Question : Decrease in Agricultural Land

(a) whether the area of agricultural land is constantly decreasing due to its diversion for non-agricultural purposes;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the use of agricultural land for other purposes has affected agricultural productivity;

(d) the details of arable land and irrigated land through various sources in the country during the last three years, State-wise; and

(e) the details of funds allocated and released for major schemes of the Ministry during the last three years, State-wise?

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

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(a) & (b): As per report on Land Use Statistics for 2014-15 (latest available), agricultural land/ cultivable land in the country has declined only marginally from 182.01 million hectares in 2010-11 to 181.89 million hectares in 2014-15 (Table below). The decline in agricultural land has been mainly due to diversion for non-agricultural purposes such as urbanization, roads, industries, housing etc.
(Million hectares)
Year Agricultural Land/ Arable Land / Cultivable land
2010-11 182.01
2011-12 181.96
2012-13 182.09
2013-14 181.85
2014-15 181.89

(c): Although there has been a marginal decreasing trend in the cultivable land during the last ten years, but due to technological advances and various initiatives of the Government, the production of foodgrains and horticulture crops has been showing an increasing trend. The production of foodgrains and horticultural crops from 2010-11 to 2018-19 is at Annex I.

(d): As per report on Land Use Statistics for 2014-15, the details of State-wise agricultural land/ arable land and source-wise irrigated land in the country for the year 2012-13 to 2014-15 (latest available) are given at Annex II & Annex III respectively.

(e): The State-wise details of funds allocated and released for major schemes of Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare for the year 2017-18, 2018-19 & 2019-20 are given at Annex IV, Annex V & Annex VI respectively.