Introduction The semi-arid tropics include parts of 48 countries in the developing world: most of India, locations in South East Asia, a swathe across sub-Saharan Africa, much of southern and eastern Africa, and a few locations in Latin America. This zone is characterized by unpredictable weather, long dry seasons, and inconsistent rainfall; hence prone to land degradation. Land that used to support people since time immemorial turns into barren wasteland / degraded land mainly because of four factors e.g. climate, soil, topography and human factors. The first three being natural in origin are reasonably stable, whereas the fourth one, the human factor is variable in space and time. Efforts are on to develop land-use systems in semi arid tropics and meet the demands of food supply for increasing population. The main objective is to bring all the wastelands under productive use through afforestation, plantations, agro-forestry, horticulture and other productive use. This calls for the development of appropriate technology for wasteland development and management. Such types of developmental planning need very accurate and reliable database on the type, extent and ownership of wastelands. The need for an accurate and detailed database on wastelands calls for a large-scale mapping, so that the same can be integrated with cadastral maps on an LIS base. Even though 1:50,000 scale wasteland mapping has been completed for India, the same is not found suitable for implementation of wasteland development program at village level. Hence Speck Systems Limited took up a study in this direction to map wastelands at a larger scale (1; 12,500 scale) using satellite remote sensing technique to establish the advantages over existing small scale maps in terms of available details, accuracy and capability to be integrated at cadastral level. Its applicability and usability for integrated wasteland development was also taken into due consideration.
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