Agro-climatic Zones of India
- Prof. Bhagwan Deen
- Oct 30, 2023
- 7 min read
During post-green revolution era it is imperative to develop strategies that can sustain higher levels of production without an adverse affect on the environment because we need 29.2 million tonnes potato, 149.6 million tonnes vegetables and 83.9 million tonnes fruits and more quantity of food grains, pulses, edible oils, milk and meat by the year 2020 (Paroda and Kumar,2000) to feed growing population of India. In order to produce required quantity of edibles from the existing resources under prevailing climatic conditions, we must have to generate need-based, location specific and environment friendly technology for agriculture sector. Delineation of agro-climatic zones mainly based on soil types, water availability, rainfall and temperature which influence the agricultural production is essential step to increase the production by sustainable exploitation of available resources. Agroclimatic zones are regions with similar climatic conditions and agricultural potential. These zones are defined based on temperature, rainfall, soil type, and crop suitability. The purpose of defining these zones is to facilitate the development of location-specific strategies and interventions for agricultural development. According to FAO (1983) agro-climatic zone (ACZ) is a land unit delineated in terms of major climate and growing period, which is climatically suitable for certain range of crops and cultivars. The Planning Commission of India (Now NITI Aayog) in its meeting held on 20th July 1987 accepted 15 agro-climatic regions which were delineated on the basis of homogeneity in agro- characteristics
