Lok Sabha Question No. 2468 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-09
Subject: Conversion of Agricultural Land
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Rama Devi

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2468

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 9 th  MARCH, 2021

## CONVERSION OF AGRICULTURAL LAND

2468 . SHRIMATI RAMA DEVI:

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

- (a) whether the Government does not have any data on conversion of agricultural land for other purposes;
- (b) if so, the details thereof alongwith the reasons therefor;
- (c)  the  data  which  is  taken  into  consideration  to  achieve  the  objectives  of  agricultural development and food security; and
- (d) the reaction of the Government thereto?

## ANSWER

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE & FARMERS WELFARE

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

(a) & (b):  Directorate of Economics & Statistics (DES), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW), maintains nine fold classification of Land Use Statistics (LUS). As per report on Land Use Statistics for 2016-17 (latest available), total area of agricultural land in the  country  is  181.13  million  hectares  in  2016-17.  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 tackle the problems of conversion of agricultural land for other  purposes.  However,  Government  of  India  supplements  the  all  efforts  of  States, through appropriate policy measures and budgetary support.

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 non-agricultural 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.

(c) & (d):        Ministry of Agriculture, and Farmers Welfare maintains large pool of data such as nine fold classifications of Land Use statistics, Irrigation statistics and various aspects of land  uses  like  Cropping  Intensity,  Gross  Cropped  Area  &  Agricultural  Land,  APY  (Area Production  &  Yield) data of major  crops,  Horticulture  Statistics, Agricultural  wages, Agriculture prices, consumption of Nitrogen, Phosphorus  and Potassium (NPK) and many other statistics which are used for policy formulation for the development of agriculture and allied sector and achieving food security.

Due  to  technological  advances  and  various  initiatives  of  the  Government,  the production of foodgrains and horticulture crops has been showing an increasing trend. As per the Second Advance Estimates for 2020-21, total Foodgrains production in the country is estimated at record 303.34 million tonnes which is higher by 5.84 million tonnes than the production of foodgrains of 297.50 million tonnes achieved during 2019-20.  As per the NITI Aayog's Working Group Report (February, 2018) on Demand & Supply Projections Towards 2033  for  Crops,  Livestock,  Fisheries  and  Agricultural  Inputs,  the  aggregate  demand  of foodgrains  for  2021-22  and  2028-29  is  projected  at  280.03    and  314.37  million  tonnes respectively.  The aggregate supply of foodgrains for 2021-22 and 2028-29 is projected at 303.97 and 353.17 million tonnes respectively by the NITI Aayog.

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