Land-use Dynamics in Jammu and Kashmir

Abstract

The dynamics of shift among different land-use classes has been studied in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. A significant decline has been observed in the total reported area, which necessitates a proper land-use survey through remote sensing. A declining trend has also been observed in the area under forests. The unfavourable increasing trends in the area put to non-agricultural uses and barren and unculturable land are likely to have serious implications on ecological balance. Inter-sectoral land budgeting analysis has revealed that shifts in area are occurring from desirable ecological towards undesirable ecological sector. The estimates of regression analysis have revealed that the net irrigated area, literacy and area not available for cultivation have significantly improved the cropping intensity in the state agriculture, whereas agricultural density and area under rice are significant determinants of current fallow lands. The study has emphasized on the evolution of suitable institutional mechanism for scientific management, conservation and development of land resources in the state.

Full text

Agricultural Economics Research Review
Vol. 22 January-June 2009 pp 145-154
Land-use Dynamics in Jammu and Kashmir§
M.H. Wani*, S.H. Baba and Shahid Yousuf
Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology of Kashmir, Shalimar Campus,
Srinagar – 191 121, Jammu & Kashmir
Abstract
The dynamics of shift among different land-use classes has been studied in the state of Jammu and
Kashmir. A significant decline has been observed in the total reported area, which necessitates a
proper land-use survey through remote sensing. A declining trend has also been observed in the area
under forests. The unfavourable increasing trends in the area put to non-agricultural uses and barren
and unculturable land are likely to have serious implications on ecological balance. Inter-sectoral
land budgeting analysis has revealed that shifts in area are occurring from desirable ecological towards
undesirable ecological sector. The estimates of regression analysis have revealed that the net irrigated
area, literacy and area not available for cultivation have significantly improved the cropping intensity
in the state agriculture, whereas agricultural density and area under rice are significant determinants
of current fallow lands. The study has emphasized on the evolution of suitable institutional mechanism
for scientific management, conservation and development of land resources in the state.
Introduction
Indian agriculture is a prelude to economic
development and a pre-requisite for poverty
alleviation and overall economic development
(Ravallion and Dutta, 1996; Singh and Baleka, 1999;
Anonymous, 2007). In view of this, Indian
agriculture is now poised for technical
transformation for ensuring food security, export
earnings, and decentralized development to reduce
rural poverty, owing to the severe population pressure
on the natural resource base of land, water, bio-
diversity and other resources to meet its growing food
and development demands.
Agriculture is a land-based activity and as such
land and water have been the basic elements of life-
support system and an important resource for the
economic life of a majority of people in the world.
The way people handle and use land resource is
decisive for their social and economic well-being as
well as for the sustained quality of land resources.
India, with only 2.3 per cent of world’s total land
area supports 18 per cent of human and 15 per cent
of livestock population in the world. According to the
National Remote Sensing Agency’s (NRSA) report,
there are 75.5 million hectares of wastelands in the
country of which around 58 million hectares are
treatable and can be brought into productive levels
through appropriate measures. However, the per
capita arable land in the country is only 0.15 ha, which
is expected to come down to nearly 0.08 ha by 2025
(Kanda, 2007).
It is a paradoxical situation that on the one hand
more production is required from the scarce soil
resources for meeting the demand of ever-expanding
population, while on the other, cultivable areas are
being shifted towards non-agricultural uses. India
has experienced a considerable shift under different
land-use classes during post-independence period.
* Author for correspondence;
E-mail: dr.masoodulhaq@rediffmail.com
§ The paper is a part of research work conducted under Uni-
versity financed project on “Agricultural Development in
the State of Jammu & Kashmir” during the period 2003-05

