Site Suitability for Agro-Tourism Development in Nashik District of Maharashtra State, India

Sanjay Dagu Pagar^1,

¹Department of Geography, MVP Samaj’s K.R.T. Arts, B.H. Commerce and A.M. Science (K.T.H.M.) College. Nashik-2Affiliated to Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune

Cite this paper:
Sanjay Dagu Pagar. Site Suitability for Agro-Tourism Development in Nashik District of Maharashtra State, India. Applied Ecology and Environmental Sciences. 2021; 9(10):846-855. doi: 10.12691/aees-9-10-1

Abstract

The main objective of the present research is to identify the potential sites for agro tourism development by using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) in Nashik district of Maharashtra State. Nashik district has mythological and historical background and geographical diversity so that there are well known tourist’s places such as historical places, pilgrimage places, grape wineries etc. All these factors lead to the development of the agro-tourists sites in the study area. Pimpalgaon Garudeshwar, Makhalmalabad, Belgaon Dhaga, Zarwad Bk, Vinchurgavali & Dudgaon etc. are major places which are already developed as agro-tourism centers in the study area. The various thematic layers such as slope, DEM, drainage density, average rainfall, LULC, transport density, distribution of tourists places have been applied to analyses the agro-tourists site suitability with the help of AHP analysis. The result of AHP depicted that about 46.15 percent area falls under moderately suitable category 53.19 percent under marginally suitable category for agro-tourism development in Nashik District. Only 0.086 percent of the area is highly suitable for Agro Tourism in the study area. It is located in Nashik tahsil of the study area, especially around Nashik city where most factors are favourable for agro-tourism development. Only 0.58 percent of the area falls under not suitability class which is observed North-western, northern and southern part of the study area which have steep slopes, barren land, less rainfall, less road connectivity, poor soil and very less agricultural development. For improving the status of agro-tourism industry, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), Travel Agents Association of Nashik (TAAN), Winery owners and State transport department collectively plan to boost agro tourism industry in highly and moderately suitable areas of the study region.

Keywords:
Site Suitability Potential Agro-tourism Winery Tourism Development & Regional Development

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Manoj, P. K. (2016), “Determinants of sustainability of rural tourism: a study of tourists at Kumbalangi in Kerala, India”, International Journal of Advance Research in Computer Science and Management Studies, 4(4), Pp.17-30.
[2]	Sharmila Bose (2019),” Prospective Role of Agro-Tourism in Transformation of Rural India”, ‘International Journal of Science and Research’, Volume 10 Issue 3, March 2021, Pp.999-1003.
[3]	Khangarot, G., & Sahu, P. (2019). Agro-Tourism: A dimension of sustainable tourism development in Rajasthan. JIMS8M: The Journal of Indian Management & Strategy, 24(4), 21-26.
[4]	Sharmila Bose (2019),” Prospective Role of Agro-Tourism in Transformation of Rural India”, ‘International Journal of Science and Research’, Volume 10 Issue 3, March 2021, Pp.999-1003.
[5]	Chatterjee, S., & Prasad, D. M. V. (2019). The Evolution of Agri-Tourism practices in In-dia: Some Success Stories. Madridge J Agric Environ Sci, 1(1), 19-25.
[6]	Kumbhar, V. M. (2009). Agro-tourism scope and opportunities for the farmers in Maharashtra. Indiastat, September-October 2009, Pp.1-13.
[7]	Ithape V. C. (2017), “Agro-Tourism: Opportunities for the Farmers in Pargoan Sudrik Village of Shrigonda Tahsil”, International Journal Of Researches In Social Sciences And Information Studies, Vol. V (1), Jan 2017: 47-49
[8]	Wanole, S. N., Kadam, J. R., & Bhave, S. G. (2020), “SWOT Analysis of Agri-tourism Centers in Konkan Region of Maharashtra State”. Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2020) Special Issue-11: 1594-1600.
[9]	Khanal, S., & Shrestha, M. (2019). Agro-tourism: Prospects, importance, destinations and challenges in Nepal. Archives of Agriculture and Environmental Science, 4(4), 464-471.
[10]	Talekar, P. R., & Potdar, M. B. (2012), “Potential for Development of Agro-Tourism in Kolhapur District of Maharashtra”, ‘Young Researcher’, I (1), 23-30.
[11]	Hemani Kothari and Dr. Asif Perwej (2021), “Agro Tourism: A Way of Sustainable Development”, ‘Wesleyan Journal of Research’, Vol. 13 No 68 (March 2021), Pp.93-101.
[12]	Mansor, N., Mat Rashid, K., Mohamad, Z., & Abdullah, Z. (2015). Agro tourism potential in Malaysia. International Academic Research Journal of Business and Technology, 1(2), 37-44.
[13]	Nimase, A. G. (2020). Development of Agro-Tourism in Rural Maharashtra: Challenges and Disturbances. Aayushi International Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 1-6.
[14]	Wimalaratana, R. P. W. (2014) Promotion of Agro Tourism and Rural Development in South Asia: A Coying Strategy to Global Economic Crisis.
[15]	Maharjan S.K., Dangol D.R. & others (2007), “Study on Development and Promotion of Agri-Tourism in Shaktikhor VDC of Chitwan, Nepal”, IAAS Research Advances”, II, (2): Pp.225-229.
[16]	Vikas Dangi (2018), “The Scenario of Agro - Tourism in India: An Overview”, ‘Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research’, May 2018, Volume 5, Issue 5, Pp.796-801.
[17]	Jensen, L.F.J & F.J.M. Van der Wel (1964), “Accuracy assessment of satellite derived land cover data: a review”, Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, Vol.60,Pp. 419-426.
[18]	Zolekar, R. B., & Bhagat, V. S. (2018). Multi-criteria land suitability analysis for plantation in Upper Mula and Pravara basin: remote sensing and GIS approach. J. Geogr. Stud, 2(1), 12-20.
[19]	Zolekar, R.B., 2018. Integrative approach of RS and GIS in characterization of land suitability for agriculture: a case study of Darna catchment. Arabian J. Geosci. 11, 780.
[20]	Mobaraki, O., Abdollahzadeh, M., & Kamelifar, Z. (2014). Site suitability evaluation for ecotourism using GIS and AHP: a case study of Isfahan Townships, Iran. Management Science Letters, 4(8), 1893-1898.
[21]	Shah, G. D., Gumaste, R. R., & Shende, K. M.(2019), “Developing Rural Entrepreneurship opportunities is a key to Sustainable Agro Tourism in Maharashtra”, Adalya Journal, Volume 8, Issue 9, September 2019, Pp.1167-1181.
[22]	Ahsanath M.K. & R Purushothaman (2016), “Potentials of Agro-tourism in Karnataka’, ‘Research avenues in Social Science’, Vol-1 Issue-3 2016, Pp.22-26.
[23]	Mandi, K., Azad, A., Dutta, S., & Hindorya, P. S. (2019). Agro Tourism: Exploring New Avenues in Rural India. Science for Agriculture and Allied Sector, 1(1).
[24]	Joshi, P. V., Bhujbal, M., & Pable, S. (2011). Socio-Economic Development of Rural Area of Konkan Region of Maharashtra State through Agro tourism. Studies (IJRS), 18 (1).
[25]	Suryawanshi, D.S. & Manisha Patil (2015) “Role of Transportation and Tour Management in Tourism Development”, ‘Scholars World - International Refereed Multidisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research 112 (116). Pp.169-173.