02-09-2013, 04:21 PM
LAND USE CHANGE, DIVERSIFICATION OF AGRICULTURE AND AGROFORESTRY IN
NORTHWEST INDIA
LAND USE CHANGE.pdf (Size: 37.74 KB / Downloads: 135)
Introduction
Land use is a synthesis of physical, chemical, and biological systems and processes on the
one hand and human/societal processes and behaviour on the other. The monitoring of such
systems includes the diagnosis and prognosis of land use changes in a holistic manner at
various levels. Land use change may be examined by considering conversion of forest to crop
and rangeland; losses of productive land through various factors; conversion of wetlands to
agriculture and urban use: and conversion of other types of land to various human uses. The
per capita availability of land in India decreased from 0.9 ha in 1951 to 0.5 ha in 1980-81. The
situation of cultivated land is even more critical. The per capita availability of such land has
declined from 0.48 ha in 1951 to 0.20 ha in 1981. This is likely to decrease further to 0.15 ha
by 2000 AD. About 85 million ha of agricultural land and 37 million ha of forest lands are
degraded to varying degrees out of the total land of 143 million ha and 67 million ha
respectively (NLUCB, 1988). In recent years, various sustainable land use initiatives are
being taken at national and global level under the Tropical Forestry Action Plan, World Food
Programme, and UNCED-initiated a Forest Principles and Agenda 21. The Government of
India initiated an agroforestry programme as ah integrated sustainable land use management
system. On 2 June 1992, it announced the National Conservation Plan in order to tackle such
multidimensional problems facing the nation today.
Land Use Change
Our analysis of land use for the last 40 years in the four states suggests that Punjab and
Haryana have reached the absolute limit of expansion of area under cultivation with almost
84% of the area being cultivated. Six to 8% of the area in these states is under urban uses.
Another 5% are under forests (mainly strip forests), and the remaining 2-3% is roads, canals,
and other infrastructural and industrial uses. Cultivable waste as a category has virtually
disappeared in these two states. Such intensive land use for agriculture is sustainable only
with increasing and continued high doses of balanced nutrients and other inputs such as
chemical fertilizers and insecticides. The proportion of area available for cultivation in
Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir because of topography and physiography is rather
small and cannot be expanded without major private and public investments that in return will
result in major ecological problems and should be avoided.
The cropping pattern in the region has undergone a substantial change, with wheat and rice
emerging as a major crop rotation in Punjab and half of Haryana. Its expansion in Himachal
Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir has been moderate. Crops that have been replaced by wheat
and rice, are gram, bajra, barley, millets and pulses. Area under cotton has grown in Haryana.
In absence of expansion of the sugar industry, the area under sugarcane has remained static.
The cropping pattern of the region has unnecessarily become energy-intensive and is
affecting the static balance of the underground water resources in the plains of Punjab and
Haryana. The growth of infrastructure, irrigation, and other technological factors are
responsible for a major shift in cropping pattern in favour of wheat and rice in the states of
Punjab and Haryana.
Diversification of Agriculture
A diversification of agriculture to increase the area under oilseeds and pulses should be
encouraged. Sunflower is becoming a prominent crop among the oilseeds. Its water
requirement is quite high. Although the sugarcane area has been substantially increased, it
has not reduced pressure on ground water. The ground water position has been distributed
by a tremendous increase in food production, especially wheat and rice (119.2 lakh tonnes in
1980-81 to 192.14 lakh tonnes in 1992-93).
Potential for Diversification of Agriculture
The economics of Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh have large forestry and
horticulture sub-sectors. Forest area and forestry development area in both these states is
substantial. The growth of different types of forests during the last two decades has been
uneven, The area under forests in Punjab and Haryana is less than 5% but is slowly growing.
There is not much scope for growth of block forests in these states. Most of the growth has
been in strip forests on the banks of canals.
Despite major data problems for a temporal analysis of forest cover in the study area, we
found that as per official records, 33% geographical area of Himachal Pradesh, 9.9% of
Jammu & Kashmir, 5.6% of Punjab, and 3.8% of Haryana were under forest cover in 1986-87.
On per capita basis the lowest forest cover is in Haryana and the highest in Himachal
Pradesh. In absolute terms total tree cover is 20,880 sq. km in Jammu & Kashmir, 12882 sq.
km in Himachal Pradesh, 776 sq. km in Punjab, and 644 sq. km in Haryana. The regeneration
of forest for Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir has been observed and needs to be
monitored more carefully. A study of various forest types in combination with horticultural,
pastoral, and other systems suggests that there is a wide variation in expected returns per
year per hectare, which seem to be more attractive than those from crop husbandry provided
marketing is taken care of.
Integration of Horticulture with Agriculture
Area under horticulture in all the four states has been growing rapidly since 1970-71 with
fastest growth in Himachal Pradesh. The economics of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu &
Kashmir have a significant horticulture sub-sector that is growing and emerging as a major
component of the agricultural and agroprocessing facilities are some of the important
problems of this sector.
Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir are considered the fruit baskets of the region
because of favourable climate and topography. In Punjab and Haryana, area under
horticulture is small (less than 1%) but increasing. Some illustrative measures of rates of
returns from horticulture suggest returns from ranging from 30 to 40 %. However, the
experience of marketing, particularly of apple, suggests that expanding wood demand for
packing of fruits is creating serious stress on the forests, especially silver fit and spruce. This
has already been noted by the Government of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.
Subsidized cardboard boxes are being experimented with.
Issues and Opportunities
Around the settlements, a sizeable rural population, particularly the small and marginal
farmers and landless labourers, depends on common property resources for its sustenance
and other day-to-day social amenities. Those resources generally consist of village or
common lands that can be brought under suitable forest species and use to raise seedlings
for plantations. Such land should be allocated to the landless population and small or
marginal farmers for forestry or agroforestry.
Conservation forestry is emerging as an important sustainable method for balanced
production from the natural areas. This takes optimum production of fuelwood and timber
from the land and puts in bulk soil humus and fertility.