146 Agricultural Economics Research Review Vol.22 January-June 2009
Land-use is a highly dynamic process. It implies that
policy discussions and development planning have
to be based on a sound understanding of these
dynamics. Therefore, it is imperative to make a
comprehensive study of the pattern and magnitude
of land-use shifts for sustainability and productivity
of agriculture in an area.
There are a wide variations in the distribution
and utilization of land resources across different
states of the country, based on topographic,
geographical, political and other factors. Jammu and
Kashmir, one of the north-western hill states, has a
total reported area of 2416 thousand hectares, of
which only 31 per cent is available for cultivation
and the rest is either under demarcated forests or
other land-use classes. Moreover, due to urbanization
and infrastructural development, there is all the
possibility of a shift among land-use classes in the
state. While some land-use shifts have occurred in
the desirable direction, some others might have been
in the undesirable direction. In this back drop, the
present study was undertaken to investigate the
dynamics of land-use pattern in Jammu & Kashmir
(J&K) with the following objectives: (i) To analyze
the trends and dynamics of shift among different
land-use classes in J& K, and (ii) To study the extent
of productive and unproductive land-use pattern and
their determinants in J&K. The objectives have been
accomplished to test the hypothesis that although
there has been a shift among land-use classes, no
shift has occurred in the undesirable direction.
Data and Methodology
The study is based on secondary data obtained
from various issues of Digest of Statistics and other
publications of the Directorate of Economics and
Statistics, Government of Jammu and Kashmir, for
the period 1966-67 to 2004-05.
The compound growth rates in different land-
use classes were estimated by employing Equation
(1):
Y = abt…(1)
where,
Y = Area under a land-use class (’000 ha),
a = Constant,
b = Regression coefficient, and
t = Time in years.
The dynamics of land-use shifts in each state
was examined with the help of a simple identity of
linearly additive land-use changes (Sharma and
Pandey, 1992; Pandey and Tiwari, 1987). The first
accounting identity linearly summed up the area
under all land-use classes which was equal to the
total reporting area, given by Equation (2):
R = Fr + P + M + N + U + W + Fe + Fo + C
…(2)
where,
R = Total reporting area,
Fr= Area under forests,
P = Area under permanent pastures,
M = Area under miscellaneous tree crops,
N = Area under non-agricultural uses,
U = Usar and barren lands,
W = Culturable wastelands,
Fe= Current fallows,
Fo= Fallow lands other than current fallows; and
C = Net area cultivated.
Also, ∆R = ∆Fr + ∆P + ∆M + ∆N + ∆U + ∆W
+ ∆Fc + ∆Fo + ∆C …(3)
Then, the total land endowment was grouped into
three broad sectors, viz. (i) ecological sector (E)
comprising Fr, P, M and U, (ii) agricultural sector
(A) comprising W, C, Fc and Fo, and (iii) non-
agricultural (NA) sector. The ecological sector was
further divided into two sub-sectors, viz. (i) the
desirable ecology (E1) comprising Fr, P and M, and
(ii) undesirable ecology (E2) comprising U. Then,
the net changes within each sector were grouped as
per equation (4)- (6) :
∆E = ∆E1+ ∆E2 = (∆Fr + ∆P +∆M) + (∆U)
…(4)
∆A = ∆Fc + Fo + ∆W + ∆C …(5)
∆R = ∆E1 + E2 + ∆A + ∆N …(6)
Thus, the annual rates of change in different
classes were worked out and budgeted as per

Wani et al. : Land-use Dynamics in Jammu and Kashmir 147
Equations (4), (5) and (6). This budgeting facilitated
the analysis of direction of land-use shifts and their
dynamics.
To quantify the determinants of productive and
unproductive land utilization in J&K, regression
models of the following structural forms were fitted:
(a) Productive Utilization
Steadily growing population and shrinking net
sown area demand urgent evolution and adoption of
technologies that augment land productivity. Such
technologies can be classified under two analytical
heads: those which raise the yield of any particular
crop per unit of land, and those which increase the
total output per unit of land from all crops grown
over a rotational period through increase in cropping
intensity. Yield increases are of course associated
with additional capital use; all this may also increase
the total labour input per unit of area. But then, it is
usually noted that labour-use per unit of capital or
per unit of output would decline significantly under
such circumstances. Thus, this yield raising
technique is better suited to capital-abundant and
labour-scarce economies. The latter kind of
technological changes which improve cropping
intensity are desirable not only for fuller utilization
of land resources but also for reducing seasonal
unemployment in the labour-abundant and capital-
scarce rural economy and for achieving higher
stability in food supply (Rao, 1976; Dev, 1989).
Therefore, cropping intensity was specified as
endogenous variable in productive land-use model
as per Equation (7):
CI= f (IA, HOLD, ANAC, LIT, U) …(7)
where,
CI = Cropping intensity (%),
IA = Net area irrigated (ha),
HOLD = Average size of holding (ha),
ANAC = Area not available for cultivation (ha),
LIT = Literacy rate (%), and
U = Error-term.
(b) Untapped/Unproductive Utilization
The under-utilized agricultural land can be
categorized on the basis of length of period for which
land remains unused as: current fallows (less than a
year), fallows other than current fallows or long-term
fallows (1-5 years) and cultivable or culturable
wastelands (> 5 years). Among these categories,
culturable wasteland is mostly constituted by
degraded land and the reasons for not cultivating
such lands include poor soil fertility, salinity,
alkalinity, waterlogging, etc. (Sharma et al., 1990).
The reasons for keeping land as long-term fallows
may be poverty, inadequate supply of water, silting
of canals and unremunerative nature of farming. This
category also includes degraded land. The category
of current fallows does not constitute degraded land;
on the contrary, it represents some potential for
increasing net sown area, and is important from the
point of view of management of agricultural land.
In view of this, it is desirable to consider the current
fallows as untapped or unproductive use of
agricultural land. Accordingly, a current fallow was
specified as endogenous variable in the function (8):
CF = f (RAIN, AR, YLD, AD, U) …(8)
where,
CF = Current fallow (ha),
RAIN = Annual rainfall (mm),
YLD = Average yield level of food grains (Mt/
ha),
AR = Area under paddy cultivation (ha),
AD = Agricultural density (Rural population /
Cultivated area), and
U = Error-term.
The models specified above were estimated in
log linear form using ordinary least square (OLS)
procedure.
Results and Discussion
Trends in Different Land-use Classes
To find the trends in different land-use classes
in J&K, both compound growth rates and percentage
changes in each class were estimated (Table 1). The
percentage changes have revealed a marginal decline
(0.083%) in the total reported area which necessitates
proper land-use surveys through remote sensing. The
area under forest has decreased at an annual

