How Many Agro-Ecological Zones are in India

Introduction

Soils and climate are very important factors in agriculture. In order to create efficient land-use plans, the nation's ever-increasing need for food to feed its expanding population necessitates a rigorous assessment of its soil and climate resources. India has a range of topographies and climates, which has led to the emergence of various soils and vegetation kinds. The nation has been divided into 20 agro ecological zones using data from the past 50 years of climatic observations and a current soil database (AEZs). In order to facilitate macro-scale land-use planning and efficient technology transfer, each AEZ has as consistent physiography, climate, length of the growing season, and soil characteristics as is practical.

These twenty agro ecological zones are described below:

1. Cold Arid Eco-region with Shallow Skeletal Soils

This ecoregion covers 15.2 million hectares (MHA) in the north-western Himalayas, including the districts of Ladakh and Gilgit. In terms of area, it makes up 4.7% of India's overall terrain.

Agro-Climate: There are harsh winters and pleasant summers in this region. Less than 8 °C is the typical annual temperature. Less than 150 mm of rainfall annually is the average.

2. Hot Arid Eco-region with Red and Black Soils

The region, which makes up 4.9 million hectares (1.5% of India's total geographical area), is located on the Deccan plateau and includes the Bellary district in Karnataka, the south-western portions of the Bijapur and Raichur districts in Karnataka, and the Anantapur district in nearby Andhra Pradesh.

Agro-climate: The ecoregion experiences warm winters and scorching, dry summers. The irregular rains, which average 400–500 mm, meet 20–25% of the annual PET needs of 1800–1900 mm.

3. Hot semi-arid eco-region with alluvium-derived soils

This region spans 32.3 million hectares and includes sections of Gujarat, the northern plains, and the central highlands (9.8 per cent of the geographical area of India).

Agro-climate: The area experiences cool winters and scorching, dry summers. 500–1000 mm of precipitation falls each year, with a rising trend from west to east. Certain areas of the Bundelkhand region may experience drought (Banda, Jhansi, Hamirpur, Datia and Jalaun districts).

4. Hot Arid Ecoregion with Desert and Saline Soils

The western plain, which includes the southern portions of Haryana and Punjab, the western parts of Rajasthan, the Kachchh peninsula, and the northern parts of the Kathiawar peninsula, are all included in the hot and arid ecoregion (Gujarat). The eco-region covers 31.91 million hectares, or 9.78%, of India's total land area.

Agro-climate: With a mean annual precipitation of less than 400 mm, the area has scorching summers and chilly (arid) winters. Arid soil moisture and hyperthermic soil temperature regimes are present in the area. Less than 90 days make up the annual LGP.

5. A dry, hot ecoregion with medium- and deep-black soils

The ecoregion covers the western portions of Madhya Pradesh, the Kathiawar peninsula, the Gujarati plains, the central highlands (Malwa), and the south-eastern regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan, covering an area of 17.6 million hectares (5.4% of the country's total landmass).

Agro-climate: Summers in the area are hot and rainy, and winters are dry. Forty to fifty per cent of the annual PET need is met by the 500 to 1000 mm of precipitation that falls each year (1600-2000 mm). With hypothermic and hyperthermic soil temperature regimes, typic-ustic soil moisture regimes are the most prevalent in the area.

6. Shallow and medium (dominant) black soils in a hot, semi-arid ecoregion

This ecoregion experiences hot, semi-arid weather. It consists of the Deccan Plateau, which includes the majority of central and western Maharashtra, northern Karnataka, and western Andhra Pradesh. It covers 31.0 m hectares (9.5 per cent of the geographical area of the country).

Agro-climate: The summers are warm and muggy, while the winters are cool and dry. The average annual rainfall is between 600 and 1000 mm, which is 40% of the annual PET demand of 1600 to 1800 mm (gross annual water deficit—of 800 to 1000 mm). Ustic soil moisture regime and (iso) hyperthermic soil temperature regime.

7. Arid, Hot ecoregion with soils that are red and black

This ecoregion has hot, semi-arid weather. It extends across the Deccan Plateau (Telangana) and a portion of the Eastern Ghats in Andhra Pradesh, covering 16.5 million hectares (5.2% of India's total land area).

Agro-climate: Warm, dry summers and mild, dry winters characterise the area's agroclimatic. 40 per cent of the annual PET demand (gross annual water deficit—700–800 mm) is met by the mean annual rainfall, which ranges from 600 to 1100 millimetres.

8. Arid ecoregion with red loamy soils that are hot

The ecoregion is made up of the Eastern Ghats, the southern Deccan Plateau, the uplands of Tamil Nadu, and the western parts of Karnataka. It also has a hot, semi-arid climate. It covers 19.1 million hectares, or 5.8%, of the Indian subcontinent.

Agro-climate: The eco-region experiences moderate winters and hot, dry summers, with an annual rainfall range of 600 to 1000 mm (annual water deficit ranges from 400 to 700 mm). The soil temperature regime is hyperthermic, and the soil moisture regime is rustic.

