Institutional and Economic Triggers of Land Use and Crop Diversification in Karnataka

The dynamics of land use and crop pattern have been analyzed in the two highly drought prone-districts located in the northern and southern parts of Karnataka during and after the green revolution period. The transitional probabilities highlighting the dynamics of land use and crop pattern at the district and village levels reveal different levels of diversification and sustainable resource use patterns in the two districts. The data were collected from VDSA project of ICRISAT for the period 1969 to 2007. The Markov chain analysis was used to analyze the changes in agricultural land-use pattern and cropping pattern for both micro and macro level analyses. The study has revealed that diversification holds the key for development in the post-green revolution period, while specialization held the key during the green revolution period. The experience of micro level analysis of the two districts has indicated that over-exploitation of natural resources (such as sand mining) was largely responsible for (ground) water resource depletion and accordingly necessary steps need to be taken to conserve and manage natural resources for sustainable development.