148 Agricultural Economics Research Review Vol.22 January-June 2009
compound growth rate of about 0.035 per cent, from
671 thousand hectares (1966-67) to 658 thousand
hectares (2004-05). This decline could be attributed
to deforestation and a wide gap between rates of
afforestation and deforestation. These trends are
likely to cause severe ecological imbalances,
including adverse agro-climatic changes and acute
shortages in meeting the rising demand of fuel,
fodder and timber in the state.
The area put to non-agricultural uses has shown
a substantial increase, from 276 thousand hectares
in 1966-67 to 339 thousand hectares in 1977-78, but
a slight favourable decline has been observed
thereafter in its reaching 293 thousand hectares in
2004-05 (Digest of Statistics, various issues). The
increasing demand of over 6 per cent land per annum
during the period 1966-67 to 2004-05, for
infrastructural development and urbanization has
resulted in the increase of area under non-agricultural
uses. This trend may have serious implications in
the long-run.
The barren and unculturable land has also
exihibited an increasing trend of 6.6 per cent per
annum. Soil-water conservation and other
reclamation measures need to be seriously
implemented to bring this class of degraded land
under plough.
The area under permanent pastures and other
grazing lands has remained stagnant at 125 thousand
hectares over the years which is a cause of concern
to planners due to increasing demand for grasses and
fodder for livestock. In the area under miscellaneous
tree crops, the compound growth rates (1.55) have
revealed a significant declining trend. This decline
might be due to a shift of this land towards non-
agricultural uses. The land under permanent pastures
and miscellaneous tree crops significantly contribute
to the village economy and ecology and is quite
vulnerable to demand for non-agricultural uses.
Hence, the declining trends in both these land-use
classes need to be checked.
The fallow land and culturable wasteland have
shown a decline of over 35 per cent and 3 per cent,
respectively from 1966-67 to 2004-05, with an
annual growth rate of -0.314 per cent and -0.232 per
cent, respectively. The decline in these land-use
Table 1. Trends in different land-use classes in Jammu & Kashmir
Land use class Area (’000 ha) Compound growth Change, %
1966-67 2004-05 rate (%)
Total reported area 2418 2416 -0.002*(0.0007) -0.083
Area under forests 671 658 -0.035* (0.009) -1.937
Area not available for cultivation
Land put to non-agricultural uses 276 293 -0.079 (0.095) 6.159
Barren and uncultivatable land 271 289 0.540* (0.096) 6.642
Total 547 582 0.205* (0.030) 6.398
Other uncultivated land excluding fallows
Permanent pastures & other grazing lands 125 125 -0.059* (0.023) 0.000
Land under miscellaneous tree crops not 121 72 -1.553* (0.114) -40.496
included in area sown
Culturable wasteland 146 141 -0.232* (0.040) -3.425
Total 392 338 -0.498* (0.030) -13.775
Fallow land
Fallow land other than current fallow 15 13 -2.279* (0.530) -13.330
Current fallows 118 73 0.0154 (0.147) -38.1356
Total 133 86 -0.314* (0.102) -35.338
Net area sown 675 752 0.191* (0.014) 11.407
Note: Figures within the parentheses indicate standard errors
*Denotes significance at 5 per cent or better level

