Land Resources

Land, a critically important national resource, supports all living organisms including plants as well as every primary production system such as roads, industries, communication and storage for surface and ground water,among others. The soil profile of land determines its ability to serve socio-economic needs. It has been estimated that more than 5,000 million tonnes of top soil is eroded annually alongwith about 5 million tonnes of nutrients. About a third of this is lost to the sea, while the rest builds the silt load in reservoirs and river beds leading to floods. About 38% of the area in India suffers from moderate to high degree of water-based erosion, most of which needs suitable soil and water conservation measures such as Watershed Development. Arid areas suffering from moderate or high degree of soil loss comprise upto 4% of the geographical area.
Therefore, about 42% of the country’s area requires soil & water conservation efforts on a priority basis.
The efficient management of land is vital for economic growth and development of rural areas.
The integrated thinking about the need for a land use policy started only in 1972 when a paper entitled “A Charter for the Land” was circulated by
Shri B.B. Vohra. The paper highlighted the dependence of majority of our people on land for their livelihood and pleaded that care for this resource must rank high in our priorities notwithstanding that the Constitution has placed the subject in the State List. It is in this context that the Prime Minister in 1972 had given a challenge to the nation for working out a viable land use policy as follows:
Encouraging traditional methods of water conservation under
Integrated Wastelands Development Programme
Land Resources
……”We can no longer afford to neglect our most important natural resource. This is not simply an environmental problem but one which is basic to the future of our country. The stark question before us is whether our