Volume : IV, Issue : XII, December - 2014

Historical changes in land requirements for food in India

Reshmita Nath, Xuefeng Cui, Yibo Luan, Wangming Yang, Qian Li, Wen Chen

Abstract :

<p>Population growth, diet diversification, urbanization and economic growth in India exerts great pressure< /> on land resources of the country. Here we investigate the dynamics of land requirement for food (LRF) in< /> India from 1961 to 2009. LRF of a country is a function of population, diet and technology. Using a sensitivity analysis,< /> we investigate the roles of the individual drivers i.e. technology, population and dietary pattern change on total LRF.< /> Our results show that the total LRF increases by 43%, whereas per capita LRF decreases significantly by 45% from< /> 1961 to 2009. Population growth is responsible for most of the increase in total LRF, as it drives the major increase< /> in consumption of food items. Therefore, increase in cropping yield is an urgent need to ensure the food security of< /> India. We also discussed the adverse effect of excessive technology dissemination on soil pollution; land degradation,< /> ground water depletion etc. and focus on wider agricultural, environmental and policy dimensions of the changes in< /> the light of political economy and sustainable agricultural policies. </p>

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Article: Download PDF   DOI : 10.36106/ijar  

Cite This Article:

ReshmitaNath,Xuefeng Cui,Yibo Luan,Wangming Yang,Qian Li,Wen Chen Historical changes in land requirements for food in India Indian Journal of Applied Research, Vol.4, Issue : 12 December 2014

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