Agroclimatic zoning methodology for selection of suitable crop in water limited Mediterranean areas

The agroclimatic classification identifies zones for efficient use of natural resources leading to optimal crop production. In water limited availability regions, such as the Mediterranean region, one problem is the quantification of water use in agriculture in view of the social problems linked to the performance of irrigated systems. The aim of this paper is the development of agricultural sustainable zones, in a typical water limited Mediterranean region, namely Thessaly in Greece. To achieve this, time series analysis with sophisticated geoinformatics techniques is applied. The agroclimatic classification methodology is based on three-stages: first, the microclimate features of the region are considered using aridity and vegetation health indices leading to water limited growth environment (WLGE) zones based on water availability; second, landform features and soil types are associated to WLGE zones to identify non-crop specific agroclimatic zones (NCSAZ); finally, specific restricted crop parameters, are combined with NCSAZ creating the suitability zones for sustainable agriculture. The results are promising as compared with the current crop production systems of the study area under investigation. Due to climate change, the results indicate that arid and semi-arid regions are also faced with insufficient amounts of precipitation for supporting rainfed annual crops. Finally, the proposed methodology reveals that the combination of Remotely Sensed techniques could be a significant tool for creating, shortly, detailed and up to date agroclimatic zones.

Keywords: Agroclimatic zoning; Hydroclimatic zoning; Non-crop specific zoning; Crop-specific zoning; Agricultural suitability zones, Mediterranean agroecosystems