E.2. Land-Use Changes In India
Three key types of changes that an economy undergoes, which affect land-use, are:
- The size of the economy: As the economy grows, it influences land use patterns due to increasing demand for land for residential, industrial, and commercial purposes.
- The composition of the economy: Shifts in the sectors that drive the economy (such as a move from agriculture to industry or services) impact the way land is utilized and repurposed.
- Agricultural pressure: Although the contribution of agricultural activities to the economy typically declines over time, the pressure on agricultural land remains. This continued demand for agricultural land arises due to factors like:
- In developing countries, the share of population dependent on agriculture usually declines much more slowly compared to the decline in the sector’s share in GDP.
- The number of people that the agricultural sector has to feed is increasing day by day.
- The rate of increase is the highest in case of area under non-agricultural uses. This is due to the changing structure of Indian economy. The area under non-agricultural uses is increasing at the expense of wastelands and agricultural land.
- The increase in the share under forest, as explained before, can be accounted for by increase in the demarcated area under forest rather than an actual increase in the forest cover in the country.
- The increase in the current fallow cannot be explained from information pertaining to only two points. The trend of current fallow fluctuates a great deal over years, depending on the variability of rainfall and cropping cycles.
- The wastelands and culturable wastelands have witnessed decline over time due to the pressure on land increased, both from the agricultural and non- agricultural sectors.
- The decline in net area sown is a recent phenomenon that started in the late nineties, before which it was registering a slow increase. There are indications that most of the decline has occurred due to the increases in area under non- agricultural use.
- The decline in land under pastures and grazing lands can be explained by pressure from agricultural land. Illegal encroachment due to expansion of cultivation on common pasture lands is largely responsible for this decline