Transforming India—An Appraisal of Agricultural Land Use in Uttar Pradesh: A Regional Analysis

Abstract

Land is a basic resource which has two dimensions: availability and productivity. The intensive as well as widespread use of land for agricultural and non-agricultural purposes seriously jeopardises both of these essential characteristics. The growing population and the ensuing need for land for non-agricultural uses pose serious threats to researchers and decision-makers. Uttar Pradesh is basically an agriculturally dominant state. The present study tries to explain the patterns of agricultural land use across various categories of land use in the districts of Uttar Pradesh. Examining the spatial and temporal changes in areas occupied by different agricultural land use classes, as well as their implications, is the primary objective of this study. It is found that the net area sown has decreased consistently along with all other agricultural land uses, including fallow lands and culturable wastelands. In order to facilitate industrialisation and urbanisation, agricultural land was changed into non-agricultural land. Policymakers face significant difficulty with the decline in the net sown area since it will ultimately have a negative impact on the food security of the state’s constantly expanding population. Since there is a shortage of land and no way to expand it, it is imperative to increase crop productivity.