(a) whether the Government are aware that conversion of agricultural and for non-
farm use has increased in recent years;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
(c) the details of guidelines issued by the Union Government to State Governments
to protect the agricultural land being diverted to non-farm use; and
(d) if so, the steps the Government are taking to encourage the interest of Indian
farmers to grow foodgrains in their fields?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE (SHRI SRIPAD Y. NAIK)
(a) & (b): Yes, Sir, the Government are aware of the conversion of agricultural land
for non-farm use. So far as net sown area is concerned the landuse classification data
indicate that it has increased from 140.27 million hectare in 1970-71 to 142.82 million
hectare in 1996-97. Therefore, the net sown area has increased by 2.55 million hectare
in last three decades, the barren & unculturable land and culturable wastelands have
declined. It implies, therefore, that even if some agricultural land has been diverted into
non-agricultural uses, a larger area has been brought under cultivation through
reclamation of wastelands and other degraded land, thereby, increasing net sown area.
(c): Land is a State subject and, therefore, a 19-Point National Landuse Policy
Outline (NLPO) has been circulated to all State Governments for implementation. One
of the points in NLPO stresses on the need to control the diversion of agricultural land
for non-agricultural purposes.
(d): Government of India have taken steps to supplement the efforts of the State
Governments to develop the degraded lands to put them into productive use through
Centrally Sponsored Schemes, namely, National Watershed Development Project for
Rainfed Areas (NWDPRA), Soil Conservation in the catchments of River Valley Projects (RVP) and Flood Prone Rivers (FPR); Watershed Development Project in Shifting
Cultivation Areas (WDPSCA), Reclamation of Alkali Soil (Usar land) and Externally
Aided Projects.