Can Land-use Pattern in India be Sustainable? Issues and Policies for the Future

Recognising the importance of land as a crucial input for agricultural production, this paper has examined the landholding structure and land-use pattern and has identified policy options that will help to achieve sustainable land-use management. The average size of holding has continuously declined over the years. The net sown area has remained stagnant during the past three decades. However, the area sown more than once and gross sown area have been increasing. The Markov-Chain analysis has revealed that there will not be many changes in the net sown area in future. The policy focus in Indian agriculture should thus promote: (i) development of land-use policies that protect agricultural cropped land from increasing demand for non-agricultural purposes, (ii) better irrigation management methods including micro irrigation to conserve water and increase efficiency, (iii) more area under semi-irrigated crops such as pulses, millets, oilseeds, which require less water and capital but give comparable net income, (iv) soil test based applications of nutrients and integrated nutrient management, and (v) organizing farmers into grower associations and promoting contract farming in the face of marginalization of landholdings to reduce transaction cost and increase profitability.