Application of GIS on small farm and dairy management: SARSA green, Durgapur, West-Bengal

Anit Ghose
Vice-President GIS Projects & Management
Webstar Infotech (P) Ltd. Kolkata, WestBengal

Jayeeta Dey
GIS Developer

Prasenjit Dwary
GIS Researcher
[email protected]

Abstract
Dairy Development plays a vital role in bringing out significant changes in socio-economic structure of rural economy. The main objectives of Dairy Developments in India is to increase production and availability of milk through integrated policy of cattle cum Dairy Development, eliminating the middlemen, through formation of co-operatives and self supporting dairy enterprise. The advent of Geographical Information System (GIS) has added new vistas in the field of Dairy Farm and Management. It also helps in integrating the whole Dairy Farm in a more precise way to get correct information about the various factors related with the whole dairy farm.

Introduction
The farm of Sarsa Green Projects around Chapabandi, Bansgora and Hetedoba Mouzas near Durgapur in Burdwan District of West-Bengal. Dairy Development plays a vital roll in brining about significant changes in socio-economic structure of rural economy. The main objectives of Dairy development in West-Bengal is to increase production and availability of milk through integrated policy of cattle cum Dairy Development eliminating the middlemen through formation of co-operatives and self supporting dairy enterprise. (Fig.1)

The advent of Geographical Information System (GIS) has added new vistas in the field of Dairy Farm and Management. It is also helps in integrating the whole Dairy Farm in a more precise way to get correct information about the various factors related with the whole Dairy farm.

West-Bengal lies in an area where form no drilling data is available as no borehole exists there and in the nearby areas. In order to understand the surface aquifer disposition in the area, vertical Electrical drillings were planned at various locations in and around the proposed site. The points for drilling deep tube wells (subject to ground water availability) are to be chosen on the basis of the investigation through resistivity sounding.

The daily requirement for the project is expected to be of the order of 50,000 to 60,000 gallons, in the first phase of the work. The requirement may increase to about one lac gallons/day when the second phase of the work is completed.

Fig 1: Location

Objective
The main objectives are:

• Preparation of Hydrological Map.
• Preparation of Land Use Map.
• Preparation of Contour Map.
• Preparation of Soil Map.
• Application of GIS in Dairy Farm Management.

GIS can analyze and integrate the whole dairy farm if sufficient amount of data are available. The area under study can be divided into the following ways.

• Cultivated land.
• Flat land with gravels and hard rocks.
• The excavated land from which most of the loose gravels and stones have been removed.

Land, where cultivation is going on, requires further treatment for removal of gravel. Gradual dosing of organic manure would provide the required humus to the soil to provide nutrition to the soil. The flat land with gravel and hard rocks need digging up and leveling with removals of gravels and rocks as much as possible.

Management of surface water, as would be done through preparation of surface channels and pump sets, where necessary to cover the area so harvestable. Through GIS systems, the whole management systems can be shown in proper way (i.e., where the cultivated land is, where the feeding mill is, where the house of cattle is, where the biogas plant is, how the irrigation process is going on).

There is an existence of high land in the project site where the feeding mill, biogas plant, cattle house will be constructed. If the high land is demarcated through the GIS systems showing the mentioned plants it will be easy to show the farm process. This is the advantage of the high land.

Study Area
It includes Dairy cattle farm along with different units like fodder production, hut management, cattle feed plant, diary plant, and different farming system. In the present situation the project site is a total land of 215 acres. The project site is located in the mouzas Chapabandi, Bansgora, and Hetediba in the Lau Doha Block of Durgapur in Burdwan District. (Fig.2) Within the project site there are some cultivable lands, an office, and some artificially created water bodies. The project site is situated in between the two main rivers namely Ajay and Damodar, which are almost in equal distance of nearly 10 km. The project area is mainly barren land but there is an elevated land in the central part of the project site. The main aim of the project is to uplift the local economy and environment.

The soil type of the main area is gravel and clay. In some parts of the project area has been dug out leaving some trenches of various sizes here and there. These trenches have been leveled to make flat lands. The ph value is between 4.47 and 4.92. The proposed site of the Sarasa Green Project exists in such an area where there is no borehole. In this connection a Geo-exploration Company has carried out Electrical Resistively Survey for locating the potential ground water bearing zones in the particular area. They have located 8 points in the area. Their result indicates that loose gravels of various sizes cover the central part of the area. But there is an impervious clay layer below the gravel layer. Under the circumstances, the recharge potential, through rainfall in the area is somewhat restricted. There is a wide variation of lithology up to a depth of 20-120 m in the area, which is under study. As such we have to locate the drilling points on the map. In the site there is a variation of lithology .So we have to make a soil profile with the variation of soil. This soil profile is to be superimposed on the final map. The soil profile will have to be determined in the borehole sites with in the project site.

