Finding a Suitable Niche for Cultivating Cactus Pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) as an Integrated Crop in Resilient Dryland Agroecosystems of India

Abstract

Climate change poses a significant threat to agroecosystems, especially in the dry areas, characterized by abrupt precipitation pattern and frequent drought events. Ideal crops, tolerant to these events, such as cactus, can perform well under such changing climatic conditions. This study spatially maps land suitability for cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica) cultivation in India using the analytical hierarchical process (AHP). Nine essential growth factors that include the climate and edaphic components were considered for the period 2000 to 2007. About 32% of the total geographic area of the country is in the high to moderate suitable category. Remaining 46% falls under the marginally suitable and 22% under the low to very low suitable category. The suitability analysis, based on the precipitation anomaly (2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017), suggests a high probability of cactus growth in the western and east-central part of India. The relationship with aridity index shows a decreasing rate of suitability with the increase of aridity in the western and east-central provinces (β~−1 to −2). We conclude that integrating cactus into dryland farming systems and rangelands under changing climate can be one plausible solution to build resilient agro-ecosystems that provide food and fodder while enhancing the availability of ecosystem services.

A comparison in species distribution model performance of succulents using key species and subsets of environmental predictors

“…Based on existing research of the parameters impacting the growth and distribution of succulents and CAM plants more generally (Acharya et al, 2019 ; Inglese & Scalenge, 2009 ; Le Houérou, 1996 ; Louhaichi et al, 2015 ; Masocha & Dube, 2018 ), and the results from covariance testing (Appendix A ), four bioclim variables were selected for use as explanatory parameters (Table 1 ).…”

“…By virtue of being able to fix most of their carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at night rather than during the day time, CAM plants typically show high water‐use efficiency and can survive in environments with high daily temperatures and relatively limited water availability (Cushman, 2001 ; Lüttge, 2010 ; Osmond, 1978 ; Winter, 1985 ; Winter & Smith, 1996 ). The environmental resilience of these plants makes them attractive species for cultivation on marginal land for a variety of potential uses, such as fodder, bioethanol production, or as feedstock for anaerobic digestion (Acharya et al, 2019 ; Borland et al, 2009 ; Davis et al, 2011 ; Hastilestari et al, 2013 ; Holtum et al, 2011 ; Loke et al, 2011 ; Mason et al, 2015 ; Mwine et al, 2013 ; Yan et al, 2011 ). Such crops may be of particular value in semi‐arid regions most likely to experience increased drought risk (e.g., Marthews et al, 2019 ; Otto et al, 2018 ).…”

Analytical hierarchy process tool in Google Earth Engine platform: a case study of a tropical landfill site suitability

“…However, it was not implemented in GEE earlier. Earlier in the studies (Acharya et al, 2019, Peter et al, 2020, Swain et al, 2020Yalew et al, 2016), where AHP was used to assess suitability, AHP was done externally on some other platform and then those coe cients were given as inputs to the code. But the fact that the present tool is dynamic in nature makes it more future-forward as it can accept user inputs and works accordingly seamlessly.…”

“…The best part is that even though GEE is based on programming, which might seem daunting at rst, it uses JavaScript (JS) and Python script which are very established and mature discipline. GEE has many inbuilt functions and datasets, but the Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) which is a function widely used in different decision-making problems (Saaty 1980, Alanbari et al, 2014, Acharya et al, 2019 has not been implemented as a native algorithm or developed by any researcher. In the present study, the AHP method has been developed in GEE environment using JS.…”

User guide of Google Earth Engine based Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) Tool

“…Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is one of the widely used techniques for various multi-criteria decisionmaking problems (Saaty 1980, Alanbari et al, 2014, Acharya et al, 2019 like landfill site suitability integrated with geospatial datasets. The incorporation of Big Data analytics, Cloud Computing and Earth Observation datasets to facilitate large-scale scientific applications in the field of Geosciences and Environmental sciences has revealed an easy-to-use approach to the extreme computational and storage challenges.…”