Abstract
Agricultural land is essential for food production and income generation. The present study was conducted to understand the relationship between topographical factors and agricultural land and to identify suitable land for agriculture in the Poonch district. Eight topographical factors, such as elevation, slope, aspect, curvature, relief amplitude, standard deviation of elevation, topographical wet index, and solar radiation, were chosen for the study. Topographical information was extracted from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Digital Elevation Model (SRTM DEM), and agricultural land was digitized from ArcGIS Pro base map and Google Earth high-resolution satellite images. The location entropy technique was used to determine the relationship between topographical factors and agricultural land. Suitable land for agriculture was identified through fuzzy overlay analysis in ArcGIS Pro using chosen parameters by considering the threshold value obtained in the location entropy. The findings revealed 34.98 square kilometers of suitable agricultural land. The survey among local farmers shows profitable agriculture in the region, and utilizing this suitable land could significantly improve farmers' livelihoods and the production of food grains. This specific area offers a promising opportunity for advanced farming techniques. Harnessing the potential of this identified area can enhance agricultural production, resulting in higher crop yields and economic benefits for the local farmers.