Chapter Notes

LAND RESOURCES AND AGRICULTURE

Land is a fundamental natural resource that we use for many different purposes. It's where we build our homes, schools, and roads. It's where we grow food, graze animals, and set aside areas for recreation like parks. Different types of land are suitable for different uses, and humans use it as a resource for production, residence, and recreation.

Land Use Categories

In India, the land revenue department is responsible for keeping records of how land is used. These records help create what is known as the reporting area. This is slightly different from the geographical area, which is measured by the Survey of India and remains fixed. The reporting area can change slightly based on new estimates.

The land-use categories found in Land Revenue Records are:

• Forests: This is the area the government has officially identified and marked for forest growth. [!note] The area classified as "forest" in government records is not always the same as the area with actual tree cover. This means the official "forest" area can increase on paper without any new trees being planted.
• Barren and Wastelands: This includes land that cannot be cultivated with current technology, such as barren hills, deserts, and ravines.
• Land put to Non-agricultural Uses: This category covers land used for human settlements (both rural and urban), infrastructure like roads and canals, and industries and shops. As the industrial (secondary) and service (tertiary) sectors of the economy grow, this category of land use also increases.
• Area under Permanent Pastures and Grazing Lands: Most of this land is owned by the village Panchayat or the government and is considered a Common Property Resource. Only a small portion is privately owned.
• Area under Miscellaneous Tree Crops and Groves: This includes land with orchards and fruit trees. It is not counted as part of the main cultivated area (Net Sown Area), and much of it is privately owned.
• Culturable Wasteland: This is land that has been left uncultivated for more than five years. It has the potential to be farmed again if it is improved through reclamation practices.
• Current Fallow: This refers to land that is left without cultivation for one agricultural year or less. Leaving land fallow is a traditional practice that allows the soil to rest and naturally regain its fertility.
• Fallow other than Current Fallow: This is cultivable land that has been left uncultivated for more than one year but less than five years. If it remains uncultivated for more than five years, it becomes "culturable wasteland."
• Net Area Sown (NSA): This is the total physical area of land where crops are actually sown and harvested.

Land-use Changes in India

The way land is used in a region is heavily influenced by the economic activities happening there. While the total area of land is fixed, economic changes over time cause shifts in land use. Three key economic changes affect this:

1. Growth in the Size of the Economy: As population, income levels, and technology grow, the overall economy expands. This puts more pressure on land, often forcing people to start using marginal or less fertile lands.
2. Change in the Composition of the Economy: In developing countries like India, the secondary (industrial) and tertiary (service) sectors tend to grow much faster than the primary (agricultural) sector. This leads to a gradual shift of land from agricultural to non-agricultural uses. [!example] You can often see this near big cities, where farmland is sold to build houses, factories, or shopping malls.
3. Continued Pressure on Agricultural Land: Even though agriculture's share of the economy decreases, the pressure on farmland does not. This is because:
   • The number of people who depend on agriculture for their livelihood decreases much more slowly than the sector's economic contribution.
   • The total population that needs to be fed by the agricultural sector keeps increasing.

Between 1950-51 and 2019-20, India saw significant shifts in land use.

• Categories that increased: Area under forests, non-agricultural uses, current fallow lands, and net area sown.
  • The fastest increase was in land for non-agricultural uses, driven by industrial growth, service sector expansion, and the building of infrastructure and settlements. This growth often came at the expense of wastelands and agricultural land.
  • The increase in forest area was mainly due to an increase in the government-demarcated forest land, not necessarily an increase in actual forest cover.
  • The increase in the net area sown is a more recent development, resulting from converting culturable wasteland for farming.
• Categories that declined: Barren and wasteland, culturable wasteland, area under tree crops and groves, and fallow lands.
  • The decline in wastelands happened because of increasing pressure from both agriculture and industry to use every available piece of land.

Common Property Resources

Land can be classified by ownership into two types: private land, owned by individuals, and Common Property Resources (CPRs), owned by the state for community use.

CPRs are vital for rural communities, especially for the landless, marginal farmers, and other weaker sections. They provide:

• Fodder for livestock.
• Fuel for households.
• Minor forest products like fruits, nuts, and medicinal plants.

CPRs are particularly important for women in rural areas, as they are often responsible for collecting fodder and fuel.

Agricultural Land Use in India

Land is more critical for agriculture than for any other economic activity.

• Land-based activity: Agriculture's output is directly tied to the land, unlike industries or services. Lack of access to land in rural areas is therefore directly linked to poverty.
• Quality matters: The quality of land directly affects agricultural productivity.
• Social value: In rural areas, land ownership provides social status and serves as security for loans or during emergencies.

