Lok Sabha Question No. 239 (STARRED), answered on 2021-12-14
Subject: Record of Useless/Barren Land
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Rama Devi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE & FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. 239* TO BE ANSWERED ON 14 TH  DECEMBER 2021

## RECORD OF USELESS/BARREN LAND

† *239.     SHRIMATI RAMA DEVI:

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

- (a) whether the Government does not have any record of barren lands/useless lands for agricultural works/farming due to soil erosion;
- (b) the  reaction  of  the  Government  thereto  including  the  reasons  for  the  absence  of record;
- (c) the manner  in which strategy is prepared by studying the impact of soil conservation on the land in the absence of the said information; and
- (d) the  details  of  action  taken  to  make  the  land  rendered  useless/barren  due  to  soil erosion into cultivable land during the last three years, State-wise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE & FARMERS WELFARE

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

(a) to (d):      A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT  IN  RESPECT  OF  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF  LOK  SABHA  STARRED QUESTION NO 239* TO BE ANSWERED ON 14 TH  DECEMBER, 2021 REGARDING 'RECORD OF USELESS/BARREN LAND'.

- (a) & (b): As  per  the  Seventh  Schedule  of  the  Constitution  of  India,  'land'  comes under the purview of State Governments. However, a periodic assessment studies to take stock of wastelands in the country are commissioned by the Department of Land Resources.  The  latest  study,  namely  'Wastelands  Atlas  of  India  (Change  Analysis Based  on  Temporal  Satellite  Data  of  2008-09  and  2015-16)'  was  undertaken  by National Remote Sensing Center, Hyderabad.

As  per  the  publication  'Wastelands  Atlas  of  India  2019',  the  total  area  under wastelands is 55.77 million hectare in 2015-16 including mapping of about 12.08 million hectares hitherto un-mapped area of Jammu & Kashmir.

- (c) & (d): The  Pradhan  Mantri  Krishi  Sinchayee  Yojana  (PMKSY)  was  launched  in 2015-16 with an aim to enhance physical access of water on farm and expand cultivable area under assured irrigation, improve on farm water use efficiency, introduce sustainable water conservation practices etc.  The components of PMKSY are as under:
- (a) Accelerated  Irrigation  Benefit  Programme  (AIBP):  Major  and  Medium Irrigation projects including National projects are being implemented by the Department of Water Resources River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD&GR).
- (b) PMKSY-Har  Khet  KoPani  (HKKP):  Source  Augmentation,  distribution, ground  water  development,  lift  irrigation,  diversion  of  water  from  water  plenty  to  water scarce  areas,  repair, restoration, renovation  of  traditional  water  bodies  are  being implemented by DoWR, RD & GR under PMKSY-HKKP.
- (c) PMKSY-Per  Drop  More  Crop  (PDMC):  Focuses  on  enhancing  water  use efficiency  at  farm  level  through  Micro  Irrigation  viz.  Drip  and  Sprinkler  Irrigation  System being  implemented  by  DA&FW.  is  operational  from  2015-16  in  the  Country  including Haryana. The PMKSY-Per Drop More Crop mainly focuses on water use efficiency at farm level  through  Micro  Irrigation.  Besides  promoting  precision  irrigation  (Drip  and  Sprinkler Irrigation System) and better on-farm water management practices to optimize the use of available water resources, this component also supports micro level water storage or water conservation/management activities to supplement Micro Irrigation.

(d) PMKSY-Watershed  Development  Component:  The  Department  of  Land Resources has been implementing Watershed Development Component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi  Sinchayee  Yojana  (WDC-PMKSY)  erstwhile  Integrated  Watershed  Management Programme for development of rainfed/ degraded areas. The activities being undertaken through  the  watershed  development  projects  inter  alia  include  ridge  area  treatment, drainage  line  treatment,  soil  and  moisture  conservation,  rain  water  harvesting,  nursery raising, afforestation, horticulture, pasture development, livelihoods for asset less persons, etc.  The  State / UT-wise  details of water harvesting structures (WHS)  created  / rejuvenated,  additional  area  brought  under  protective  irrigation, farmers  benefitted,  area brought under plantation (Horticulture / Afforestation), area of culturable wasteland treated in completed projects and  employment generated  are given at Annexure .

Further,  Indian  Council  of  Agricultural  Research  (ICAR)  has  developed  several location  specific  bio-engineering  measures  to  check  soil  erosion  due  to  run-off  of  rain water, sand dune stabilization and shelter belt technology to check wind erosion. The ICAR also imparts training, organises Front Line Demonstrations (FLDs) etc. to educate farmers on all these aspects.

