Agro Eco Regions in India

The need for growing more food, on a sustainable basis, to support the ever-increasing population demands a systematic appraisal of our natural resources including climate, soils, flora, and fauna. Since agriculture is highly location-specific, grouping the available land area in the country into different agro-ecological regions based on certain identifiable characteristics becomes all the more important. This may help the country to engage in more rational planning and optimizing resource use for the present and in preserving them for the future. An agro-climatic zone is a land unit in terms of major climates, suitable for a certain range of crops and cultivars. An ecological region is an area of the earth’s surface characterized by distinct ecological responses to macro-climate, as expressed by soils, vegetation, fauna, and aquatic systems (FAO, 1983). Several attempts have been made to delineate major agro-ecological regions in respect to soils, climate, physiography and natural vegetation for macro-level planning on a more scientific basis. Some of the important ones are :
A. Agro-ecological regions by the ICAR.
B. Agro-climatic regions by the Planning Commission.
C. Agro-climatic zones under NARP.
D. Agro-ecological regions by the NBSS & LUP.
A. Agro-ecological regions by the ICAR As a result of the second major reorganization which the ICAR underwent in 1973, the country has been divided into eight major agro-ecological regions for more meaningful planning of agricultural research and development.
They are :
1. Humid Western Himalayan Region
2. Humid Bengal - Assam Basin
3. Humid Eastern Himalayan Region and Bay Islands
4. Sub-humid Sutlej-Ganga Alluvial Plains
5. Sub-humid to Humid Eastern and South-eastern Uplands
6. Arid Western Plains
7. Semi-arid Lava Plateau and Central Highlands
8. Humid to Semi-arid Western Ghats and Karnataka Plateau These regions consist of large geographical area of land