Question : Shrinking Cultivable Land

(a) the details of cultivable/arable land available in the country, State-wise;

(b) whether the cultivable land in the country is shrinking on account of acquisition and diversion of such land for non agricultural activities in the country and if so, the details thereof and the corrective measures taken by the Government in this regard;

(c) whether the farmers are giving up the cultivation of foodgrain and growing other crops in various parts of the country;

(d) if so, the reasons therefor; and

(e) the measures taken/being taken by the Government to incentivise the farmers towards the cultivation of foodgrain?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE

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(a): As per report on Land Use Statistics for 2012-13 (latest available) the State-wise details of cultivable/arable land in the country are given in the annexure.

(b): Total cultivable land in the country has marginally declined from 182.5 million hectares in 2008-09 to 182.0 million hectares in 2012-13. The decline in agricultural land has been mainly due to diversion for non-agricultural purposes such as urbanization, roads, industries, housing etc.

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

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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.

(c) & (d): Year to year area under major foodgrain crops in various parts of the country has been varying on account of changes in rainfall situations, weather and temperature conditions, availability of water in reservoirs, irrigation facilities, inter-crop shift in the area on the basis of comparative profitability, etc. and there is no evidence to suggest shift in area from foodgrains to other crops.

(e): In order to incentivise the farmers to increase production and productivity of agricultural crops including foodgrains the Government of India is implementing through State Governments, several Crop Development Schemes/Programmes such as Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), National Food Security Mission (NFSM), National Mission on Oilseeds and Oil Palm (NMOOP), Bringing Green Revolution in Eastern India (BGREI), National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) etc. Under these Schemes/Programmes, funds are provided to States for implementation of State-specific agricultural strategies including incentives to farmers for use of quality seeds, Integrated Nutrient Management (INM), Integrated Pest Management (IPM), farm mechanization, etc. The States are also provided support for creation of agricultural infrastructure for optimal use of water and other natural resources.