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DELINEATION OF MICRO AGRO-CLIMATIC ZONES OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR

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Int. J. Agricult. Stat. Sci. Vol. 10, Supplement 1, pp. 219-225, 2014 ISSN : 0973-1903
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

DELINEATION OF MICRO AGRO-CLIMATIC ZONES OF JAMMU AND

KASHMIR

Showkat A. Ganaie*, M. Sultan Bhat, Nisar A. Kuchay and Jahangeer A. Parry

Department of Geography, University of Kashmir, Kashmir - 190 001, India.
E-mail: ganaie.showkat@gmail.com

Abstract : The present paper attempted to divide Jammu and Kashmir into micro agro-climatic zones with the purpose to have
an understanding of the cropping system that may be suitably adopted in such a region. For the delineation of State into agro-
climatic zones, altitude, precipitation-temperature regime, major crops are grown and agricultural productivity have been
taken into consideration. The different map layers were prepared using suitable data base and methodologies. The
superimposition of these map layers, viz., altitude zonation map, cropping land use map, productivity map and PT Index map
resulted in the delineation of fourteen zones (five-climatic zones and nine agro-climatic zones). The largest among them is
Zone L (93531 km2) and the smallest is Zone 5J (384.6 km2). The zones with altitude below 1800m are most suitable for paddy
(rice) cultivation or wheat cultivation depending upon the availability of water requirements for the crop, while as those which
lie above 1800m are suitable for maize or orchard cultivation. The productivity of the crops vary with the geo-climatic
conditions and as a result of this, the productivity of rice (paddy) is highest in two zones of Jammu division (1J and 3J) and
one zone of Kashmir valley (1K), while as productivity of maize is higher in zones of Jammu division (1J, 2J and 2’J) than
Kashmir and similarly zone 2K is leading in the wheat productivity in Kashmir division and zone 3’J and 2'J are high
productive wheat zones in Jammu division. The Ladakh division (zone L) is producing only wheat with the productivity of
17.26 q/ha (quintals/hectare).
Key words : Agro-climatic, Cropping system, PT index, Productivity, Delineation, Zonation.

1. Introduction information about the target environments [Corbett

The importance of climate in influencing land cover,
viz., natural vegetation or land use, requires no
emphasis. Climate dictates to a large extent what the
natural vegetation is and which crops can be grown;
additionally it is mainly responsible together with soils
for yearly variation in yields. The climate not only affects
growth patterns, persistence, quality and yield, but also
influences the response of each cultivar to different
management practices [Chapman and Brown (1978)].
Climate is the most determining factor in the evaluation
of agricultural potential and it defines the limits between
which various crops can develop on the basis of soil
and terrain composition [Verheye (2010)].
By definition, an agro-climatic zone is a land unit,
in terms of major climate and growing period that is
climatically suitable for a certain range of crops and
cultivars [Balaguru (2010)]. Agro-climatic zonation
schemes are standard tools for prioritizing agricultural
research because they offer relevant available
(1996) and Kalogirou (2002)]. National Commission on
Agriculture (1971) classified the country into 127 agro-
climatic zones for agricultural planning. The purpose
of an agro-climatic zone map is therefore to show the
areas that are climatologically suitable for particular
crops and to guide the work of planners and farmers
[Francis (2010)]. Agro-climate influences crop growth,
yield and sustenance [Singh (2011)]. Proper agro
climatic zoning and seasonal climate forecasts are
crucial elements in minimizing climatic risks [Sue et al.
(2010)].
Agriculture is of paramount importance in the
economy of Jammu and Kashmir as it supports about
65 per cent of the population directly and indirectly
besides contributing nearly 20 per cent to the State
revenue, which adequately explains the over-
dependency of the population on agriculture [Economic
Survey Report (2009) and Qazi (2005)]. There is
heterogeneity in the landscape, climate, soils and crops

*Author for correspondence Received April 19, 2014 Revised August 12, 2014 Accepted October 17, 2014
220 Showkat A. Ganaie et al.

Fig. 1 : Delineation of Agro-climatic zones of J & K.

Table 1 : Precipitation-Temperature Ratio’s.

