Land-use planning is a decision-making process that
facilitates the allocation of land to different uses that
provide optimal and sustainable benefit. As land-use
is shaped by society–nature interaction, in land-use
planning different components/facets play a significant
role involving soil, water, climate, animal (ruminant/
non-ruminant) and others, including forestry
and the environment needed for survival of mankind.
At times these components are moderated by human
interference. Thus land-use planning being a dynamic
phenomenon is not guided by a single factor, but by a
complex system working simultaneously,which largely
affects the sustainability. To address such issues a
National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) on
‘Georeferenced soil information system for land-use
planning and monitoring soil and land quality for
agriculture’ was undertaken to develop threshold
values of land quality parameters for land-use planning
through quantitative land evaluation and crop
modelling for dominant cropping systems in major
agro-ecological sub-regions (AESRs) representing
rice–wheat cropping system in the Indo-Gangetic
Plains (IGP) and deep-rooted crops in the black
soil regions (BSR). To assess the impact of landuse
change, threshold land quality indicator values
are used. A modified AESR map for agricultural landuse
planning is generated for effective land-use planning
