Lok Sabha Question No. 2644 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-09
Subject: Diversion of Cultivable Land
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Raja Amareshwara Naik, Khagen Murmu, Sukanta Majumdar, Vinod Kumar Sonkar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, COOPERATION AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2644

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 9 TH   JULY, 2019

## DIVERSION OF  CULTIVABLE LAND

2644.     SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK: SHRI  KHAGEN  MURMU: DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR: SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  there  is  an  adverse  impact  on  agricultural  production  due  to  diversion  of cultivable  land  for  non-agricultural purposes such as  industrial, housing  and power projects, etc. in the country;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  decline  in  the  area  of  cultivable  land  in  the country  during  the  last  three  years, State/UT-wise;
- (c) whether  there   has  been  a  sharp decline in the per capita availability of land  and several  farmers/people  have  become landless across the country;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor; and
- (e) the  corrective  measures  taken/ proposed to be taken by the Government to check the use of agricultural land for non-agricultural  purposes and  to increase  the area of cultivable land in the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

- (a) & (b):    No Sir.   Due to technological advances and various initiatives of the Government, the production of foodgrains and horticulture crops has been showing an increasing trend.  The production of foodgrains and horticultural crops from 2015-16 to 2018-19 is given in the table below:

| Year    | Food Grains (million tonnes)   | Horticulture crops (million tonnes)   |
|---------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| 2015-16 | 251.54                         | 286.19                                |
| 2016-17 | 275.11                         | 300.64                                |
| 2017-18 | 285.01                         | 311.70                                |
| 2018-19 | 283.37*                        | 314.87**                              |

As per the publication on Land Use Statistics for 2014-15 (latest available), the State/UTwise details of agricultural/ cultivable  land in the country from 2012-13 to 2014-15 is at Annex I.

(c)  &(d):        As  per  various  Quinquennial  Agriculture  Censuses  conducted  by  Ministry  of Agriculture  and  Farmers Welfare  in  1970-71,  1976-77,  1980-81,  1985-86,  1990-91,  1995-96, 2000-01,  2005-06,    2010-11  and  2015-16  the  average  size  of    operational  holdings  in  the country was 2.28, 2.00, 1.84, 1.69, 1.55, 1.41, 1.33, 1.23, 1.15 and 1.08 hectares respectively, which shows that the average size of the operational holdings declined by more than 50% in 2015-16 over 1970-71. The decline in average size of operational holdings has been attributed largely to growing population and fragmentation of land holdings.

As  per  the  Agriculture  Census  2015-16  (latest  available),  the  number  of  operational holders (Marginal and Small) in the country is 86.2 percent with the coverage of 47.3 percent of area under operational holding.

(e):     As per the Seventh Schedule of Constitution of India, land comes under the purview of State Governments and, therefore, it is for them to take suitable steps to increase the area of arable  land.  However,  Government  of  India  supplements  the  efforts  of  States,  through appropriate policy measures and budgetary support.

In order to check decline in the arable area in the country, under the National Policy for Farmers - 2007 (NPF-2007), State Governments have been advised to earmark lands with low biological  potential  such  as  uncultivable  land,  land  affected  by  salinity,  acidity,  etc.,  for  nonagricultural  development  activities,  including  industrial  and  construction  activities.  National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy - 2007 (NRRP-2007) has also recommended that as far as  possible,  projects  may  be  set  up  on  waste  land,  degraded  land  or  un-irrigated  land  and acquisition of irrigated, multi-cropped agricultural land for non-agricultural uses may be kept to the  minimum  and  avoided,  to  the  extent  possible.  Further,  Ministry  of  Rural  Development  is implementing an Integrated Watershed  Management  Programme  (IWMP) for development  of rainfed/  degraded  areas.  The  IWMP  has  been  converted  to  the  Watershed  Development Component of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee  Yojana (PMKSY) from the financial  year 2015-16.

## Annexure referred in reply to part (a) and (b) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Q. No. 2644 due for answer on 9/07/19

State-wise details of cultivable land/ agricultural land in the country from 2012-13 to 2014-15 (latest available)

(thousand hectares)

| STATES/UTs        | 2012-13   |   2013-14 |   2014-15 |
|-------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| ANDHRA PRADESH    | 15930     |      8879 |      9047 |
| ARUNACHAL PRADESH | 424       |       424 |       423 |
| ASSAM             | 3356      |      3357 |      3364 |
| BIHAR             | 6582      |      6578 |      6579 |
| CHHATTISGARH      | 5552      |      5550 |      5558 |
| GOA               | 197       |       197 |       197 |
| GUJARAT           | 12661     |     12661 |     12661 |
| HARYANA           | 3664      |      3645 |      3656 |
| HIMACHAL PRADESH  | 812       |       812 |       812 |
| JAMMU & KASHMIR   | 1070      |      1070 |      1075 |
| JHARKHAND         | 4336      |      4343 |      4343 |
| KARNATAKA         | 12846     |     12840 |     12827 |
| KERALA            | 2280      |      2279 |      2266 |
| MADHYA PRADESH    | 17264     |     17267 |     17252 |
| MAHARASHTRA       | 21129     |     21127 |     21099 |
| MANIPUR           | 316       |       384 |       390 |
| MEGHALAYA         | 1056      |      1056 |      1056 |
| MIZORAM           | 408       |       402 |       367 |
| NAGALAND          | 694       |       693 |       694 |
| ODISHA            | 6743      |      6797 |      6784 |
| PUNJAB            | 4286      |      4219 |      4285 |
| RAJASTHAN         | 25548     |     25542 |     25511 |
| SIKKIM            | 97        |        97 |        97 |
| TAMIL NADU        | 8126      |      8120 |      8112 |
| TELANGANA         |           |      6929 |      6877 |
| TRIPURA           | 274       |       273 |       272 |
| UTTARAKHAND       | 1547      |      1550 |      1549 |
| UTTAR PRADESH     | 19075     |     18955 |     18939 |
| WEST BENGAL       | 5673      |      5662 |      5655 |
| A&N ISLAND        | 28        |        28 |        28 |
| CHANDIGARH        | 1         |         1 |         1 |
| D & N HAVELI      | 24        |        24 |        24 |
| DAMAN & DIU       | 3         |         3 |         3 |
| DELHI             | 53        |        53 |        53 |
| LAKSHADWEEP       | 2         |         2 |         2 |
| PUDUCHERRY        | 30        |        30 |        29 |
| ALL INDIA         | 182085    |    181850 |    181886 |

Source: Directorate of Economics & Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

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