S.No. Zone Code Yearly Average Rainfall Yearly Average Temperature Precipitation-Temperature
(in mm) (in 0C) Ratio
01. A 659 26.66 24.72
02. B 967 22.54 42.90
03. C 1238 11.44 108.22
05. D 884 14.65 60.34
06. E 1386 45.48 30.47
07. G 1210 45.3 26.71
08. F 1412 47.46 29.75
09. H 1336 44.13 30.27
10. I 1592 40.32 39.48
11. K 1387 31.75 43.69
12. J 1642 41.33 39.73
13. L 1329 27.29 48.70
14. M 976 29.12 33.52
15. Ladakh 157 8.5 18.47
Source: Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) Pune, India.

grown in the Jammu and Kashmir State [Khan et al.
(2001), Hussain (2006) and Raina (2002)]. Agriculture
in the State is characterized by low productivity due to
low external inputs, soil erosion and other losses [Ali
(1985)]. This causes severe socio-economic impacts
that include food insecurity, famine, pests and economic
losses. The problem has caused public outcry for
adequate agro-climatic information for planning and
management purposes. The objective of this study is
therefore to generate a digital agro-climatic zone map
showing areas suitable for various agricultural
alternatives in Jammu and Kashmir using information
on altitude, rainfall, temperature, soils and other relevant
parameters. GIS has been used already for the agro-
climatic zonation of main land Asia [Zuo (1996) and
Zuo et al. (1996a, 1996b)].
2. Materials and Methods
An eclectic approach has been adopted in the
research work to delineate the micro agro-climatic zones
of the State. From the base map, different map layers,
viz., physiography and altitude zonation were prepared.
Soil map was generated from Indian Council of
Agricultural Research (ICAR) database. PT index map
 Delineation of Micro Agro-climatic Zones of Jammu and Kashmir 221

Table 2 : Agricultural productivity of dominant crops grown in Table 3 : Productivity of crops grown in different zones.
Jammu and Kashmir.
Agricultural productivity (Q/ha)
Agricultural Productivity Zone
(quintals/hectare) Paddy Maize Wheat
S.No. District A 21.87 12.9 12.37
Paddy/Rice Wheat Maize
B 20.58 14.63 14.01
01. Srinagar 29.21 14.12 16.64
E 25.76 21.41 18.91
02. Ganderbal 26.61 15.1 17.12
H 21.03 18.97 18.87
03. Badgam 27.42 17.14 15.43
04. Baramulla 28.72 18.62 15.76 G 21.12 17.03 19.09
05. Bandipora 27.03 18.53 15.47 F 22.99 14.9 18.42
06. Kupwara 24.04 17.93 17.93 I 20.38 12.35 19.1
07. Pulwama 29.54 15.84 19.4 K 20.05 15.61 18.84
08. Shopian 26.4 15.36 20.12 Ladakh - - 19.39
09. Anantnag 29.43 14.47 17.13 Average 21.97 15.98 17.67
10. Kulgam 28.89 14.88 17.24 Source: Compiled from table 1.2 using formula (i).
11. Jammu 27.1 19.2 21.56
12. Samba 24.42 18.62 21.25
13. Rajouri 21.2 19.2 21.42
14. Poonch 20.86 18.7 17.88
15. Udhampur 20.46 19.12 19.45
16. Reasi 19.7 19 19.12
17. Doda 19.85 19.12 17.23
18. Ramban 19.34 17.97 15.67
19. Kishtwar 20.15 18.21 16.24
20. Kathua 21.88 17.78 18.12
21. Leh - 19.46 -
22. Kargil - 19.32 -
Source: Directorate of Agriculture, Srinagar/ Jammu, 2011.

