Dynamic trend of land degradation/restoration along Indira Gandhi Canal command area in Jaisalmer District, Rajasthan, India: a case study

Land cover is a crucial component in assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services. In arid regions, land cover is mostly composed of aeolian structures which exhibit fragile environmental scenario. The major challenge in this highly dynamic landscape was conversion of desertic land to intensive land use such as agricultural farmlands. To overcome this challenge Indira Gandhi Canal (IGC) and its branches were extended over this district. The main interest of this research was to investigate net primary productivity (NPP) changes using multi-temporal satellite imagery and meteorological datasets within the timeframe of 30years from 1982 to 2012 over this region. This study was taken up to assess the impact of canal in and around IGC command area in Jaisalmer District to understand the consequence on desertic environment. Analysis of three decades terrestrial NPP over IGC command area in Jaisalmer District, India, shows significant increase in NPP. The satellite data-based analysis of NPP as well as validation with the optical data in the study region revealed that this increasing trend in NPP is basically associated to increase in canal networks. The water supply from the canal gradually led to expansion of irrigation in the agricultural fields leading to change in dynamics of the area. This systematic and long-term NPP analysis will be useful to strengthen our understanding for the role of regional land cover types and impact of their change in the national and global carbon cycle for understanding land degradation and desertification scenario in the study area.