Lok Sabha Question No. 116 (STARRED), answered on 2015-07-28
Subject: Uncultivated Land
Ministry: AGRICULTURE
Asked by: NEELAM SONKER

O.I.H

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & COOPERATION

**LOK  SABHA**

**STARRED QUESTION NO. 116**

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 28 TH JULY, 2015

**UNCULTIVATED LAND**

*116.      SHRIMATI NEELAM SONKER:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE 	  ‡ãðŠãäÓã ½ãâ¨ããè

be pleased to state:

(a) 	whether a large chunk of cultivable land is lying as waste land in various parts of the country including Uttar Pradesh;

(b)	 if so, the details thereof indicating the area of such land and the reasons therefor, State-wise;

(c)	 whether the Government, in consultation with the States, has formulated any policy to convert the waste land into a cultivable land; and

(d)	 if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

### ANSWER

####### MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE

###### ‡ãðŠãäÓã ½ãâ¨ããè		 				             (SHRI RADHA MOHAN SINGH)

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

**STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.   116  DUE FOR REPLY ON 28** **TH** **JULY, 2015.**

(a) & (b):	As per latest available estimates (Land Use Statistics at a Glance-May 2015, Directorate of Economics & Statistics, Department of Agriculture & Cooperation), total cultivable land is about 181.9 million hectare, of which culturable waste land is 12.6 million hectare. It includes 0.4 million hectare of Uttar Pradesh. Such land is not cultivated due to its inaccessibility, location in isolated blocks or coverage with shrubs and jungles. State-wise details of cultivable land and culturable waste land is annexed.

(c) & (d):	As per the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India, land and its management comes under the purview of the State Governments, and therefore, it is for the State Governments to bring in suitable Policy / Act / Legislation including preparation of plans for implementation of various programmes/schemes for development of culturable waste land. However, Ministry of Agriculture is implementing various schemes/programmes/ missions, namely; National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), Pradhan Mantri  Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) for enhancing productivity of cultivable/agricultural land including culturable waste land for sustaining food security of the country.

Ministry of Rural Development, Department of Land Resources, is also  implementing a major Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) for development   of rainfed/degraded areas including culturable waste land across the country for restoring ecological balance by harnessing, conserving, developing degraded natural resources.

**Annexure**

(Annexure to the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 116 due for 28 th July, 2015)

State-wise extent of   Cultivable & Culturable waste land in the country

(Area in thousand hectare)

| S.No   | Name of State     | Cultivable Land   | Cultivable/Culturable waste land   |
|--------|-------------------|-------------------|------------------------------------|
| 1.     | Andhra Pradesh*   | 15930             | 587                                |
| 2.     | Arunachal Pradesh | 424               | 64                                 |
| 3.     | Assam             | 3217              | 78                                 |
| 4.     | Bihar             | 6582              | 45                                 |
| 5.     | Chhattisgarh      | 5552              | 358                                |
| 6.     | Goa               | 197               | 53                                 |
| 7.     | Gujarat           | 12661             | 1960                               |
| 8.     | Haryana           | 3664              | 26                                 |
| 9.     | Himachal Pradesh  | 811               | 124                                |
| 10.    | Jammu & Kashmir   | 1070              | 134                                |
| 11.    | Jharkhand         | 4336              | 349                                |
| 12.    | Karnataka         | 12846             | 413                                |
| 13.    | Kerala            | 2280              | 97                                 |
| 14.    | Madhya Pradesh    | 17264             | 1025                               |
| 15.    | Maharashtra       | 21129             | 916                                |
| 16.    | Manipur           | 316               | 1                                  |
| 17.    | Meghalaya         | 1056              | 391                                |
| 18.    | Mizoram           | 408               | 7                                  |
| 19.    | Nagaland          | 694               | 70                                 |
| 20.    | Odisha            | 6743              | 551                                |
| 21.    | Punjab            | 4286              | 62                                 |
| 22.    | Rajasthan         | 25548             | 4152                               |
| 23.    | Sikkim            | 98                | 3                                  |
| 24.    | Tamil Nadu        | 8126              | 328                                |
| 25.    | Tripura           | 277               | 4                                  |
| 26.    | Uttarakhand       | 1547              | 315                                |
| 27.    | Uttar Pradesh     | 19075             | 423                                |
| 28.    | West Bengal       | 5673              | 24                                 |
| 29.    | A & N Islands     | 28                | 3                                  |
| 30.    | Chandigarh        | 2                 | 0                                  |
| 31.    | D & N Haveli      | 24                | 0                                  |
| 32.    | Daman & Diu       | 3                 | 0                                  |
| 33.    | Delhi             | 53                | 10                                 |
| 34.    | Lakshadweep       | 2                 | 0                                  |
| 35.    | Puducherry        | 30                | 5                                  |
|        | **Total**         | **181952**        | **12578**                          |

* Includes the area of Telengana State also.

Source:  Land Use Statistics at a Glance-2003-04 to 2012-13-(May 2015), Directorate of E&S, DAC, MOA, GOI, New Delhi.

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