Agro ecological Zoning (AEZ) Method and GIS in Bangladesh - Agribusiness Education and Research International

Agro ecological Zoning (AEZ) Method and GIS in Bangladesh have a crucial role in the perspective of Agribusiness and Agriculture. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are computer-based systems for storing and manipulating data about the earth’s surface. The main benefit of GIS is that it can quickly read and analyze many layers of geographical data in the form of maps and satellite pictures, allowing for the identification of spatial relationships.

In Bangladesh, GIS is increasingly being used in land inventories, population censuses, urban planning, forestry, petroleum and gas exploration industries, utilities, transportation systems, and other areas where data banks contain locational references such as district boundaries or actual land parcel boundaries.

ISPAN (Irrigation Support Project for Asia and the Near East) began using GIS applications in Bangladesh in 1991 for the FAP-19 (Flood Action Plan-19) project. EGIS is the new name for the organization (Environmental and GIS Support Projects for Water Sector Planning). Currently, the country has approximately 50 GIS installations. Most GIS installations were first funded by donors and handled by foreign specialists with few local workers. Now that the situation has changed, some government and non-government organizations have installed GIS using their own funds and are managed by local experts.

In Bangladesh, GIS software is widely used. ArcInfo and ArcView GIS are two of the most widely used GIS programs in the country. Spatial Analyst, 3D Analyst, Network Analyst, Image Analyst, and Internet Map Server are ArcView extension tools that are used for advanced GIS modeling. ERDAS, ERDAS IMAGINE, IDRISI, Tosca, ER Mapper, SPANS, MapInfo, MapBasic, Imagine, Earth View, Surfer, Lantastic Network, AutoCAD, ArcFM, ArcMap, Map Objects, Arc Objects, and ArcGIS are among the additional programs that can be used. All of these programs are compatible with DOS, Windows, and Unix operating systems.

Agro-ecological Zoning (AEZ) Method:

The current state of affairs Agroecological Zoning (AEZ) is a system used in Bangladesh to discover rational solutions to various problems such as soil fertility limits, land-use changes, land degradation evaluation, and possible land resource control strategies for long-term planning. AEZ also offers methods for spatially distinguishing places with a unique combination of physiography (landscape, geology), soil, hydrological, and agro-climatic characteristics. The AEZ datasets, which span the years 1980 to 1987, are housed at the BARC computer center in Dhaka. It is presently being used to create easily accessible information on the country’s land resources for researchers, extension workers, and land and agricultural resource management decision-makers, as well as agricultural development planning. This database is the starting point for a new project to create a multiscale GIS-based Land Resources Information System (LRIS). Additional databases on socioeconomic and demographic aspects impacting agricultural productivity are included in the LRIS.

Bangladesh has recently developed GIS-based flood-forecast models (MIKE-11). MIKE-11 and its GIS interfaces are appropriate for use in planning, design, implementation, and operation. A MIKE-11 system is a useful tool for calculating flood control and drainage structure operation regulations, as well as providing inputs to flood preparedness programs, during the planning and design phase. MIKE-11 may be used for a variety of purposes throughout the implementation stage, ranging from the scheduling of flood-prone construction projects to flood preparation training.

Several mitigation measures have recently been proposed to alleviate Dhaka City’s water logging problems, and a pilot hydrodynamic drainage model employing GIS technology has been created for the city’s low-lying areas. To analyze the various alleviation strategies, the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and SWMC’s MOUSE model have also been implemented.

GIS technology is also being used by arsenic researchers across the country to map detailed arsenic contamination, analyze relevant physical processes of arsenic contamination, and develop a watershed management strategy utilizing mathematical modeling approaches.

So, The importance of Agro ecological Zoning (AEZ) Method and GIS in Bangladesh can not be avoided.