Lok Sabha Question No. 1172 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-18
Subject: Shrinkage of Cultivable Land and Migration of Farmers
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: LAKHAN LAL SAHU, BANSHILAL MAHTO

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

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1172

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 18 TH  DECEMBER, 2018

## SHRINKAGE OF CULTIVABLE LAND AND MIGRATION OF FARMERS

1172.  SHRI LAKHAN LAL SAHU: DR. BANSHILAL MAHATO:

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

- (a) the  percentage  of  cultivable  land  in  the  country  at  present,  out  of  the  total  land  in  the country, State-wise;
- (b) whether  small  farmers/agriculture  workers/agriculture  labourers  are  heading  towards urban areas due to the shrinking cultivable land in various parts of the country;
- (c) if so, the details thereof, State-wise including Chhattisgarh;
- (d) the reaction of the Government thereto; and
- (e) the measures taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to increase the cultivable land, agricultural production and check the exodus of agriculture labourers towards the urban areas?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंालय म राय मंी (SHRI PARSHOTTAM RUPALA)

- (a):  As per the latest data available on land use statistics, State-wise details of percentage of cultivable  land    in  the  country    out  of  the  geographical  area  for  the  year  2014-15  is  at Annexure- I .

(b) to (d):    As per Census 2011, conducted by the Registrar General of India, the total number of agricultural workers in the country have increased from 234.1 million (127.3 million cultivators and 106.8 million agricultural labourers) in 2001 to 263.1 million (118.8 million cultivators and 144.3 million agricultural labourers) in 2011. However, the share of workforce engaged in the agriculture  sector  (comprising  of  cultivators  and  agricultural  labourers)  has  come  down  from 58.2 per cent in 2001 to 54.6 per cent in 2011.  State/UT-wise details of agricultural workers in India  are  given in Annexure-II. Migration of agricultural labour from rural to urban areas is a general phenomenon and a natural part of the development process.  The reasons for this shift include,  inter  alia,  better  employment  opportunities  in  industry  and  services,  increasing urbanization, low income in agriculture etc. In a market economy like India, movement of the people for better economic opportunities is inexorable.

Continue….2/-

(e): As per the Seventh Schedule of Constitution of India, land comes under the purview of State Governments and, therefore, it is for the State Governments to make efforts to increase cultivable land. However, Government of India supplements the efforts of the State Governments  through  various  crop  development  Schemes/Programmes  and  it  has  taken several  steps  to  increase  total  cropped  area  and  to  increase  agricultural  production  through increased  investment,  improving  farm  practices,  rural  infrastructure,  areas  under  protective irrigation, delivery of credit, technology, other inputs, extension, marketing etc.

Further, Government has taken measures to retain farmers in agriculture and improve returns to farmers by enhancing institutional credit to farmers; promotion of scientific warehousing infrastructure for increasing shelf life of agricultural produce; improved access to irrigation through Pradhan  Mantri Krishi Sinchayee  Yojana(PMKSY);  provision  of  Price Stabilization  Fund(PSF)  to  mitigate  price  volatility  in  agricultural  produce,  Scheme  for  Soil Health Cards; setting  up  of  Agri-tech  Infrastructure  Fund  for  making  farming  competitive  and profitable; developing commercial organic farming in North East Region, etc.

## Annexure referred in reply to part (a) of Lok Sabha unstarred Q. NO. 1172 due for answer on 18/12/18

State-wise details of percentage of Cultivable land out of the geographical area for the year 2014-15

(in thousand hectares)

