Dynamics of Land Use Pattern with Special Reference to Fallow Lands – An Empirical Investigation in Tamil Nadu

Abstract

Land and water are the crucial natural resources for any development activity. Consequently, access to land and control over its uses were the prime sources of conflict within and between communities throughout human history. Like any other resource land has two dimensions, viz., quality and quantity, and both of these crucial aspects are under serious threat due to the intensive and extensive use of land both for agricultural and non-agricultural purposes. Though technological progress in agriculture and agricultural intensification have mitigated the ever-increasing demand for land for food production, burgeoning population and the consequent demand for land for non-agricultural purposes are posing a serious challenge to both researchers and policy makers. Intensive agriculture coupled with large-scale irrigation projects without suitable drainage facilities has affected the land quality in many places thus leaving them under-utilised or unutilised. Tamil Nadu shares about 6.8 per cent of the total population in India while its share in total land area of the country is only 4 per cent and its share in the total water resources is about 3 per cent of the total water resources in India. In Tamil Nadu the per capita availability of land is only 0.19 ha while the per capita net sown area is only 0.10 ha. Even though the share of agricultural sector in the state domestic product of Tamil Nadu has declined from about 52 per cent to 22 per cent between 1960-61 and 2000-01 agriculture continues to be the major source of livelihood for the rural people. Agriculture still employs more than 50 per cent of the workforce in the state. As a basic input for agriculture, land occupies a pre-eminent position among all the resources required for a modern economy. Competition between agricultural and non-agricultural sectors for land is intensifying due to the increasing pressure on land for food production, housing and industrial expansion. Between 1960-61 and 2000-01 the total cultivated area in Tamil Nadu has decreased by about 14 per cent from 7.32 million ha to 6.34 million ha. However, this reduction in cropped area has been more than compensated by the increase in productivity of crops so that higher production has been possible.