Application of geographic information system (GIS) for site specific management of paddy production systems - a case study in Kamburupitiya divisional secretariat (DS), Sri Lanka

Abstract

Geographic Information System (GIS) has been known as a powerful tool to analyze spatial data and this technol- ogy is recently applied to agricultural sector in Sri Lanka. This study aimed to apply the GIS technology to man- age information in efficient way to develop the paddy sector under Kamburupitiya Divisional Secretariat (DS), Sri Lanka. An extensive field survey was conducted to collect 77 soil samples at a depth of 5-20 cm and GPS locations were recorded for each sample. The information related to Machineries used in Paddy production was collected by a survey using a questionnaire. Yield data were collected from Agrarian Services Centers. The pH meter, Walkley & Black rapid titration method and Kjeldhal method were used to determine soil pH, organic carbon and soil nitrogen content respectively. ArcView GIS 3.3 software was used for the spatial analysis and mapping. Results of the study revealed that land areas with suitable pH and soil organic carbon are 3936.96ha and 791.99ha respectively. Soil Nitrogen content was very low. The yield per unit area vary from 1,111.3 to 4,769kg/ha/year. There are considerable usages of machineries for rice cultivation including two wheel tractors, four wheel trac- tors, threshers, harvesters and sprayers. Key