(a) whether the Government has formulated any scheme to increase area under
cultivation;
(b) if so, the area of land brought under cultivation so far under this scheme during the
Tenth and Eleventh Five Year Plan, State-wise;
(c) the provisions made in Eleventh Five Year Plan to bring additional land under
cultivation; and
(d) the achievements made under these provisions during the last three years?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE (SHRI KANTI LAL BHURIA)
(a) to (d): There is no specific scheme to increase area under cultivation. However,
Government of India is implementing various Watershed Development Programmes for
development of degraded lands and also to bring parts of such developed lands under
cultivation to maintain balance in different types of land uses in the country.
These programmes are :
(i) National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas (NWDPRA),
(ii) Soil Conservation for Enhancing the Productivity of Degraded Lands in the
Catchments of River Valley Project and Flood Prone River (RVP & FPR),
(iii) Reclamation of Alkali Soils (RAS),
(iv) Watershed Development Project in Shifting Cultivation Areas (WDPSCA),
(v) Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP),
(vi) Desert Development Programme (DDP),
(vii) Integrated Wasteland Development Project (IWDP),
(viii) Watershed Development Fund (WDF) and
(ix) Externally Aided Projects (EAPs) for development of degraded lands in the country.
Under various Watershed Development Progrmmes of Ministry of
Agriculture, an area of 3.74 million ha. has been developed during X Five Year Plan which
includes about 2.18 million ha. developed during last three year (2004-07) as
per State-wise and scheme-wise details annexed.
The Working Group of the Sub-Committee of National Development Council (NDC) on
Agriculture and related issues on Dryland/Rainfed Farming System including Regeneration of
Degraded/Wasteland, Watershed Development Programmes has recommended the development of
about 38 million ha. of land during Eleventh Five Year Plan, part of which will be
additional land for cultivation.