(in per cent)

| STATES/UTs                |   Geographical Area |   Cultivable land |   percentage of Cultivable Land out of the geographical area |
|---------------------------|---------------------|-------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------|
| ANDHRA PRADESH            |               16276 |              9047 |                                                        55.58 |
| ARUNACHAL PRADESH         |                8374 |               423 |                                                         5.06 |
| ASSAM                     |                7844 |              3364 |                                                        42.88 |
| BIHAR                     |                9416 |              6579 |                                                        69.87 |
| CHHATTISGARH              |               13519 |              5558 |                                                        41.11 |
| GOA                       |                 370 |               197 |                                                        53.3  |
| GUJARAT                   |               19602 |             12661 |                                                        64.59 |
| HARYANA                   |                4421 |              3656 |                                                        82.69 |
| HIMACHAL PRADESH          |                5567 |               812 |                                                        14.58 |
| JAMMU & KASHMIR           |               22224 |              1075 |                                                         4.84 |
| JHARKHAND                 |                7972 |              4343 |                                                        54.48 |
| KARNATAKA                 |               19179 |             12827 |                                                        66.88 |
| KERALA                    |                3886 |              2266 |                                                        58.32 |
| MADHYA PRADESH            |               30825 |             17252 |                                                        55.97 |
| MAHARASHTRA               |               30771 |             21099 |                                                        68.57 |
| MANIPUR                   |                2233 |               390 |                                                        17.45 |
| MEGHALAYA                 |                2243 |              1056 |                                                        47.08 |
| MIZORAM                   |                2108 |               367 |                                                        17.43 |
| NAGALAND                  |                1658 |               694 |                                                        41.85 |
| ODISHA                    |               15571 |              6784 |                                                        43.57 |
| PUNJAB                    |                5036 |              4285 |                                                        85.08 |
| RAJASTHAN                 |               34224 |             25511 |                                                        74.54 |
| SIKKIM                    |                 710 |                97 |                                                        13.59 |
| TAMIL NADU                |               13006 |              8112 |                                                        62.37 |
| TELANGANA                 |               11231 |              6877 |                                                        61.23 |
| TRIPURA                   |                1049 |               272 |                                                        25.97 |
| UTTARAKHAND               |                5348 |              1549 |                                                        28.96 |
| UTTAR PRADESH             |               24093 |             18939 |                                                        78.61 |
| WEST BENGAL               |                8875 |              5655 |                                                        63.72 |
| ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS |                 825 |                28 |                                                         3.37 |
| CHANDIGARH                |                  11 |                 1 |                                                        13.25 |
| DADRA & NAGAR HAVELI      |                  49 |                24 |                                                        48.67 |
| DAMAN & DIU               |                  11 |                 3 |                                                        26.92 |
| DELHI                     |                 148 |                53 |                                                        35.65 |
| LAKSHADWEEP               |                   3 |                 2 |                                                        78.17 |
| PUDUCHERRY                |                  48 |                29 |                                                        60.87 |
| ALL INDIA                 |              328726 |            181886 |                                                        55.33 |

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

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## Annexure-II

## Annexure in reference to Reply to part (b) to (d) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred No. 1172 due for reply on 18.12.2018

