Cultivable land down by 12 lakh Hectares in 10 years
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 3, 2016
As per the data shared by the government, the average cultivable land in the country decreased by over 12 lakh hectares from the 10th plan period (2002-03 to 2006-07) to 2013-14. The average area put to non-agricultural uses was up by 20.8 lakh hectares during the same period.
As per the information shared by the government in the Lok Sabha, the average area under cultivation or cultivable land has come down by 12.25 lakh hectares from 2002-03 to 2013-14. In the same period, the average size of the operational land holding has also come down from 1.33 hectare in 2000-01 to 1.15 hectare in 2010-11.
Most Cultivable land in Rajasthan
The average area under cultivation (cultivable land) was 18.29 crore hectares during the 10 plan period (2002-03 to 2006-07) and was 18.22 crore hectares during the 11 plan period (2007-08 to 2011-12). It has come down to 18.17 crore hectares as per the latest available data from 2013-14.
A total of seven states have more than crore hectares under cultivation as of 2013-14. Rajasthan has the highest cultivable land with 2.55 crore hectares followed by Maharashtra with 2.11 crore hectares. Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana), Karnataka & Gujarat make up the top seven. Except for Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh (to a small extent), the average area under cultivation has gone down in rest of the seven states from 2002-03 to 2013-14.
Only 0.04% of the net sown area in Punjab is Rainfed
Of all the states, Punjab has the lowest percentage of rainfed area of the net sown area in 2013-14 (0.04%). Uttar Pradesh has only 16% rainfed area. Of the states, only Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have less than 20% rainfed area of the net sown area. Assam on the other hand has the highest percentage of rainfed area (94%) followed by Jharkhand (85%). Only 9 States/UTs have a lesser percentage of rainfed area compared to the national average. At an All India level, more than 50% of the area is rainfed.
Gujarat added about 2.5 lakh hectares of cultivable land while Odisha lost over 6 lakh
Between the 10 plan period (2002-03 to 2006-07) and 2013-14, the cultivable land came down by more than 12 lakh hectares across the country. Among the states, there was a mixed trend with some states adding to the average cultivable land while some other states losing. Odisha was the biggest loser with over 6 lakh hectare decrease in the available cultivable land followed by Uttar Pradesh that lost over 3 lakh hectares during this period. Maharashtra, Haryana and West Bengal also lost more than a lakh hectare during this period. Gujarat added 2.48 lakh hectares during this period followed by Manipur that added 1.53 lakh hectare. Only 9 states had a net addition in the available cultivable land while 20 States/UTs were in the negative. Seven (7) States/UTs did not see any change in the available cultivable land.
Average area put to Non-Agricultural uses up by 20.8 lakh hectares
During the same period, the average are put to non-agricultural uses has gone up by 20.8 lakh hectares. Of the various states, Uttar Pradesh saw the highest addition at 3.82 lakh hectares followed by Andhra Pradesh at 2.91 lakh hectares. A total of 7 states added more than a lakh hectare during this period. Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand are among the states that saw a decrease in the average are put to non-agricultural uses during this period.
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