9. Arid sub-humid ecoregion with soils formed from alluvium

The climate in the ecoregion is warm and subhumid (dry). It occupies 12.1 million hectares (3.7% of India's total land area), mostly in the northern Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Piedmont Plain of the Western Himalayas.

Agro-climate: The ecoregion has hot summers and chilly winters. It receives 1000–1200 mm of rainfall annually, nearly three-fourths of which falls between July and September.

10. Hot, subhumid ecoregion with red and black soils

It takes up 22.3 million hectares, or 5.8%, of the total land area of the nation. It encompasses a piece of the Malwa Plateau, the Bundelkhand Uplands, the Narmada Valley, the Vindhyan Scarplands, the northern Maharashtra Plateau, and a few districts in the Madhya Pradesh state.

Agro-climate: The area experiences warm summers and moderate winters. The direction of the precipitation is trending further eastward. Four-fifths of the mean annual PET of 1300-1600 mm is made up of the mean annual rainfall of 1000–1500 mm.

11. A hot, humid island ecosystem with sandy and red loamy soils

In the east are the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and in the west is Lakshadweep. It takes approximately 0.8 million acres, or 0.3%, of the country of India's total land area.

Agro-climate: Tropical conditions are present, with barely discernible differences between mean summer and mean winter temperatures. The yearly rainfall in the Lakshadweep Islands is 1600 mm, while it is 3000 mm in Andaman and Nicobar.

12. With soils formed from red, lateritic, and alluvium, the hot, humid per humid ecoregion

The Sahyadris, western coastal plains of Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Kerala, and Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu make up the 11.1 million hectares (ha) ecoregion, which accounts for 3.6% of India's total land area.

Agro-climate: The area experiences warm winters and hot, humid summers. 25°–28°C is the average annual temperature.

13. A hot, subhumid to semiarid ecoregion with soils derived from coastal alluvium

The agro ecoregion covers an area of 8.5 million hectares (2.6% of India's total geographical area), spanning the southern coastal plain from Kanyakumari to the Gangetic Delta.

Agro-climate: A variety of climates, including semi-arid and sub-humid, can be found along the East coast (moist).

14. Warm Perhumid ecoregion with lateritic and red soils

The territory, which includes the Purvanchal highlands in the northeast, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, and southern Tripura, covers 10.6 million hectares (3.3 per cent of the total geographical area of India).

Agro-climate: The area experiences warm summers and cool winters. Between 2000 to 3000 mm of precipitation fall annually, most of it is above the PET.

15. Brown and red hill soils in a warm, humid ecoregion

The 9.6 million hectares (ha) agro ecoregion, which includes the northern hilly regions of West Bengal, northern Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim, makes up 2.9% of all of India's land area.

Agroclimate: The area experiences warm summers and cool winters. 2000 mm of rainfall occurs yearly. Due to a seasonal water deficit, there are brief times of water stress following the rainy season.

16. Hot subhumid to humid (including per humid) ecoregion with soils produced from alluvium

The Brahmaputra and Ganga river plains, or portions of the states of Assam and West Bengal, make up the 12.1 million ha (or 3.7% of India's total land area) that make up the agro ecoregion.

Agro-climate: The winters are warm to somewhat chilly and the summers are hot.

17. Warm subhumid to humid, with a per humid ecoregion that contains dark forests and podzolic soils

The size of the agro ecoregion, which includes parts of Uttar Pradesh's northwest, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir, is 21.2 million hectares (6.3% of India's total land area).

Agroclimate: The area experiences cool summers and bitterly harsh winters. There has been 1000–2000 mm of rain.

18. Hot, subhumid ecoregion with red and yellow soils

The ecoregion with a hot, subhumid climate covers the southwest highlands of Bihar and the Chhattisgarh region, covering 14.1 million hectares (4.3% of India's total land area).

Agroclimate: The area experiences warm summers and cool winters. A year has 1200- 1600 mm of rainfall.

19. Hot subhumid ecoregion with red and lateritic soils

The agro-ecoregion covers 26.8 million hectares (8.2% of India's land area) and includes the Bihar state's Chota Nagpur Plateau, parts of West Bengal's western region, Orissa's Dandakaranya and Garhjat hills, and the Chhattisgarh state's Bastar region.

Agro-climate: This ecoregion has warm summers and chilly winters. 1000–1600 mm of rainfall per year.

20. Hot subhumid (wet) ecoregion with soils generated from alluvium

The agro ecoregion, which includes northern Bihar and the Central Himalayan foothills, covers 11.1 million hectares (3.4% of the total geographical area of India).

Agro-climate: The seasons consist of hot, rainy summers and cool, dry winters.

Conclusion

The region is a good place to grow a variety of crops due to its highly variable agro ecological zones. Smallholder farmers grow a variety of food crops, with the economic, social, and nutritional value varying from one agroecological zone to the next.