has been prepared by using the meteorological data

Fig. 2 : Altitude zonation map of Jammu and Kashmir.
from all the 54 stations located in the study area.
Precipitation-temperature ratio (PT Index) has been
calculated and a choropleth map has been prepared to
show different PT zones. Cropping land use map was
obtained by using the necessary data obtained from
concerned departments. The different map layers
obtained were finally superimposed to get the agro-
climatic zone map of the study area. The delineation of
the zones was based on those of WMO-UNEP (1971-
2000) and FAO (1983). The flow chart of methodology
adopted is given in Fig. 1.
3. Results and Discussion
(i) Preparation of Map Layers
Fig. 3 : PT ratio map of Jammu and Kashmir.
The different maps needed to delineate Jammu and
Kashmir into micro-agro-climatic zones have been then digitized and further processed to get the State
prepared by using appropriate methodology for each divided into five altitudinal zones (Fig. 2).
as presented below: (b) Preparation of the Precipitation-
(a) Preparation of Altitude Zonation map : For Temperature ratio (PT Index) map : For preparing
the preparation of altitude zonation map, the survey of the PT index map, firstly the stations were identified
India toposheets on scale 1:50,000 were geo-referenced, by superimposing their location on the altitude zonation
222 Showkat A. Ganaie et al.

Table 4 : Characteristics of micro agro-climatic zones of Jammu and Kashmir.

Zone Altitude Dominant Crops Area Average Temperature
Productivity (Q/ha)
Code (in Soil Grown (in Precipitation (0C)
meters) Group km 2 ) (in mm)
Rice Maize Wheat M.Max M.Min
1K 1000-1700 68, 81, 70 Rice, Maize, 4443.2 21.87 12.9 12.37 660 19.34 7.32
Mustard
2K 1700-3000 58, 81, 18 Rice, Maize, 6045.21 20.58 14.63 14.01 967 16.62 5.92
Orchards
3K Above 3000 55, 18, 36 - 1000.94 - - - 1476 13.12 -0.23
3’K Above 3000 17, 87, 58 - 4168.15 - - - 914 14.31 0.14
1J Below 500 125, 124, 130 Basmati rice, 1336.49 25.76 21.41 18.91 1386 28.09 17.39
Wheat
2J 500-1000 115, 116, 86 Maize, Wheat, 1570.67 21.03 18.97 18.87 1336 27.23 16.90
Rice
2’J 500-1000 116, 86, 115 Maize, Rice, 1166.68 21.12 17.03 19.09 1210 27.80 17.50
Wheat
3J 1000-2000 116, 115, 125 Wheat, Rice, 4131.09 22.99 14.9 18.42 1412 30.19 17.27
Maize
3’J 1000-1700 115, 86, 116 Maize, Rice, 7432.03 20.38 12.35 19.1 1592 25.48 14.84
Wheat
4J 1700-3000 17, 116, 115 Maize, Wheat, 5442.42 20.05 15.61 18.84 1387 22.32 9.43
Rice
5J Above 3000 86, 17, 48 - 376.01 - - - 976 19.60 9.52
5’J Above 3000 17, 115, 116 - 5843.8 - - - 1642 26.60 14.73
5'’J Above 3000 GG, 55, 17 - 440.91 - - - 1329 20.20 7.09
L Above 3000 2, GG Millets, Barley 93531 - - 19.39 157 11.11 -2.53
Wheat

Moreover, ‘arithmetic average method’ and ‘Thiessen

Source: Financial Commissioner’s Office, Srinagar/Jammu, 2011.
Fig. 4 : Cropping land use map of Jammu and Kashmir.
map and district boundary map. The district boundary
map used as various places of same altitude in the State
do not receive equal precipitation or temperature owing
to the difference in other factors, viz, natural vegetation,
physiography, wind direction, aspect of slope etc.
Polygon Method’ have been employed to calculate the
average depth of rainfall over an area [Raghunath
(2006)]. The formula’s used are:
n
Σ Pi Ai
(i) Pave =
n
(ii) Pave = ∑P
i =1
i
A
Where, ‘Pave’ is the average depth of rainfall over
the area, ‘ΣP1’ is the rainfall amounts at individual
precipitation stations, ‘n’ is the number of these stations
and ‘A’ is total area of the basin.
Then the precipitation and temperature data was
arranged and a ratio between the two was obtained
(Table 1) and finally a choropleth map was drawn
(Fig. 3), which reflected the various PT zones.
(c) Preparation of Cropping Land use map :
The data pertaining to the various crops grown in the
different parts of the State of Jammu and Kashmir has
been used for getting the cropping land use map of the
area under study. Since, the temperature and
precipitation regimes are different in the different parts
 Delineation of Micro Agro-climatic Zones of Jammu and Kashmir 223

Source: Prepared by using data from table 3, ANP means regions “Agriculturally not productive” .

