Editing Content :: Admin Scraper

Chapter

Content type

Position

Value

Land-use Changes in India (iii) Land put to Non-agricultural Uses: Land under settlements (rural and Land-use in a region, to a large extent, is urban), infrastructure (roads, canals, influenced by the nature of economic etc.), industries, shops, etc., are activities carried out in that region. However, includedinthiscategory.Anexpansion while economic activities change over time, inthesecondaryandtertiaryactivities land, like many other natural resources, is would lead to an increase in this fixed in terms of its area. At this stage, one categoryofland-use. needs to appreciate three types of changes (iv) AreaunderPermanentPasturesand that an economy undergoes, which affect land-use. GrazingLands:Mostofthistypeland (i) The size of the economy (measured isownedbythevillage‘Panchayat’or the Government. Only a small in terms of value for all the goods and proportion of this land is privately services produced in the economy) grows over time as a result of owned.Thelandownedbythevillage increasing population, change in panchayat comes under ‘Common income levels, available technology PropertyResources’. and associated factors. As a result, the (v) Area under Miscellaneous Tree pressure on land will increase with CropsandGroves(Notincludedin time and marginal lands would come under use. Net sown Area) : The land under orchards and fruit trees are included (ii) Secondly, the composition of the in this category. Much of this land is economy would undergo a change over privatelyowned. time. In other words, the secondary and the tertiary sectors usually grow much (vi) CulturableWasteland:Anylandwhich fasterthantheprimarysector,specifically isleftfallow(uncultivated)formorethan the agricultural sector. This type of five years is included in this category. change is common in developing Itcanbebroughtundercultivationafter countries,likeIndia.Thisprocesswould improving it through reclamation result in a gradual shift of land from practices. agricultural uses to non-agricultural (vii) CurrentFallow:Thisisthelandwhich uses. You would observe that such changes are sharp around large urban isleftwithoutcultivationforoneorless areas.Theagriculturallandisbeingused than one agricultural year. Fallowing isaculturalpracticeadoptedforgiving for building purposes. the land rest. The land recoups the (iii) Thirdly, though the contribution of the agriculturalactivitiesreducesovertime, lostfertilitythroughnaturalprocesses. the pressure on land for agricultural activities does not decline. The reasons (viii) Fallow other than Current Fallow: This is also a cultivable land which is for continued pressure on agricultural left uncultivated for more than a year land are: but less than five years. If the land is (a) In developing countries, the share of population dependent left uncultivated for more than five years, it would be categorised as on agriculture usually declines culturablewasteland. much more slowly compared to the decline in the sector’s share (ix) Net Area Sown: The physical extent in GDP. of land on which crops are sown and (b) The number of people that the harvestedisknownasnetsownarea. agricultural sector has to feed is increasing day by day. 22 India : People and Economy Reprint 2026-27