Agricultural land reduced by 2.45L hectare in 3 years: Govt

New Delhi: In a shocking revelation, it has come to notice that 2.45 lakh hectare of agricultural land has been reduced in three years starting from 2016-17 to 2018-19, while it has reduced by 9.61 lakh hectare in six years starting from 2013-14 to 2018-19.

Replying to a question raised by BJP MP Mansukhbhai Vasava, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar informed Lok Sabha that as per the report on Land Use Statistics for 2018-19 (latest available), cultivable land in the country has reduced to 18.09 crore hectare in 2018-19 from 18.18 crore hectare in 2013-14.

After analyzing the data provided by the minister, most states have registered a decline in agricultural lands, while some states such as Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir have recorded an increase in the cultivable land in three years. In Bihar, the agricultural land has increased from 65.72 lakh hectare in 2016-17 to 65.73 lakh hectare in 2018-19, while Chhattisgarh witnessed a rise of cultivable land from 55.58 lakh hectare in 2016-17 to 55.70 lakh hectare in 2018-19 and Haryana recorded a rise in agricultural land from 37.44 lakh hectare in 2016-17 to 38.17 lakh hectare in 2018-19. Similarly, Jammu & Kashmir has recorded a rise in agricultural land from 10.78 lakh hectare in 2016-17 to 10.91 lakh hectare in 2018-19.

Gujarat, which is the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has not registered any increase or decrease in agricultural land in three years as it remained unchanged from 2016-17 to 2018-19 at 126.61 lakh hectare.

Assam witnessed a decline in agricultural land from 33.37 lakh hectare in 2016-17 to 33.05 lakh hectare in 2018-19, while West Bengal recorded a decrease in cultivable land from 56.33 lakh hectare in 2016-17 to 56.15 lakh hectare in 2018-19 and Uttar Pradesh registered a decline of cultivable land from 188.48 lakh hectare in 2016-17 to 187.75 lakh hectare in 2018-19.

Rajasthan has recorded a decrease in agricultural land from 254.96 lakh hectare in 2016-17 to 254.84 lakh hectare, while Manipur recorded a decline in agricultural land from 4.76 lakh hectare to 4.48 lakh hectare in three years and in Jharkhand, the agricultural land reduced from 43.67 lakh hectare in 2016-17 to 43.19 lakh hectare in 2018-19.

As land comes under the purview of state governments, the Centre supplements the efforts of states, through appropriate policy measures and budgetary support, Tomar said, adding that under the National Policy for Farmers-2007 (NPF-2007), State Governments have been advised to earmark lands with low biological potential such as uncultivable land, land affected by salinity, acidity, etc, for non-agricultural developmental activities, including industrial and construction activities.