Abstract : Sustainable agricultural development requires a systematic effort towards
the planning of land use activities in the most appropriate way, apart from several
other institutional and policy programme initiatives. Agro-ecological zoning (AEZ)
is one of the most important approaches for agricultural developmental planning
because survival and failure of particular land use or farming system in a given region
heavily relies on careful assessment of agro-climatic resources. This approach is used
to categorize agro-climatically uniform geographical areas for agricultural
developmental planning and other interventions. Modern tools such as satellite
remote sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS) have been providing
newer dimensions to effectively monitor and manage land resources in an integrated
manner for agro-ecological characterization. The application of AEZ is limited by
lack of geospatial data, particularly in mountainous areas. This paper tries to
demonstrate incorporation of new tools to extend applicability of AEZ in
mountainous areas like Kumaon Himalayas, India