The total cultivable land is calculated by adding the Net Sown Area, all fallow lands, and culturable wasteland. Over the years, the total stock of this cultivable land has seen a marginal decline. With limited scope to bring new land under cultivation, India needs to adopt land-saving technologies. These technologies aim to:

1. Increase the yield of a crop from the same area of land.
2. Increase the total output from all crops grown on a piece of land in a year by increasing cropping intensity.

Cropping Intensity (CI) measures how intensively land is being used for agriculture. A higher CI is desirable for a country like India with limited land and abundant labour, as it increases output and creates jobs. It is calculated as: CI (%) = (Gross Cropped Area / Net Sown Area) x 100

Cropping Seasons in India

In northern and interior parts of India, there are three distinct cropping seasons:

• Kharif: This season starts with the Southwest Monsoon (June-September). It is suited for tropical crops like rice, cotton, bajra, maize, jowar, and tur.
• Rabi: This season begins in winter (October-November) and ends in spring (March-April). The cooler temperatures are ideal for temperate and subtropical crops like wheat, gram, rapeseed, mustard, and barley.
• Zaid: A short summer season after the rabi harvest (April-June). Crops like watermelons, cucumbers, vegetables, and fodder are grown, usually on irrigated lands.

Types of Farming

Farming in India can be classified based on the main source of moisture for crops.

1. Irrigated Farming:

• Protective Irrigation: The main goal is to protect crops from drought by providing supplementary water. The strategy is to cover the maximum possible area with limited water.
• Productive Irrigation: The aim is to provide enough water to achieve high productivity. The water input per unit of land is much higher than in protective irrigation.

2. Rainfed Farming (Barani):

• Dryland Farming: Practiced in regions with annual rainfall less than 75 cm. Farmers grow hardy, drought-resistant crops like ragi, bajra, moong, and gram. They also use soil moisture conservation and rainwater harvesting techniques.
• Wetland Farming: Practiced in regions where rainfall is more than the soil moisture required by plants. These areas face challenges like floods and soil erosion. Farmers grow water-intensive crops like rice, jute, and sugarcane.

Foodgrains

Foodgrains are the most important crops in India, occupying about two-thirds of the total cropped area. They are classified into cereals and pulses.

Cereals

Cereals occupy about 54% of the total cropped area. India is the third-largest producer in the world, after China and the U.S.A. They are divided into fine grains (rice, wheat) and coarse grains (jowar, bajra, maize, ragi).

• Rice:

  • A staple food for the majority of Indians, it is a tropical crop but is grown in diverse climates, from sea level to 2,000 meters.
  • In West Bengal and southern states, farmers can grow two or three crops a year.
  • India is the second-largest producer in the world after China (2018).
  • Leading producers: West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab.
  • Yield is high in irrigated states like Punjab, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh. Cultivation in Punjab and Haryana began in the 1970s after the Green Revolution.

• Wheat:

  • The second most important cereal crop in India. It is a temperate crop grown during the rabi season.
  • About 85% of its cultivation is concentrated in the north and central regions (Indo-Gangetic Plain, Malwa Plateau).
  • Leading producers: Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan.
  • Yield is very high in Punjab and Haryana, where it is grown under irrigation.

• Jowar (Sorghum):

  • A major food crop in the semi-arid areas of central and southern India.
  • Occupies about 5.3% of the total cropped area.
  • Maharashtra produces more than half of the country's jowar. Other producers include Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh.

• Bajra:

  • Grown in hot and dry climates in northwestern and western India. It is a hardy crop that can withstand drought.
  • Leading producers: Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana.

• Maize:

  • Used as both food and fodder. It is grown in semi-arid conditions on inferior soils.
  • Leading producers: Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, and Rajasthan. Its yield is higher in southern states.

Pulses

Pulses are a key source of protein in a vegetarian diet. As legume crops, they help increase soil fertility through nitrogen fixation.

• India is a leading producer of pulses globally.
• They are mostly grown in the drylands of the Deccan plateau, central India, and northwestern India.
• Gram: A subtropical, rainfed crop grown in the rabi season. After the Green Revolution, wheat replaced it in many parts of Haryana and Punjab. Leading producers are Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
• Tur (Arhar or Pigeon Pea): The second most important pulse crop. It is grown on marginal lands in the dry areas of central and southern states. Maharashtra is the largest producer, contributing about one-third of the total.

Oilseeds

Oilseeds are grown for extracting edible oils and occupy about 14% of the total cropped area in India.

