Tea plantations urbanization trade off in land use land cover changes in a city region

Abstract

In 2023, India celebrates the 200 year anniversary of the advent of tea productionin the country. As the world’s second largest tea producing country after China. Comprehensive data on key aspects such as land utilization, tea bushhealth, plantation area changes, available infrastructure, shade tree density, andnatural resource potential are vital for effective planning at the Tea Board. Implementinga management information system (MIS) is crucial for informed decision-makingand maximizing tea exports. The Assam Tourism Policy, launched in November2022, prioritizes sustainable tea tourism, with approved guidelines includingfunds for tourism infrastructure and a tea museum in Dibrugarh. Theseinitiativeshighlight Dibrugarh's crucial role in the tea industry's growth and emphasizesustainable development while promoting the sector. The profound impact of land dynamics in the tea plantations over thepast twocenturies is evident. However, the literature review highlights the lack of periodicmapping, inadequate studies on the correlation between urbanizationandtealand, and a scarcity of context-specific solutions to address land degradationandpromote sustainable land utilization. Therefore, conducting a comprehensivestudy on historical trends and spatio-temporal changes is imperativetoguidefuture planning and foster a more sustainable future collectively. The aim of this research study is to assess the land use land cover changesof tea plantations of Dibrugarh City Region (Assam). The first objective of thethesisis to study the land use land cover (LULC) changes in a city region takingthecase study of Dibrugarh City Region. In this objective, the spatio-temporal changes in land cover between the years 2008-2023 were studied. Thetrendof reduction of tea plantations, type and extent of land cover changesweredetermined. It was concluded that plantation to built up land cover changewasthe most prominent among the others. The Kappa accuracy statistics measuredthe precision of land cover values, accounting for the potential skewness causedby inaccurate data. Tea Plantations-Urbanization Trade Off In Land Use Land Cover Changes In A City Region: A Case Of Dibrugarh, IndiaIV The second objective of the thesis was to ascertain the presence, natureandstrength of association between urbanization (built up) and tea plantations. Toachieve the objective, Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used andit wasstatistically established that a strong negative correlationship exists betweengrowth rates of urbanization and tea plantations, indicating that the growthof built up has an association with the loss of land under tea plantations. In additiontoit, the tea plantation-to-built-up area ratio identified wards with the most significant land cover changes. To accomplish the third objective, recommendations regarding sustainablelandutilization, protection of land against degradation and interventions of tealandmanagement were explored. Buffer preparation, soil strengthening measuresandidentification of wards requiring immediate flood mitigation measuresweresuggested to resolve loss of land to natural causes. Additionally, introductionof tea tourism policy that defines the scope of tea tourism, tourismcircuit andguidelines regarding constructable land, land for tea tourism, state authorities’ approval for construction have been recommended to promote sustainableteatourism practices. Livelihood diversification, incentivized retention of landthroughtransferable development rights (TDR) are also part of suggested proposals. Over the course of the thesis, the objectives render the following outcomestothethesis- mapping of the extent of LULC changes since 2008-2023, statisticallyestablishing the correlationship between the urbanization and loss of teaplantations and recommending adoptable interventions for sustainablelandutilization in tea plantations.