(a) the details of the farming and non-farming land in the country especially in Maharashtra as on date, State-wise;
(b) the separate details of the land in hectares where single crops and multiple crops are produced, State-wise;
(c) the details of the proposals under the consideration of the Government regarding the utilization of non-farming land; and
(d) the manner in which these proposals are likely to be implemented?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
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(a): As per Land Use Statistics (LUS), the State-wise details of farming land (agricultural land) and non-farming land (non-agricultural land) in the country including Maharashtra for the year 2014-15 (latest available) are at Annexure I.
(b): As per Land Use Statistics (LUS), the State-wise details of land where single crop (net area sown) and land where multiple crops are produced (area sown more than once) for the year 2014-15 (latest available) are at Annexure II.
(c) & (d): As per Seventh Schedule of Constitution of India, land comes under the purview of State Government and, therefore, it is for the State Governments to take suitable steps to check diversion of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes. However, under the National Policy for Farmers – 2007 (NPF-2007), State Governments have been advised to earmark lands with low biological potential such as uncultivable land, land affected by salinity, acidity, etc., for non-agricultural development activities, including industrial and construction activities. National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy – 2007 (NRRP-2007) has also recommended that as far as possible, projects may be set up on waste land, degraded land or un-irrigated land. Acquisition of irrigated, multi-cropped agricultural land for non-agricultural uses may be kept to the minimum and avoided, to the extent possible. Further, Ministry of Rural Development is implementing an Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) for development of rainfed/ degraded areas. The IWMP has been converted to the Watershed
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Component of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) from the financial year 2015-16.
Further, Government of India is implementing National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) with a view to prevent soil erosion, land degradation and also to maintain balance in various types of land uses across the country. Under this mission all types of land including wastelands/barren land are developed with suitable need based soil and water conservation measures and parts of such degraded lands developed are put to agricultural practices, leading to net sown area remaining largely unchanged around 141 million ha. in last two decades.