## Annexure referred in reply to part (d) of Lok Sabha Starred Q. No. 239 due for 14.12.2021

State-wise details of Water Harvesting Structures (WHS) created/rejuvenated, Additional area brought under irrigation, farmers benefitted, Area brought under plantation (Horti. Afforestation), Area of culturable wasteland treated in completed project and Employment generated under WDCPMKSY during 2018-19 to 2020-21

| Sr. No.   | State / UT        |   WHS created / Rejuvenated (in Nos.) |   Additional area brought under irrigation (Ha) |   Farmers benefitted (in Nos.) |   Area brought under plantation (Horti. Afforestation) in Ha |   Area of culturable wasteland treated in completed project (in Ha) |   Employment generated (No. of mandays) |
|-----------|-------------------|---------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh    |                                 21285 |                                        73128    |                          93561 |                                                       655    |                                                             9829    |                                  931654 |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh |                                   199 |                                         4543    |                           5198 |                                                      5272    |                                                               35    |                                   10645 |
| 3         | Assam             |                                  3288 |                                        55703.2  |                         134340 |                                                      1861.57 |                                                            10087.7  |                                 2634242 |
| 4         | Bihar             |                                  3320 |                                         8618.98 |                          31166 |                                                       145.5  |                                                             3539.66 |                                  382770 |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh      |                                  3909 |                                        12600.1  |                          28167 |                                                       948.67 |                                                             1028.53 |                                 1847455 |
| 6         | Gujarat           |                                 30723 |                                         9286.85 |                          50313 |                                                      9917.75 |                                                             5821.02 |                                  108305 |
| 7         | Haryana           |                                  1118 |                                        10294    |                           5243 |                                                       375    |                                                                0    |                                   51032 |
| 8         | Himachal Pradesh  |                                  2284 |                                         1466.29 |                          16695 |                                                       611.27 |                                                                0    |                                  589298 |
| 9         | Jharkhand         |                                  1395 |                                         1987    |                          71489 |                                                         4    |                                                            24490.4  |                                  531960 |
| 10        | Karnataka         |                                  6011 |                                        21934    |                          50697 |                                                     52929    |                                                            12119    |                                 5956088 |
| 11        | Kerala            |                                 17322 |                                         9939.71 |                          97594 |                                                      1032.15 |                                                              425.64 |                                  496487 |
| 12        | Madhya Pradesh    |                                 15273 |                                        70705.3  |                          80965 |                                                        25.7  |                                                             6453.74 |                                 7371562 |
| 13        | Maharashtra       |                                  5802 |                                        49502.2  |                          91643 |                                                      1786.66 |                                                            10466.4  |                                  265050 |
| 14        | Manipur           |                                  2872 |                                          616.59 |                          26590 |                                                      1841.49 |                                                            11681.2  |                                  447495 |
| 15        | Meghalaya         |                                   518 |                                          350.41 |                           8738 |                                                      3098.97 |                                                                2.24 |                                  270760 |
| 16        | Mizoram           |                                  3597 |                                         4455.83 |                          12618 |                                                      3034.68 |                                                             1759.22 |                                   18463 |
| 17        | Nagaland          |                                  1614 |                                         2694.5  |                           9224 |                                                     43178.7  |                                                             4665.59 |                                  725805 |
| 18        | Odisha            |                                  7751 |                                        19098.6  |                          46179 |                                                       528.9  |                                                             8339.65 |                                 1807145 |
| 19        | Punjab            |                                   412 |                                          553    |                           4643 |                                                         0    |                                                             4278    |                                  124009 |
| 20        | Rajasthan         |                                 70372 |                                        53288    |                         212900 |                                                      2994    |                                                           131199    |                                 1879245 |
| 21        | Sikkim            |                                     0 |                                            0    |                              0 |                                                       123    |                                                                0    |                                   13524 |
| 22        | Tamil Nadu        |                                 12174 |                                        64159.5  |                          76188 |                                                     12958.6  |                                                            30744.2  |                                 3397556 |
| 23        | Telangana         |                                  9136 |                                        31603    |                          39787 |                                                         0    |                                                             4479    |                                  107533 |
| 24        | Tripura           |                                  1653 |                                          811.49 |                           6048 |                                                      1233.8  |                                                             2380.06 |                                  664339 |
| 25        | Uttar Pradesh     |                                  4959 |                                        27735    |                         174005 |                                                       940.68 |                                                            25732    |                                 1085829 |
| 26        | Uttarakhand       |                                   477 |                                          141.61 |                           3061 |                                                        56.34 |                                                                0    |                                  248221 |
| 27        | West Bengal       |                                  7453 |                                        12371    |                          70573 |                                                      2890    |                                                            10762    |                                 2323107 |
| 28        | UT of J& K ^      |                                  5775 |                                        12422.9  |                          44294 |                                                        25    |                                                             1157.04 |                                  593670 |
| 29        | UT of Ladakh      |                                     0 |                                            0    |                              0 |                                                         0    |                                                                0    |                                       0 |
|           | Total             |                                240692 |                                       560010    |                        1491919 |                                                    148468    |                                                           321475    |                                34883249 |

Note:  Provisional and subject to change (As per information received from States)

^ including erstwhile State of J&K upto 2020-21

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