IMPACT OF FLOODS ON VEGETATION COVER IN THE SANGHAR DISTRICT OF SINDH, PAKISTAN

This study aims to assess the impact of 2010-2011 flash floods on the crop production of Sanghar—an eastern district of Sindh. The population of almost two million is mainly dependent on agriculture. Cotton, sugarcane, and wheat are the main cash crops of the district. In 2010-2011 Sanghar was hit by flash floods after heavy rainfall. These floods adversely affected the crops standing at that time.

However, on the other hand, they increased the fertility of agriculture lands. Satellite images, precipitation data, and Geographical Information System (GIS) tools were used to quantify the effects of floods by mapping pre- and post-floods vegetation cover. Supervised classification was manipulated on Landsat images from 2009 to 2013 to extract vegetation area. The temporal analysis unveils a significant increase in the vegetation cover in the post-flood years. Furthermore, the comparison between pre- and post-flood crop production data collected from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, also validated the study results by revealing an increase in crop production.