Lok Sabha Question No. 240 (STARRED), answered on 2020-03-06
Subject: Restoration of Degraded Land
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: P.P. Chaudhary

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 240

TO BE ANSWERED ON 6.03.2020

## Restoration of Degraded Land

## 240. SHRI P.P. CHAUDHARY:

Will  the  Minister  of  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND  CLIMATE  CHANGE  be  pleased  to state:

- (a) the area categorised as degraded land across the country, State/UT-wise;
- (b) the area of degraded land that is proposed to be restored;
- (c) whether the Government is planning to promote organic agriculture to restore such land and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government proposes to enter into technology sharing agreements with other countries for the purposes of land restoration and water conservation in the country; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

(a), (b), (c),(d) & (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

***

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARA (a), (b), (c),(d) & (e) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 240 ON RESTORATION OF DEGRADED LAND DUE FOR REPLY ON 6.03.2020

- (a) As per the Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India, prepared by the Space Applications Centre for the period 2011-2013, 29.32 % of the Total Geographical Area of the country i.e. 96.4 million hectares is undergoing the process of degradation. The area categorized as degraded land , State/UT wise is as follows:
- (b) India has committed to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) status by 2030. At the  recently  concluded  14th  session  of  the  Conference  of  Parties  (CoP)  of  United  Nations

|     | Name of the State   |   Total Area under Desertification (hectares) |   Total Area under Desertification (%) |
|-----|---------------------|-----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|
| 1.  | Andhra Pradesh      |                                       2298758 |                                  14.35 |
| 2.  | Arunachal Pradesh   |                                        153933 |                                   1.84 |
| 3.  | Assam               |                                        716596 |                                   9.14 |
| 4.  | Bihar               |                                        694809 |                                   7.38 |
| 5.  | Chhatisgarh         |                                       2211153 |                                  16.36 |
| 6.  | Delhi               |                                         89868 |                                  60.6  |
| 7.  | Goa                 |                                        192973 |                                  52.13 |
| 8.  | Gujarat             |                                      10261641 |                                  52.29 |
| 9.  | Haryana             |                                        338964 |                                   7.67 |
| 10. | Himachal Pradesh    |                                       2394240 |                                  43.01 |
| 11. | Jammu and Kashmir   |                                       7969607 |                                  35.86 |
| 12. | Jharkhand           |                                       5498726 |                                  68.98 |
| 13. | Karnataka           |                                       6951000 |                                  36.24 |
| 14. | Kerala              |                                        379587 |                                   9.77 |
| 15. | Madhya Pradesh      |                                       3804315 |                                  12.34 |
| 16. | Maharashtra         |                                      13825935 |                                  44.93 |
| 17. | Manipur             |                                        601959 |                                  26.96 |
| 18. | Meghalaya           |                                        494880 |                                  22.06 |
| 19. | Mizoram             |                                        187453 |                                   8.89 |
| 20. | Nagaland            |                                        786678 |                                  47.45 |
| 21. | Orissa              |                                       5304114 |                                  34.06 |
| 22. | Punjab              |                                        144653 |                                   2.87 |
| 23. | Rajasthan           |                                      21526512 |                                  62.9  |
| 24. | Sikkim              |                                         78749 |                                  11.1  |
| 25. | TamilNadu           |                                       1543898 |                                  11.87 |
| 26. | Telangana           |                                       3598856 |                                  31.34 |
| 27. | Tripura             |                                        437128 |                                  41.69 |
| 28. | Uttar Pradesh       |                                       1528997 |                                   6.35 |
| 29. | Uttarakhand         |                                        648253 |                                  12.12 |
| 30. | West Bengal         |                                       1733931 |                                  19.54 |
|     | Total               |                                      96398166 |                                  29.32 |

Convention  to  Combat  Desertification  held  in  India  in  September,  2019,  India  has  raised  its ambition to restore degraded land from 21 mha to 26 mha by 2030.

(c)  Government  of  India  has  been  promoting  organic  farming  in  the  states  through  dedicated schemes namely Mission Organic Value Chain Development North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER)  and  Paramparagat  Krishi  Vikas  Yojana  (PKVY)  since  2015-16.  Both  the schemes aim at promotion of cluster/ Farmers Producer Organization (FPO) based chemical free, low  input  cost  sustainable  organic  farming  and  support  farmers  from  input  procurement  to market linkages.  Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) certified organic production is promoted under PKVY for domestic markets while MOVCDNER aims at 3rd party certified production of niche  crops  of  north  east  region  for  exports.    Third  party  certification  of  organic  farming  is promoted  by  Agriculture  Processed  Food  and  Export  Development  Authority  (APEDA), Ministry of Commerce.

(d) and (e) During the 14th session of Conference of parties to United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification  (COP14 to UNCCD), Hon'ble Prime Minister of India  announced the Government's  support  for,  among  other  actions,  an  initiative  for  enhanced  South-South Cooperation that aims to share India's experiences. His announcement, inter-alia, include to set up  a  centre  for  excellence  in  Indian  Council  for  Forestry  Research  and  Education  (ICFRE), Dehradun..

*****