Assessment of Land Suitability Through Conventional Method: A Micro Level Analysis in Koch Bihar District, West Bengal

It is necessary to understand the meaning of land, in its proper perspective as well as in the wider sense. Land is a basic natural resource. Land of any region is essential to be evaluated in respect of productivity. The productivity of land determined by the quality of soil properties. The characteristics of the soil are mainly determined by the topography, climate, parent material, vegetation of that region. Soil is a basic factor for socio-economic development of any region. It also effects on the livelihood pattern of that region. In the study area the researchers have found that most of the people in this area depends on soil for cultivating their lands. Soil survey of any region helps to identify different land use problems. In the entire research, the authors have attempted to determine the suitability of different land segments of the study area. Land suitability evaluation has been prepared followed by FAO methods (1976, 1977, 1983, 1985, and 2007). The field properties of taxonomic classes have been noted and classification has been carried out following the FAO system, the different negative or limitation factor, i.e. (e-erosion, w-wetness, s-soil, c-climatic) are indicate from geomorphological properties, soil characteristics, local condition and with the help of Land Judging Form (1974). In order to this detail field survey has been done to find out the relationship between different variables of the study area. The results show that study area has been classified from the suitability view point into two suitability classes, namely, moderately suitable (S2) and marginally suitable (S3) and further divided into five sub-classes namely, S2s, S2se, S2w, S2e, S3e. Basically, it is a micro-level study to prepare a scale of suitability classes for proper utilisation of cultivable lands and to identify the suitability degrees and display the spatial representation of soil suitable for agriculture.