Policy zoning for climate-resilient agriculture: a spatial assessment of agricultural sensitivity and resilience to environmental change in West Bengal, India
摘要
This study shows a spatial assessment of agricultural sensitivity and agricultural resilience in West Bengal by applying environmental and socio-economic drivers. A Soil Fertility Index (SFI)—which uses Soil Organic Carbon, Cation Exchange Capacity, and pH—captures soil health. A Flood Risk Index was developed to assess flood risk utilizing Normalised Difference Water Index (NDWI), Normalised Difference Moisture Index (NDMI), Rainfall, Slope, Elevation, Nearness of River, and Population Density, which was integrated with agricultural land cover. Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) trends and variability over the 20-year period were used to develop an Agricultural Sensibility Index—which was the vegetation response. These three indices were then used to develop the Final Agricultural Sensitivity Index (FASI), with the term resilience defined as the opposite value of the FASI. This research indicates significant spatial variability, or heterogeneity, with respect to resilience. North Bengal is highly resilient; the western districts are very sensitive; Central Bengal is mid-range sensitivity; South Bengal (including the Sundarbans) is very vulnerable both to flood risk and agricultural sensitivity. While a positive NDVI trend was observed (2001–2020) only 70.07% of cultivable land is moderately to highly sensitive, and only 28.73% has been classified highly resilient and 32.60% is highly sensitive thus; immediate interventions are required for the southern and eastern districts and adaptive strategies for the west and north; this will help formulate climate resilience planning that is based on specific regions for both national and local levels.