Rainwater harvesting for agriculture development using multi-influence factor and fuzzy overlay techniques

Xiangtian Zheng; Abid Sarwar; Fakhrul Islam; Abdul Majid; Aqil Tariq; Muhammad Ali; Shazia Gulzar; Muhammad Ismail Khan; Muhammad Akmal Sardar Ali; Muhammad Israr; Ahsan Jamil; Muhammad Aslam; Walid Soufan

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2023.117189

Rainwater harvesting for agriculture development using multi-influence factor and fuzzy overlay techniques

Environ Res. 2023 Dec 1;238(Pt 2):117189. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117189. Epub 2023 Sep 23.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Nanjing Institute of Technology, No.1 Hongjing Avenue, Jiangning Science Park, YKJ202118, Nanjing, 211167, China; School of Geography and Marine Science, Nanjing University, Xianlin Avenue No.163, Nanjing, 210023, China.
² GIS Lab, Directorate General Soil & Water Conservation, Peshawar, Pakistan.
³ Department of Geology, Khushal Khan Khattak University, Karak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture, College of Forest Resources, Mississippi State University, 775 Stone Boulevard, Mississippi State, MS, 39762-9690, USA. Electronic address: at2139@msstate.edu.
⁵ National Centre of Excellence in Geology, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan.
⁶ Agriculture Department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Peshawar Pakistan, Pakistan.
⁷ Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico State University, 3170S Espina Str., Las Cruces, NM, 88003, USA.
⁸ Department of Computer Science, Aberystwyth University, UK.
⁹ Plant Production Department, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.

PMID: 37742752
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117189

Abstract

Rainwater harvesting (RWH) is an essential technique for enhancing agricultural development, particularly in regions facing water scarcity or unreliable rainfall patterns. Water shortage, however, is one of the key causes of low crop production especially in mountainous regions like the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where most rainwater is lost by runoff. Therefore, rainwater harvesting could be a suitable to make better use of runoff and increase crop production. The study focuses on selecting suitable rainwater harvesting sites in District Karak to enhance agriculture by utilizing multi-influence factor (MIF) and fuzzy overlay techniques. We considered seven factors, i.e., land use land cover (LULC), slope, geology, soil, rainfall, lineament, drainage density, to create a ranking system to understand its application in site selection analysis. The results were combined into one overlay process to produce a rainwater harvesting suitability map. The weighted overlay analysis of the MIF model results reveals that 167.96 km² area has a very high potential for rainwater harvesting, 874.17 km² has a high potential, 1182.92 km² has a moderate and 354.50 km² has a poor potential for rainwater harvesting. The fuzzy overlay analysis revealed that 257.53 km² has a very high potential for rainwater harvesting, 896.56 km² area is classified as high, 1018.30 km² moderate, and 407.7 km² has poor potential for rainwater harvesting. The findings of this research work will help the policymakers and decision-makers construct various rainwater harvesting structures in the study area to overcome the water shortage problems.

Keywords: AUC; MIF & fuzzy methods; Potential sites; Rainwater harvesting; Suitability analysis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Agriculture
Rain*
Soil
Water
Water Supply*

Substances

Soil
Water