Scarce Land: Issues, Evidence and Impact

This paper was written in response to something that happened at one session of the 2013 Cuddalore Conference of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS). In India, net sown area had expanded from 1950-51 up to 1990-91. After that it contracted. This happened because the extension of cultivation to new areas slowed down, while simultaneously, the conversion of cultivable area to non-agricultural uses speeded up. The extension of irrigation to new areas, which might have been expected to make double cropping possible, failed to compensate for the loss of net sown area. This paper points out the issues and impact of loss of good agricultural land to non-agricultural uses.