Fig. 5 : Productivity maps of Jammu and Kashmir.

formula used is :

Note: ‘CZ’ means ‘climatic zone’.
Fig. 6 : Agro-climatic zone map of Jammu and Kashmir.
of the State, therefore different types of crops are grown
in different districts. Fig. 4 shows the crop combination
in different districts. The crop combination map has
been prepared by using Rafiullah’s method (1956). The
ΣD 2p − ΣD 2n
d=
N2
Where, d = deviation, Dp = positive deviation from
median value of crop combination, Dn = negative
deviation from median value of crops, N = number of
crops in the combination.
(e) Preparation of agricultural productivity
maps : The productivity data is not available at zone
level formed by the super imposition of altitude zonation
and precipitation-temperature map layers, therefore the
productivity of districts (Table 2) has been used to
generate the productivity database for the zones
(Fig. 5) by using the ‘proportional weightage’ method
[Zimmer (2011)]. The formula used for calculating the
productivity is as under:
PZ1Y2011 = A1P1 + A2P2+ ...+ AnP n (1)
224 Showkat A. Ganaie et al.
Where, PZ1Y2011 is the productivity of zone Z1 for
the year 2011; A1, A2, ..., An is per cent area under
districts D 1 , D 2 , ..., D n and P 1 , P 2 , ..., P n is the
productivity of the district’s 1 to n.
The five zones namely C, L, J, D and M in the
Fig. 3 have not been shown in the Table 3 because
they are not suitable for crop growth on account of
high altitude.
The different map layers were superimposed and
thus, an agro-climatic zone map has been prepared
(Fig. 6). Since five climatic zones are not feasible for
agricultural crop growth because of high altitude,
therefore, they have been designated as ‘climatic zones’
and not agro-climatic zones. The characteristics of both
climatic and agro-climatic zones are highlighted
(Table 4). “K, J and L” represent Kashmir, Jammu and
Ladakh region.
4. Conclusion
The aim of the study was to create an agro-climatic
zone map for the study area. By superimposing the
different map layers, fourteen zones resulted. The first
four zones were found in the temperate climatic zone
as they lie in Kashmir Valley, which has temperate
climate, the other zones except Ladakh lie in the sub-
tropical zone (parts of Jammu division, which has sub-
tropical type of climate) and the last zone is entire Ladakh
region of the State and occupies the maximum
geographical area. The classification of the zones was
based on those of WMO-UNEP (1971-2000) and FAO
(1993). From the results thus obtained, it can clearly be
stated that Jammu and Kashmir has a varying climate
between the three different regions with an annual
rainfall and temperature fluctuating between 157 mm
to 1592 mm and -2°C to 31°C as shown in the Table 4.
The productivity of crops grown in the different agro-
climatic zones has been evaluated and it is clear from
Table 4 that in Kashmir valley, productivity of rice is
more in zone 1K while as in Jammu Region, it is highest
in 1J followed by 3J, 2´J, 2J, 3´J and 4J. Similarly, the
productivity of wheat is maximum in zone 3´J followed
by 2´J, 1J, 2J and 4J etc. and productivity of maize is
maximum in zone 1J, 2J, 2´J followed by 4J, 3J and 2K
etc.
The empirical research findings (Table 4) derived
from the maps (Figs. 1 to 6) can be used by researchers
to plan for agricultural activities in the study area and
also to carry out further research on climatic variability,
soil suitability and agricultural productivity in the region.
From the results (Table 4), it is inferred that zones which
lie generally in the low altitude (below 1800 m) are
highly suitable for rice cultivation, than the zones above
1800m altitude, which are devoted to maize or orchard
cultivation depending upon the pedological and
environmental conditions. The Ladakh region (zone L)
occupies more than double the area occupied by all
these zones and due to low temperature and short
growing season (four months only); this zone is suitable
for the cultivation of millets, barley and wheat. While
important agricultural factors such as length and
intensity of the rainy and dry seasons and annual
variation are not accounted for in this paper, the results
obtained provide a basic tool for State and national
planning purposes.
Acknowledgements
University Grants Commission, New Delhi, India;
Department of Geography, University of Kashmir,
J. & K., India.
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