Our main objectives of the project are to prepare the land use map, contour map showing the digital elevation model, ground water resource mapping that is the map showing the potential groundwater bearing zones within that particular area, and application of GIS in the integrated farm and dairy management. The digitized map will cover the water bodies, cultivable lands, forest areas, soil characteristics, etc. The land use and land cover map will also include the depth wise soil variation.

For the generation of digital elevation model, contours are needed. Though the project area has no large contour variation, the elevation model is to be prepared in the highland area only.

Fig 2: Sarasa Project Area

Location
The project site is about 215 acres of land at present. The Management is likely to acquire some more land all around the present site. The land available at the site may be divided into three major segments, viz,(a) the land already under cultivation (b) flat land with gravels and hard rocks and (c) the excavated land from which most of the loose gravels and stones have been removed.

The site has several advantages for Diary farming Existence of high land which is hardly cultivated can very well accommodate the housings for cattle feed, milling plant, silage making, and establishment of bio-gas plant by utilizing the cow-dung through well laid out drainage system and setting up tanks settling tanks in the existing dug-out spots, proper monitoring can be executed through GIS applications. The climatic condition of the area is generally favorable for dairy farming except for a short period of time during the summer season. There are three villages in the neighborhood of the Project site viz, Hetedoba, Bansgora & Ichapur. Sufficient manpower will be available for the project for its various operations. This will improve the financial condition of the villagers.

Physiography & Drainage
The area is a small part of Burdwan District .The average rainfall of the district is 1500mm. Agricultural lands, non-agricultural lands, forest areas, etc mainly cover the area. The two main rivers namely Ajoy and Damodar among which Ajoy flows through the NE part and Damodar flows through the SW part. Having the presence of the rivers groundwater potentially in the area is large. A number of micro channels can be identified from the satellite imagery in the study area. Also there are a number of streams surrounding the project area. Drainage density is a measure of the length of the stream segment per unit area. The factors controlling stream length are resistant to weathering and permeability of the formations apart from the climatic and other factors, like vegetation. In general low drainage density is observed in regions of highly resistant or permeable soil material under vegetative cover and low relief. High drainage density is observed in the regions of weak and impermeable subsurface material and mountainous relief.

Geology & Soils
The topography of the land is undulating. Dry loose gravels of different sizes cover the central part of the area under study. But there is an impervious clay layer below the gravel zones, which does not allow the subsurface runoff to reach the formation. There is a wide variation of lithology up to a depth of 20-120 mt in the study area. Thick extensive lenticular clay layer exists through out the proposed project area. Clay thickness varies between 35m and 75m towards the eastern side where as in the northwestern side it varies between 50m and 80m. In the western part clay thickness is comparatively small (20-30m). In spite of the irregular lateral variation in lithology in the Sarasa Green Project site up to a considerable depth, regularity in the behavior of the lower clay sand section has been observed. (Fig. 3).

Socio-Economic condition
There are three villages in the neighborhood of the project site viz, Hetedoba, Bansgora and Ichapur. It was thought desirable to have some ideas about these villages and their inhabitants which could indicate the type the people around, their economic condition, literacy state and availability of local labour, a survey was therefore conducted to access the situation properly. The village Ichapur being the largest of the three has almost all the communities like Brahmins, Gope, Karmakar, Sutradhar, Kulu, and Dom etc. The other two villages have Brahmin, Gope, and Rajput, Santal etc. The average size of the family was found to be 5.40 in Ichapur, 7.50 in Hetedoba, 6.80 in Bansgora. Mainly SC & ST families dominate these villages. Agricultural activities keep about 17.67% of the people busy while 23.72% is engaged as daily labour for agricultures well as other activities around. Only 6.97% is employed in some Organizations at Durgapur and other areas while 6.07% is engaged in small business. As a result job opportunities is very limited for full time engagement of the work force.

Fig 3: Surface Filter Image of the Study Area (Scale 1.45037)

The average income ranges between Rs 3001-6000/- per family per year for 50.01% of the families while some of the SC and ST families get above Rs. 10000/-per year while about 7.84% families earn between Rs 6001-10,000/- per year and 9.80% earn below Rs. 3000/- per year.

