Potential application of GIS and remote sensing to evaluate suitable site for livestock production in Northwestern part of Bangladesh

The livestock resources of Bangladesh are under tremendous strain due to several natural and anthropogenic causes. Especially in the Northwestern region of Bangladesh, these resources are more vulnerable to deterioration resulting from human actions, a lack of environmental and rangeland legislation, climate change, drought, poor management, and inadequate disaster mitigation plans. GIS based multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) and remote sensing techniques have been used in this research to locate ideal land for sheep, goats, buffalo and cow production. In this study, the suitability analysis for livestock production has been considered in eight thematic layers: slope, land use & land cover (LULC), soil types, rainfall, water accessibility, road distance, relative humidity, and average temperature. Besides, this research had been used geospatial tools for combining these eight geographical layers, when analytical hierarchy process, a MCDA approach helped to measure the weight of each criterion. The final map that is perfect for raising cattle has been divided into four categories, such as low, medium, high and excellent. Each of these rangeland suitability groups has portions in the Northwestern region of Bangladesh that fall into the following percentages: 11.14%, 26.07%, 35.27%, and 27.53%. This research also depicts that the western part of the study region, which includes Thakurgaon, Panchagar, Dinajpur, Naogaon, Joypurhat and Bogra has a low suitability index for livestock production while the eastern region, which includes Kurigram, Nilphamari, Pabna, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha, Rangpur and Sirajganj contributes to an excellent zone. The outcome of this study will be useful to identify the best places for livestock production in the Northwestern part of Bangladesh. Finally, this research may additionally assist government officials in creating environmental and rangeland strategies for the livestock population in the study area.