• Groundnut: A rainfed kharif crop grown in drylands. India is a major global producer. Leading states are Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu.
• Rapeseed and Mustard: Subtropical crops grown during the rabi season in north-western and central India. Rajasthan is the largest producer.
• Other Oilseeds: Soyabean is primarily grown in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, which together produce about 90% of the country's total. Sunflower is concentrated in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana.

Fibre Crops

These crops provide fibre for cloth, bags, and other items.

• Cotton: A tropical kharif crop grown in semi-arid regions. India grows both short-staple (Indian) and long-staple (American) cotton, known as 'narma'.

  • India is the second-largest producer in the world after China.
  • Three main growing zones: Northwest (Punjab, Haryana), West (Gujarat, Maharashtra), and South (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka).
  • Leading producers: Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Telangana.

• Jute: Used for making coarse cloth, bags, and sacks. It is a cash crop primarily grown in West Bengal and adjoining eastern areas.

  • India produces about three-fifths of the world's jute.
  • West Bengal accounts for about three-fourths of the country's production.

Other Crops

• Sugarcane: A tropical crop that is largely irrigated in India.

  • India was the second-largest producer after Brazil in 2018.
  • Uttar Pradesh is the largest producer, accounting for about two-fifths of the country's total. Other major producers are Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, where yields are higher than in the north.

• Tea: A plantation crop used as a beverage. It is grown on the undulating topography of hilly areas with well-drained soil.

  • India is a leading producer, accounting for about 21.22% of world production in 2018.
  • Major growing areas are the Brahmaputra valley in Assam, the sub-Himalayan region of West Bengal (Darjeeling), and the Nilgiri and Cardamom hills in the Western Ghats.
  • Assam contributes over half of India's total tea production.

• Coffee: A tropical plantation crop. India mainly grows arabica, a superior quality coffee with high international demand.

  • Cultivation is concentrated in the highlands of the Western Ghats in Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.
  • Karnataka alone produces more than two-thirds of the country's coffee.

Agricultural Development in India

Before independence, Indian agriculture was largely for subsistence and performed poorly. After 1947, the government's immediate goal was to increase foodgrain production.

1. Early Strategy (Post-Independence): The focus was on switching from cash crops to food crops, intensifying cropping, and bringing more land under cultivation. This worked initially but production stagnated by the late 1950s.
2. The Green Revolution (Mid-1960s): After severe droughts, India faced a food crisis. The government introduced a package technology using High Yielding Varieties (HYVs) of wheat (from Mexico) and rice (from the Philippines), along with chemical fertilisers and irrigation.
   • This strategy, known as the Green Revolution, was first implemented in irrigated areas of Punjab, Haryana, Western Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Gujarat.
   • It led to a rapid increase in foodgrain production, making India self-reliant.
   • However, it was initially confined to irrigated areas, leading to regional disparities in development.
3. Later Strategies (1980s-1990s): The Planning Commission focused on rainfed areas and initiated agro-climatic planning in 1988 for more balanced development. It also promoted diversification into dairy, poultry, and horticulture. The liberalisation policies of the 1990s further influenced agricultural development.

Problems of Indian Agriculture

Indian agriculture faces several challenges, some of which are region-specific, while others are common across the country.

• Dependence on Erratic Monsoon: Only about one-third of India's cultivated area is irrigated. The rest depends entirely on the monsoon, which is often unreliable and can lead to both droughts and floods.
• Low Productivity: The yield per hectare for most crops in India is low compared to international levels (e.g., U.S.A., Russia, Japan). Labour productivity is also low due to high population pressure on land.
• Constraints of Financial Resources and Indebtedness: Modern agriculture requires expensive inputs like seeds and fertilisers. Small and marginal farmers lack savings and often take loans. Crop failures can trap them in a cycle of debt.
• Lack of Land Reforms: Despite being a priority after independence, land reforms were not effectively implemented in many states due to a lack of political will. This has resulted in the continuation of unequal land distribution.
• Small Farm Size and Fragmentation of Landholdings: The average farm size is shrinking due to population pressure. Landholdings are also often fragmented into small, scattered plots, which are uneconomical to farm.
• Lack of Commercialisation: Many small and marginal farmers practice subsistence farming, producing mainly for their own consumption, with little surplus to sell in the market.
• Vast Underemployment: The agricultural sector suffers from massive underemployment, especially in unirrigated areas. There is seasonal unemployment for four to eight months a year, as farm operations are not labour-intensive year-round.
• Degradation of Cultivable Land: Faulty agricultural practices have led to land degradation. In irrigated areas, problems like alkalisation, salinisation, and waterlogging have reduced soil fertility. The excessive use of chemicals has also contaminated the soil.