This platform has been developed by International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) under the Himalayan Resilience Enabling Action Programme (HI-REAP) project to support data-driven decision making and promote sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture in Karnali Province.

The platform is designed to visualize the potential area for cultivating some of the high-value agricultural commodities in the region. Users can select a crop of interest and explore its suitability for cultivation across districts and local units in Karnali. The platform provides interactive maps and dynamic charts that display four levels of suitability: highly suitable, moderately suitable, marginally suitable and not suitable.

The suitability analysis is based on the FAO's' land suitability framework, which evaluates the suitability of land for cultivation of specific crop using climatic, topographic and soil characteristics.

Data Sources:

• Climate data (temperature and precipitation): Sourced from TerraClimate, a publicly available global dataset (~4 km resolution)
• Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data was acquired from NASA’s SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) at a resolution of 30m.
• Soil data including soil pH, texture and fertility was derived from National Agricultural Research Council (NARC), Nepal.
• Land cover data was acquired from Nepal’s National Land Cover Monitoring System.

Disclaimer:

The suitability classes are based on the FAO's EcoCrop database and literature reviews. While scientifically grounded, local conditions may require adjustments. Users are encouraged to validate results with local expertise to support informed decision-making and enhance agricultural productivity and sustainability.