Land use in India and how it changes
Land use means what a piece of land is used for. Revenue records put land into nine groups: forest, land put to non-agricultural uses, barren and wasteland, permanent pastures, land under tree crops and groves, culturable waste, current fallow, other fallow and net sown area.
Two words to know
Current fallow is land left empty for one year or less to get back its fertility. Other fallow is left empty for one to five years. If it stays empty longer, it becomes culturable waste.
How land use has changed
Three things change land use: the size of the economy, the kind of economy (more industry and services) and the pressure of more people. Since 1950 forest area and non-agricultural land have grown. Barren land, culturable waste and pastures have gone down. Net sown area rose a little. Many experts note that the rise in recorded forest is partly because of better surveys.
Common property resources
Land owned by the community, not a single person, is a common property resource (CPR). Examples: village pastures, ponds, village forests and threshing grounds. Every family has the right to use them.
CPRs give fodder for animals, fuel wood, fruits, fish and water. They matter most for landless labourers, small farmers and women, who collect fuel and fodder. Protecting CPRs keeps the poor from falling deeper into poverty.
Cropping seasons in India
- Kharif (June to September): sown with the monsoon. North: rice, cotton, bajra, maize, jowar, tur. South: rice, maize, ragi, jowar, groundnut.
- Rabi (October to March): winter crops. North: wheat, gram, rapeseed and mustard, barley. South: rice, maize, ragi, groundnut, jowar.
- Zaid (April to June): short summer season with vegetables, fruits and fodder, often with irrigation.
In the south the temperature stays high all year, so rice can be grown in more than one season.
Types of farming
By main source of water, farming is of two types.
Irrigated farming
Protective irrigation saves crops from drought. Productive irrigation gives enough water to get high yields.
Rainfed farming
Dryland farming happens where rain is less than 75 cm a year. Hardy crops like ragi, bajra, moong, gram and guar are grown and farmers save soil moisture. Wetland farming happens where rain is more than plants need; rice, jute and sugarcane grow here and floods and soil erosion are risks.
Major crops of India
Foodgrains cover about two-thirds of cropped area. Cereals: rice (kharif in the north, up to three crops in the south), wheat (rabi, needs cool winters), jowar, bajra, maize. Pulses like gram and tur add protein and fix nitrogen in soil. Oilseeds: groundnut, rapeseed and mustard, soybean, sunflower. Fibre crops: cotton (black soil, frost-free days) and jute (hot, wet delta lands). Other crops: sugarcane (tropical and sub-tropical), tea (hill slopes with heavy rain), coffee (shaded slopes in the southern hills).
Agricultural growth and problems
After 1960 the Green Revolution brought high-yielding seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and irrigation. Wheat and rice output rose many times and India became self-sufficient in food. Later, the growth spread to more crops and regions.
Main problems
- Dependence on uncertain monsoon rain.
- Low yields compared with other countries.
- Small and scattered land holdings.
- Lack of land reforms and farmer debt.
- Poor commercialisation and underemployment in villages.
- Land degradation: salty and waterlogged soil from over-irrigation, and falling groundwater.
Key formulas and definitions
- Net sown area: land where crops are sown and harvested at least once in a year
- Gross cropped area = net sown area + area sown more than once
- Cropping intensity = (gross cropped area ÷ net sown area) × 100
- Current fallow: empty ≤ 1 year; other fallow: 1–5 years; longer = culturable waste
- Dryland: rain < 75 cm; wetland: rain more than soil-moisture need
- CPR = land used by the whole community (pasture, pond, village forest)
Worked examples
1. A village has 400 ha of net sown area. 100 ha are sown twice. Find the gross cropped area.
Gross cropped area = 400 + 100 = 500 ha.
2. In the same village, find the cropping intensity.
Cropping intensity = 500 ÷ 400 × 100 = 125%.
3. A farmer leaves a plot empty for two years. Which land-use class is it in?
Other fallow, because it is left for more than one but less than five years.
4. Why do landless families suffer when a village pasture is sold for a building?
The pasture is a common property resource. It gave free fodder for their animals and fuel. Without it they must buy these or sell their animals, so their income falls.
5. A region gets 50 cm of rain a year. Which farming type and crops suit it?
Dryland farming, because rain is under 75 cm. Hardy crops like bajra, ragi, gram and guar suit it, with moisture-saving methods.
6. Explain why Punjab's farms now face salty soil even though output is high.
Heavy canal irrigation without drainage raised the water table. Water evaporated and left salts on top. So yields grew at first but the soil is now degrading.
Common mistakes
- Mixing up net sown area and gross cropped area. Gross counts land sown twice two times.
- Thinking current fallow and culturable waste are the same. Culturable waste has been empty for more than five years.
- Saying rice is only a kharif crop. In the south it can be grown in rabi and even three times a year.
- Calling every irrigated farm 'productive'. Protective irrigation only saves the crop from drought.