Quantifying the Impact of Chashma Right Bank Irrigation Project on the Land use Dynamics and Cropping Pattern of Arid Region, Pakistan

This research is focused on evaluating the impact of Chashma Right Bank Irrigation Project (CRBIP) on the land use dynamics and cropping pattern of arid region in Pakistan. Work on CRB irrigation project (CRBCIP) was started in 1984 and was subsequently completed in three stages during 2003. The CRBC holds 250,000 acres of land in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. Its ultimately goal was to enhance agricultural productivity and employment opportunity. Remote sensing and GIS techniques have also been shown to be useful tools for analyzing geographical and temporal changes in land use dynamics. In order to achieve the study objectives, data were collected from both primary and secondary sources. The methodology adopted mostly based on satellite image analysis were obtained for the years 1991 to 2021. Landsat 5 (TM) images for the years 1991, 2011, Landsat 7 (Enhance Thematic Mapper) for 2001 and Landsat 8 (Operational Land Imager/ Thermal Infrared Sensor) for 2021 were acquired from USGS Earth Explorer (open source). However, the crop production data were obtained from the statics wing agriculture department. The result clearly shows that during the last three decades, the vegetation cover has increased 8.8%, built-up area in 15% while a decrease of 24% in barren land, and -0.14 % in water bodies. Significant variation in term of changes in vegetation cover in term of space and time. The found that after the CRBC area under the irrigation has gradually increased. The analysis revealed that advent of CRBC, acreage of both Kharif and Rabi crops have improved considerably. The results of this study can provide detailed information for land-use planners, researchers, policy-decision makers, and municipal authorities.