LAND RESOURCE INVENTORY TOWARDS VILLAGE LEVEL AGRICULTURAL LAND USE PLANNING

Abstract

Land resource is finite and competing demands for land are infinite. Arable land is shrinking because of diversion of agricultural lands to other non-agricultural uses and agriculture related activities are being taken up on marginal lands. This has resulted in land degradation and land resource management is considered as one of the priority areas for achieving sustainable food security by raising land productivity. The concept of using the land for suitable utilization lies within the land use planning (LUP) process, which aims at optimizing the use of land while sustaining its potential by avoiding resource degradation. It has been recognized that the land assessment and its reliability for land use decisions depend largely on the quality of soil information. Efforts were made to develop regional level land use plans by using land resource information generated at small scale (1:250,000 and 1:50,000). However, the efforts could not yield desired results at village level due to unavailability of large scale land resources database. Stakeholders seldom adopted these land use plans due to lack of site-specific information. Land Resource Inventory (LRI) at large scale (1:10,000) provides required information to prepare sustainable land use plan at village level, which sets the path for using right land use and right agro-techniques on each parcel of land. In India, LUP at local level are governed by farmers own requirement and market prices rather than land suitability criteria alone. LUP aims to encourage and assist land users in selecting options that increase their productivity, are sustainable and meet the needs of society. The systematic evaluation and planning of land resources requires basic data and information about the land, the people and the organization of administration and service. Participatory land use planning (PLUP) approach helps greatly in developing site-specific land resource management options to improve the land productivity and to minimize land degradation.