LAND UTILIZATION

The pattern of land-use of a country at any particular time is determined by the physical, economic & institutional framework taken together. In other words, the existing land-use pattern in different regions in India has been evolved as the result of the action & interaction of various factors, such as the physical characteristics of land, the institutional framework, the structure of other resources (capital,labour,etc.) available & the location of the region in relation to other aspects of economic development, e.g. those relating to transport as well as to industry & trade. The present pattern can,therefore, be considered to be in some sort of static harmony & adjustment with the other main characteristics of the economy of the region. In the dynamic context, keeping in view the natural endowments & the recent advances in technology, the overall interests of a country may dictate a certain modification of or a change in the existing land-use pattern of a region. A close study of the present land-use patterns & the trends during recent years will help to suggest the scope for planned shifts in the patterns.
Out of the total geographical area of 328 million hectares, the land-use statistics are available for roughly 306 million hectares, constituting 93 percent of the total. During 1970-71 the latest year for which the land-use data are available, the arable land (the net area sown plus the current & fallow lands) was estimated at 161.3 million hectares or 52.7 percent of the total reporting area. Around 65.9 million hectares or 21.6 percent of the total area was under forests. Land put to non-agricultural uses was estimated at 16.1 million hectares(5.2 percent of the total) & the barren & unculturable land at 30.2 million hectares or 9.9 percent of the reporting area. Permanent pastures & other grazing land were estimated at 13 million hectares(4.2 percent), land under miscellaneous tree crops & groves, not included in the net area sown, at 4.3 million hectares(1.4 percent) & the culturable waste-land at another 15.2 million hectares or 5 percent. These figures add up to 306 million hectares of the reporting area.
The area,for which data on the land-use clasification are available, is known as the 'reporting area'. In areas where the land-use classification figures are based on land records, the reporting area is the area according to village papers or records maintained by the village revenue agency & the data are based on a complete enumeration of all the areas. In some cases, village papers are not maintained; but the estimates of the area under different classes of land are based on the sample survey or other methods to complete the coverage.
The reporting area is the aggregate of the areas based on these two methods. The areas for which no statistics are available are called 'non-reporting area'. The whole of the reporting area is neither completely surveyed cadastrally nor completely covered by complete enumeration of sample surveys. There are still pockets of areas in a few states for which only 'ad-hoc estimates' are prepared. Of the total geographical area, only 80.7 percent is cadastrally surveyed. Of the cadastrally surveyed areas, 91.4 percent has a permanent reporting agency, whereas 8.6 percent has no reporting agency.