By GOPAL PRASAD( RTI Activist) : Decrease in cultivable lands of about 28 lakh hectare in last two decades and decrease in productivity of agricultural land resulting in threat to food security . In these context , it is started that as per the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India , land falls under the purview of the State Governments and , therefore, it is for the State Governments to bring in suitable Policy /Act/Legislation to prevent the diversion of agricultural land for non agricultural purposes. However , Ministry of Agriculture has formulated a National Policy for Farmers-2007(NPF-2007), with a view to prevent the use of agricultural land for non agricultural purposes and sustaining food security of the Country .
The NPF-2007, envisaged that prime farmland must be conserved for agriculture except . Under exceptional circumstances, provided that the agencies that are provided with agricultural land for non agricultural projects should compensate for treatment and full development of equivalent degraded/ wastelands elsewhere. Further, for non agricultural purposes , as far as possible , land with low biological potential for farming should be earmarked and allocated . Accordingly , State Governments have been advised to earmark lands with low biological potential such as uncultivable land , land affected by salinity, acidity etc. , for non agricultural development activities , including industrial and construction activities.
An RTI reply by the CPIO & Under Secretary of Department of Agriculture & Coopration B.K. Malhotra and originally filed by Delhi based RTI Activist Gopal Prasad seeking information on various issues relating to agriculture and allied sectors. As per available estimates, the total area of cultivable land in the Country has marginally decreased during last two decades , which is mainly due to increase in population and diversion of agricultural land for non agricultural purposes such as urbanization , roads, industries, housing etc.
However, due to various steps taken by Ministry of Agriculture viz: intensification of implementation of missions/schemes namely , National Food Security Mission (NFSM), National Horticulture Mission (NHM)and Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) despite marginal decrease in extent of cultivable land , agriculture production has increased and has also resulted in sustaining food security across the country.
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GOPAL PRASAD( RTI Activist), H. No.-210, St. No.-3, Pal Mohalla
Near Mohan Baba Temple, Mandawali, Delhi-110092