It there fore appear that sufficient manpower will be available for the project for its various operations like fodder production, feed milking, dairy farming etc as unskilled labour force for the project. This will improve the financial condition of the villagers and bring about a socioeconomic upliftment in the villages, as they will be assured of round the year engagement. Those engaged in agriculture will also get an encouragement and higher return from the land through round the year cultivation of green fodder will be purchased by the project at a remunerative price.

Database

Survey of India (SOI) TopO sheets
The Topo sheet on 1:50,000 scales are used in the preparation of base maps onto which the interpretation details are transferred. The area is covered by one topo sheet no.73M/6 published under the Direction of Dr. H. Narain (Surveyor General of India.1975).

Fig 4: Satellite Image Showing River Ajay & Damodhar including Study Area

Ancillary data
Statistical abstract, Available ground water information from Geo Exploration Services (Headed by Dr. H. P. Patra. Professor of Geophysics, Dept. of Geology and Geophysics. Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.) and Survey Report.

Remote sensing data
IRS-1D/PAN D4 geocoded on 1:12,000 scales. and standard FCC have been used in the above study area. IRS-1D path row covers the study area on 28Jan-2001. Also we used ISS-III image for stereo pairing. (Fig. 4)

Identification of Palaeo channels
With the help of satellite imagery we will show the palaeo channels and if there is any lineaments present in the site. These palaeo channels and the lineaments are the potential water bearing areas from where water can be used for future purpose. In the satellite imagery it can be identified the buried pediment shallow zones and the buried pediment moderate zones. But the thickness of the buried pediment shallow zone is 0-5m and the thickness of the buried pediment moderate is 10-20m. Maximum amount of groundwater availability occurs in the moderate zones, as its thickness is more than the shallow zones. These can be identified from the imagery. Also if there are any lineaments (Depressed Area) present with in the study area this will also be the source of groundwater. Analysis of surface water with the help of GIS application can be used for irrigation purpose, supply to the settlement area, industrial use and for other use also.

Methodology
The main methodology of the project are to prepare the hydrological map, land use map, preparation of the contour map, preparation of the soil map with the application of GIS Software. The development and planning of such a vast area for a dairy project requires various data information from the field to identify the terrain, slope, etc.

Implementation of GIS application development with the remote sensing data (Satellite Imagery) laying of topo survey data from topo maps (1:25,000 to 1:50,000 scales) available from Survey Of India and digitization of different maps will help to complete the methodology.

For the determination of potential groundwater bearing zones satellite imagery will help to complete the work in much easier way. In this regard IKONOS-2 image having significantly much high resolution helps excellent mapping of the surface of the earth. The resolution of the IKONOS 2 is 1 m, (Panchromatic) and its Multispectral resolution is 4 m. The features obtained from the satellite imagery will be imposed on the final map. In this way it will be much easier to show the water bearing areas on the map.

The land use map will consist of areas of the land use pattern of the project site. That is where the cultivable land is present, Where the cowshed, office, processing plant, fishery etc. will be located. The toposheet is to be digitized first. Then on the toposheet the areas covered by different land use patterns will be shown.

There will be two types of soil map of the project area. One map will be of surface profile type. In this map entire soil condition of the project area will be shown. The other map will show the vertical variation of soil in thickness in different borehole points shown in the Project area. There is a variation of soil in thickness in different areas.

Results & Discussions
Durgapur is an up landed area and the project site is located at such a place from where the distance of Ajay and Damodar is same. The slope of the area is towards the project site from Ajay River. There is a large variation of lithilogy up to a depth of 20-120m. In the entire project area there is thick extensive clay. But the clay thickness varies in some parts. Also there is a clay sand section. Basing on the reports of the Geoexploration Company it can be recommended to drill at points S2, S4, and S7 to a depth of 150-160m. Also from the satellite imagery the ground truth is possible. The scope also includes the utilization of water for different purposes. Another scope is to make a GIS master plan for the proposed project. On the basis of master plan it can be shown how many persons are there in the processing plant, how many persons are living in the staff quarters etc. The work can go up to data entry level. That is new data can be entered, old data can be deleted. Same process can be applied in the dairy management, crop management, and individual field practice.

Fig 5: Complex Filter Image of the Area (Scale 1:45037)

Application of GIS for Integrated Dairy and farm Management
It includes Dairy cattle farm along with different units like fodder production, hut management, cattle feed plant, diary plant, and different farming system. (Fig. 6)

Fig 6: Data Flow Diagram of GIS for Integrated Dairy and farm Management

Identification of Palio Channels
The palaeo channels are the channels, which are cut off from the main course of the river, which are buried or abandoned, comprises of fluvial deposits. With the help of satellite imagery we will show the palaeo channels and if there is any lineaments present in the site.

