Location Identification Model for Agro-Tourism Development
This concept has been conceptualized by Team —Karthik as part of Climate Resilient Food Security a Hackathon for Good organized under Indo Data Week for Sustainable Development Goals.
The team unfortunately comprises a single individual contributor: Karthik Kumat Billa.
The challenge:
COVID-19 has had a strong impact on all types of business. At the back-drop of the situation, the Tourism market is left to face an abrupt halt due to the lockdown and closing of borders. Agritourism is an important way that diversifies agriculture and rural areas. Taking strict safety precautions, Agritourism becomes a part of Sustainable Agriculture. It increases rural employment, alleviates poverty, attracts investments, and provides income opportunities to farmers, the local community, the tourism industry, and the government. Agritourism also opens opportunities for Women in rural areas who can be the prime practitioners, beneficiaries, and creators of innovative solutions.
A family that bought a new car can not pinpoint a destiny these days for a long trip. Agritourism will solve their issues with a very cost-effective vacation.
Nature and people are the main features associated with Agritourism. The closeness to nature treats many forms of illness, cost-effectively. The plants and livestock become the main farm attractions. And the culture, history, and daily life of the people living close to nature induces a strong learning experience for the urban dwellers. It is noteworthy that the true tradition of the state lies in the rural areas.
Elements of an Agri-tourism business:
1. Accommodation
2. Food
3. Tourist Entertainment
4. Ease of access and transport
5. Sanitation and safety
Tourists can have an opportunity to:
1. Observe the agricultural production process
2. Can participate in actual production
3. Can intervene with investments
4. Provide reviews on the place and bring in more tourist traffic
5. Take nature’s healing treatment
6. Eat food fresh from the farm
It is also noteworthy that people who have earned sustenance and survival comfort move to farms to escape from the urban hassles, to come closer to nature, and involve in farm development.
Among the factors affecting Agrotourism, Climatic, and geo-spatial features are considered for developing the current business model.
Following activities can be encouraged by the Agriculture and Tourism Departments of the State
- Development of theme villages and tourist locations
- Transferring and implementing business models in different locations
- Identifying stressed areas that reduce tourist traffic
The following features of the climate and environment are considered for developing a sustainable business model.
- Extent of administrative coverage
- Roads and railways
- Tourism points of interest
- Protected areas
- Proximity of water bodies/streams and water stress
Summary:
1. The business opportunity adds economy to rural areas.
2. Provides sustainable development of Agriculture and Tourism.
3. Provides useful information to policymakers and to the industry who are looking for development in the agritourism sector.
4. Promotes human-nature relationship.
Objectives:
1. Identify locations where Agritourism can be immediately developed.
2. Identify hotspots to perform intervention by the State.
Data as a control center:
The tools used: QGIS for Satellite Data Visualization
Realistic Capability of location identification model:
1. Through this model we have multiple categories of locations:
- Locations with high water stress or low water stress
- Locations with Transport connectivity or no connectivity and so on
2. Locations with good environmental conditions can be checked for opportunities for new Agro-tourism businesses and locations with stressed environments needs machinery to solve issues with the factors causing the stress
3. Usage of satellite data increases the effectiveness of location identification, monitoring of the impact of the agro-tourism businesses on the region.
- For e.g. Satellite images can be analyzed for identifying crop variety, monitoring crop health, and developing theme villages
Once the Agro-tourism business opportunities are located and built, satellite data again plays a role in estimating and predicting the environmental parameters of these locations for sustainability. Satellite data also enables us to check for change detection on a planned Agro-tourism footprint.
Conclusion:
Through the development of Agro-tourism, we will enable a Climate Resilient Sustainable Agriculture
Team Description:
Lead: Karthik Kumar Billa, Research Intern, Pixxel Space Technologies
Github -https://github.com/rook0falcon
