Karnataka has lost 6 lakh ha of farm land in a decade: official

The cropping pattern in Karnataka has seen a lot of changes in the last one decade with farmers giving thrust to crops such as sugarcane and arecanut.

This has resulted in the decline of area under cultivation of crops such as paddy and ragi.

In addition, TN Prakash Kammardi, Chairman of the Karnataka Agriculture Price Commission, told presspersons in Mangaluru on Tuesday that nearly six lakh hectares of farm land in Karnataka has been converted for various non-agricultural purposes over the last decade.

Karnataka grows 28 agricultural crops and 23 horticultural crops.

While the area under cultivation of paddy and ragi crops has come down, acreage under sugarcane, maize and arecanut has gone up considerably.

He said that there has been an increase of around 117 per cent in the area under sugarcane cultivation from 2005-06 to 2014-15.

The area under arecanut and maize cultivation went up by 40 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively, during the period.

The area under crops such as paddy and ragi crops came down by 11 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively, over the last decade.

Stating that the Karnataka Agriculture Price Commission has prepared a report on “shift in cropping patterns in the State in a decade’, Kammardi said this report will be submitted to the State government soon.

The total area under both agricultural and horticultural crops has come down from 129.36 hectares in 2005-06 to 123.39 hectares in 2014-15.

Around 60,000 hectares of farm land are being converted for non-agricultural purposes every year, he said.

Asked if the state has seen the entry of any new crop, he said there was no new crop as such in the last decade.

However, during this period, farmers have started growing more Bt cotton and maize, said Kammardi.

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