These palaeo channels and the lineaments are the potential water bearing areas from where water can be used for future purpose. In the satellite imagery it can be identified the buried pediment shallow zones and the buried pediment moderate zones. But the thickness of the buried pediment shallow zone is 0-5m and the thickness of the buried pediment moderate is 10-20m. Maximum amount of groundwater availability occurs in the moderate zones, as its thickness is more than the shallow zones. These can be identified from the imagery.

Also if there are any lineaments (Depressed Area) present with in the study area this will also be the source of groundwater. Analysis of surface water with the help of GIS application can be used for irrigation purpose, supply to the settlement area, industrial use and for other use also.

Fig 7: Map Filter Image showing Rivers and C

The details of various geomorphic units and their ground water bearing prospects are given in table below.

Ground water prospects of various geomorphic units
Ground water quality map has three categories i.e. good (EC varies from 0-2000 micro Mhos); moderate (EC varies from 2000 – 4000 micro Mhos) and poor (EC > 4000 micro Mhos). The digitized Quality map has been integrated with ground water prospects map and an integrated map has been prepared.

Advantages
The main advantages in using remote sensing and GIS techniques for groundwater exploration are: quick and inexpensive technique for getting information on the occurrences of groundwater, aids to select promising areas for future groundwater exploration and provides information on prospects, depth and quality in one map. This type of information is very useful in such areas where more emphasis is on groundwater. Which will be used for drinking purposes, irrigation and in other areas in the dairy processing plant.

The land use map, also very important to understand the proper utilization land from time to time for various activities.

Maps of soil suitability can carry classes of favourability for growing the crops. Agrochemical maps, at the level of agrochemical micro plots, concerning the main chemical characterization of the soil. It will help to optimize the use of soil and water resources as well as the chemical inputs (pesticides and fertilizer) based on local specific conditions also to maintain the NPK ratio of the soil.

Enhance the agricultural sustainability for total achievement of environment protection & disease control. Co-operative Dairy Management process can monitor through GIS application for efficient management & marketing. Simulation modules, supporting systems for taking decisions for Integrated Farm and Dairy management through GIS application.

Table 1

Conclusion
Use of remote sensing and GIS technology is very useful in the preparation of groundwater prospective areas mapping and management plan of the dairy farm in a scientific basis. Use of GIS and Remote Sensing technology is very useful for the preparation of the ground water prospective areas mapping & Dairy-Farm Management Plan on scientific basis. The information generated on Integrated Farm and Dairy Management prospects; quality and depth in a single map will help the decision makers for devising sound and feasible development plan.

Advantage of Our Developed System (Package)
This package is provides the following facility

• Zoom in facility
• Zoom out facility
• Un Zooming facility
• Panning facility
• Selection a portion of the map
• Identifying a portion of the map with the detail data related to this portion
• Labeling with different data items on the maps
• Query facility and showing the result of the query on the map.
• Pie Chart viewing facility
• Geometric object drawing facility
• Insertion, modification, deletion of the detail data regarding the map on any backend Database (Oracle, DB2, SQL Server, MySQL, MS Excess etc).
• Effect of modification of the detail data regarding the maps will also be reflected on the maps automatically.
• Remote sensed data and Raster data can also analyzed in the above fashion
• Different file format (.shp to .jsh, .mif to .shp etc) facility

N. B. We are on the way of Developing to provide many other user friendly and Viewing facility.

Acknowledgements
Authors are thankful to Mr. Netai Ghosh (Managing Director Sarsa Green),

Dr.Vijoy Chakrobory. (Ex Director NDDB) Dr. Ram Das Sen. (Agronomist),

Mr. A. Subba Nagulu (NRSA Data Center), Mr. Ananda Mohan Bera (Senior Programmer, Webstar), all the Farm workers and People of nearby villages for there ideas and creative criticism.

Also our profound thanks to Mr. A. Rahaman (MD Webstar) for his valuable suggestions.

Selected Bibliography

• Journal Of Indian Society Of Remote Sensing, Vol-26, 1998.
• Ground Water Availability Study by Geoexploartion Services, 96,Railway Market, Kharagpur -721 302, West Bengal.
• Practical Geomorphology by R.L Singh.
• Integrated Dairy Production Programme – A Study Report by PCRDCS Ltd, Salt Lake, Kolkata-64.
• District Gazetteer Burdwan.
• A. k. Roy and P.K.C Ray, 1993 Ground water investigation using remote sensing and GIS technique-A case study in Manbazar – II, Purulia (W.B.)