Lok Sabha Question No. 879 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-04-28
Subject: Development of Barren Land
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: RAGHAV LAKHANPAL, PRATAPRAO GANPATRAO JADHAV

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF LAND RESOURCES

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 879 TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.04.2016

## Development of Barren Land

## 879. SHRI RAGHAV LAKHANPAL: SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the extent of barren land in the country at present, State - wi ;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  implemented  any  scheme  for  the  conversion  of  barren  land cultivable land and if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the quantum of barren land converted into cultivable land under the said scheme during three years?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SHRI SUDARSHAN BHAGAT)

- (a) :As per the information received from Ministry of Agriculture and F rmers Welfare, the State  /UT -wise  details of   barren and unculturable land are given  at Annexure .

(b)and (c ) : There is no scheme/ programme exclusively to convert barren land into cultivable However, the Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development had been implementing area development programme namely the Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) with effect from 2009 - 10 for development of rainfed/degraded areas including wastel ands in the country.   The major activities  taken  up under IWMP inter alia include ridge area treatment, drainage lin soil and moisture conservation, rain water harvesting, nursery raising, afforestation, hortic development ,l ivelihoods for assetless persons ,etc. So far 8214 projects covering an area of 39.07 mill ha have been sanctioned and an amount of Rs 12520.03crore has been released as Central Share to th States  till  201 5- 16 since  inception.  The  IWMP  has  been  converted  as  the  Watershed Development Component of the 'Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana' (PMKSY) from 2015 - 16.As per the Common Guidelines for Watershed Development Projects - 2008 (Revised Edition - 2011), the period for completing PMKSY ( WDC ) projects is between 4 - 7 years. These projects are in different stages of implementati .

*****

## Annexure ref erred to in reply to part (a) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 879 due for reply on 28.04.2016

## State - wise/UT wise details of barren and unculturable land in the Country

## ( Thousand hectare)

| S.No.   | STATE/U T                 | Area ofBarren and Unculturable Land *   |
|---------|---------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
| 1       | ANDHRA PRADESH            | 1959                                    |
| 2       | ARUNACHAL PRADESH         | 38                                      |
| 3       | ASSAM                     | 1408                                    |
| 4       | BIHAR                     | 432                                     |
| 5       | CHHATTISGARH              | 290                                     |
| 6       | GOA                       | NA                                      |
| 7       | GUJARAT                   | 2552                                    |
| 8       | HARYANA                   | 101                                     |
| 9       | HIMACHAL PRADESH          | 779                                     |
| 10      | JAMMU & KASHMIR           | 306                                     |
| 11      | JHARKHAND                 | 572                                     |
| 12      | KARNATAKA                 | 787                                     |
| 13      | KERALA                    | 16                                      |
| 14      | MADHYA PRADESH            | 1387                                    |
| 15      | MAHARASHTRA               | 1722                                    |
| 16      | MANIPUR                   | 1                                       |
| 17      | MEGHALAYA                 | 132                                     |
| 18      | MIZORAM                   | 8                                       |
| 19      | NAGALAND                  | 2                                       |
| 20      | ODISHA                    | 1104                                    |
| 21      | PUNJAB                    | 51                                      |
| 22      | RAJASTHAN                 | 2411                                    |
| 23      | SIKKIM                    | NA                                      |
| 24      | TAMIL NADU                | 489                                     |
| 25      | TRIPURA                   | NA                                      |
| 26      | UTTARAKHAND               | 228                                     |
| 27      | UTTAR PRADESH             | 479                                     |
| 28      | WEST BENGAL               | 13                                      |
| 29      | ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS | 2                                       |
| 30      | CHANDIGARH                | NA                                      |
| 31      | DADRA & NAGAR HAVELI      | 0                                       |
| 32      | DAMAN & DIU               | NA                                      |
| 33      | DELHI                     | 16                                      |
| 34      | LAKSHADWEEP               | NA                                      |
| 35      | PUDUCHERRY                | 0                                       |
|         | ALL INDIA                 | 17284                                   |

Note:'0' relates to the area below 500 Hectares

*As in year 2012 - 13

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