Question : BARREN LAND

(a) whether lakhs of hectares of land is lying barren in the country;

(b) if so, the total area of such barren land, state-wise;

(c) whether the National Advisory Council has suggested for using the barren land in agro- forestry;

(d) if so, the details of the measures so suggested and the actions taken by the Government thereon, till date;

(e) whether the Government has any proposal or considering any proposal to promote the productions of Ratanjot so that this barren land could be utilized for generating Biofuel; and

(f) if so, the details in this regard?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE (SHRI KANTI LAL BHURIA)

(a) & (b): As per recent Wastelands Atlas of India-2005 brought out by the Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development in collaboration with the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), Hyderabad using satellite imagery data, an area of 552.69 lakh ha. in the country is estimated to be wastelands/barren lands. The State-wise details on the extent of these wastelands are at Annexure-I

(c) & (d): The National Advisory Council in its recommendations has included the use of wasteland for agro-forestry and other purposes.

The agro-forestry is one of the component under various watershed Development programmes being implemented in different States namely:

(1) National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas (NWDPRA)

(2) River Valley Project & Flood Prone River (RVP & FPR)

(3) Watershed Development Project for Shifting Cultivation Areas (WDPSCA)

(4) Reclamation of Alkali Soil (RAS)

(5) Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP)

(6) Desert Development Programme (DDP)

(7) Integrated Wasteland Development Programme (IWDP)

(e)&(f): Ministry of Rural Development has submitted a proposal to Planning Commission to launch a National Mission on Bio-diesel, involving plantation of Jatropha on 4 lakh ha. wasteland including 2 lakh ha. degraded forest wasteland and 2 lakh ha. non –forest wasteland.

ANNEXURE-I

State-wise extent of Wastelands / Barren lands

(Area in Lakh hectare)
Sl.No	States / UTs	Area of Wastelands
1.	Andhra Pradesh	45.27
2.	Arunachal Pradesh 18.18
3.	Assam	14.03
4.	Bihar	5.44
5.	Chhattisgarh	7.58
6.	Goa	0.53
7	Gujarat	20.38
8.	Haryana	3.27
9.	Himachal Pradesh 28.34
10.	Jammu & Kashmir	70.20
11.	Jharkhand 11.17
12.	Karnataka 13.54
13.	Kerala	1.79
14.	Madhya Pradesh	57.13
15.	Maharashtra	49.28
16.	Manipur	13.17
17.	Meghalaya 3.41
18.	Mizoram	4.47
19.	Nagaland 3.71
20.	Orissa	18.95
21.	Punjab	1.17
22.	Rajasthan 101.45
23.	Sikkim	3.81
24.	Tamil Nadu	17.31
25.	Tripura	1.32
26.	Uttranchal	16.10
27.	Uttar Pradesh	16.98
28.	West Bengal	4.40
29.	Union Territory	0.31	Total:	552.69