## Number of Agricultural Workers in India (in Millions)

| S. No.   | State/                          |   Cultivators |   Cultivators |   Agricultural Labourers |   Agricultural Labourers |   Total |   Total |
|----------|---------------------------------|---------------|---------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|---------|---------|
| S. No.   | UTs                             |       2001    |       2011    |                  2001    |                  2011    | 2001    | 2011    |
| S. No.   | ALL INDIA                       |        127.31 |        118.81 |                   106.78 |                   144.33 |  234.09 |  263.14 |
| 1        | JAMMU & KASHMIR                 |          1.59 |          1.25 |                     0.25 |                     0.55 |    1.84 |    1.8  |
| 2        | HIMACHAL PRADESH                |          1.95 |          2.06 |                     0.09 |                     0.18 |    2.04 |    2.24 |
| 3        | PUNJAB                          |          2.07 |          1.93 |                     1.49 |                     1.59 |    3.56 |    3.52 |
| 4        | CHANDIGARH                      |          0    |          0    |                     0    |                     0    |    0    |    0    |
| 5        | UTTARAKHAND                     |          1.57 |          1.58 |                     0.26 |                     0.4  |    1.83 |    1.98 |
| 6        | HARYANA                         |          3.02 |          2.48 |                     1.28 |                     1.53 |    4.3  |    4.01 |
| 7        | DELHI                           |          0.04 |          0.03 |                     0.02 |                     0.04 |    0.06 |    0.07 |
| 8        | RAJASTHAN                       |         13.14 |         13.62 |                     2.52 |                     4.94 |   15.66 |   18.56 |
| 9        | UTTAR PRADESH                   |         22.17 |         19.06 |                    13.4  |                    19.94 |   35.57 |   39    |
| 10       | BIHAR                           |          8.19 |          7.2  |                    13.42 |                    18.35 |   21.61 |   25.55 |
| 11       | SIKKIM                          |          0.13 |          0.12 |                     0.02 |                     0.03 |    0.15 |    0.15 |
| 12       | ARUNACHAL PRADESH               |          0.28 |          0.3  |                     0.02 |                     0.04 |    0.3  |    0.34 |
| 13       | NAGALAND                        |          0.55 |          0.54 |                     0.03 |                     0.06 |    0.58 |    0.6  |
| 14       | MANIPUR (Excl. 3 Sub-divisions) |          0.38 |          0.57 |                     0.11 |                     0.11 |    0.49 |    0.69 |
| 15       | MIZORAM                         |          0.26 |          0.23 |                     0.03 |                     0.04 |    0.29 |    0.27 |
| 16       | TRIPURA                         |          0.31 |          0.3  |                     0.28 |                     0.35 |    0.59 |    0.65 |
| 17       | MEGHALAYA                       |          0.47 |          0.49 |                     0.17 |                     0.2  |    0.64 |    0.69 |
| 18       | ASSAM                           |          3.73 |          4.06 |                     1.26 |                     1.85 |    4.99 |    5.91 |
| 19       | WEST BENGAL                     |          5.65 |          5.12 |                     7.36 |                    10.19 |   13.01 |   15.31 |
| 20       | JHARKHAND                       |          3.89 |          3.81 |                     2.85 |                     4.44 |    6.74 |    8.25 |
| 21       | ORISSA                          |          4.25 |          4.1  |                     5    |                     6.74 |    9.25 |   10.84 |
| 22       | CHHATTISGARH                    |          4.31 |          4    |                     3.09 |                     5.09 |    7.4  |    9.09 |
| 23       | MADHYA PRADESH                  |         11.04 |          9.84 |                     7.4  |                    12.19 |   18.44 |   22.03 |
| 24       | GUJARAT                         |          5.8  |          5.45 |                     5.16 |                     6.84 |   10.96 |   12.29 |
| 25       | DAMAN & DIU                     |          0    |          0    |                     0    |                     0    |    0.01 |    0    |
| 26       | DADRA& NAGAR HAVELI             |          0.04 |          0.03 |                     0.01 |                     0.02 |    0.05 |    0.05 |
| 27       | MAHARASHTRA                     |         11.81 |         12.57 |                    10.82 |                    13.49 |   22.63 |   26.06 |
| 28       | ANDHRA PRADESH                  |          7.86 |          6.49 |                    13.83 |                    16.97 |   21.69 |   23.46 |
| 29       | KARNATAKA                       |          6.88 |          6.58 |                     6.23 |                     7.16 |   13.11 |   13.74 |
| 30       | GOA                             |          0.05 |          0.03 |                     0.04 |                     0.03 |    0.09 |    0.06 |
| 31       | LAKSHADWEEP                     |          0    |          0    |                     0    |                     0    |    0    |    0    |
| 32       | KERALA                          |          0.72 |          0.67 |                     1.62 |                     1.32 |    2.34 |    1.99 |
| 33       | TAMIL NADU                      |          5.12 |          4.25 |                     8.64 |                     9.61 |   13.76 |   13.86 |
| 34       | PUDUCHERRY                      |          0.01 |          0.01 |                     0.07 |                     0.07 |    0.08 |    0.08 |
| 35       | ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS       |          0.02 |          0.02 |                     0.01 |                     0    |    0.03 |    0.02 |

Note: The Census 2001 figures for India and Manipur exclude that of Mao Param, Paomata and Purul sub-divisions of Senapati district of Manipur

Source: PCA, Census of India, 2011