Wani et al. : Land-use Dynamics in Jammu and Kashmir 149
classes is in consonance with the increase in the area
under cultivation and barran & unculturable land.
The net sown area has shown an increase of about
11 per cent with an increase of about 77 thousand
hectares during the period 1966-67 to 2004-05.
Inter-Sectoral Budgeting Analysis
The inter-sectoral budgeting analysis was carried
out to find the pattern and extent of dynamics in land-
use shifts in the state (Table 2). It has been observed
that land-use shift has been occurring from the
desirable ecology towards undesirable ecology,
agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. There was
a positive shift of land towards the agricultural sector
during the period-I (1966-67 to 1984-85) which tilted
unfavourably towards undesirable ecology during the
period-II (1985-86 to 2004-05). The shift of land
from the agricultural sector to undesirable ecology
may have serious implications towards agricultural
growth and requires an immediate check. Inter-
sectoral budgeting estimates for non-agricultural
sector have indicated a significant increase during
period-I, which later showed a decline and shifted
towards undesirable ecology. The unfavourable trend
of desirable ecological sector and the vicious land-
use dynamics lead to the degeneration of this
important natural resource, which needs priority
management.
Productive Land Utilization
The net area sown and irrigated area in a year
were taken as the productive land-use in this study.
It has been observed that the area available for
cultivation had increased from 675 thousand hectares
to 752 thousand hectares during 1966-67 to 2004-05.
The net area sown as per cent of total reported area
in the state has also shown an increase, from about
28 per cent to 31 per cent during this period (Table
3). However, per capita availability of net area sown
has significantly declined over the years, indicating a
huge pressure of increasing population on land and
other resources of the state. The net irrigated area
had increased from 280 thousand hectares to 311
thousand hectares, but the irrigated area as per cent
of net area sown has remained more or less stagnant
over this period.
The district-wise distribution of cultivated area
in the state has been presented in Table 4. The
reported area has been found to be highest in the
district of Udhampur, followed by Doda and Jammu
districts. The land under cultivation in these districts
has been found highest in the district Budgam
(> 66%), followed by Kupwara (65%), and Anantnag
(64%). Almost 100 per cent of the net area sown in
the Kargil district had irrigation facilities, followed
by Leh and Srinagar districts. As per the figures in
Table 4, the role of irrigation in improving cropping
intensity has appeared inconsistent across different
districts. Although irrigation is a critical input and
is considered an important determinant of
agricultural intensification, the agro-climatic
constraints were found to hamper multiple croppings
in the temperate and cold-arid regions of the state.
Moreover, the quality and seasonality of irrigation
systems are important against the proportion of area
under irrigation (Narian and Roy, 1980; Dhawan,
Table 2. Budgeting of inter-sectoral land-use shifts
Land-use sectors Annual rate of change (’000 ha)
1966-67 to1984-85 1985-86 to 2004-05 1966-67 to 2004-05
Ecological sector (∆E = ∆E1 + ∆E2) -71.67 29.00 -42.67
Desirable ecological sector (∆E1) -59.33 -1.00 -60.33
Undesirable ecological sector (∆E2) -12.33 30.00 17.67
Agricultural sector (∆A) 34.00 -10.00 24.00
Non-agricultural sector (∆N) 32.00 -19.00 13.00
Net sectoral changes* -5.66 0.00 -5.66
Total reported area (∆R) -3.33 1.00 -2.33
Note: *The net sectoral change is equal to algebraic sum of ∆N + ∆E1 + ∆E2 + ∆A

150 Agricultural Economics Research Review Vol.22 January-June 2009
Table 3. Productive utilization of land in Jammu & Kashmir (area in ’000 ha)
Year Total Net area Net area Per capita Irrigated Irrigated area
reported area sown sownas NAS area as per cent
(TRA) (NAS) per cent of TRA of NAS
1966-67 2418 675 27.91 0.165 280 41.48
1974-75 2415 688 24.49 0.137 295 42.88
1980-81 2414 715 29.62 0.122 304 42.52
1985-86 2415 732 30.31 0.109 309 42.30
1990-95 2416 731 30.26 0.096 298 40.78
1995-96 2416 734 30.38 0.084 307 41.77
2000-01 2416 748 30.96 0.075 311 41.56
2004-05 2416 752 31.12 0.072 311 41.34
Source: Digest of Statistics (various issues), Government of J&K, Srinagar.
Table 4. District-wise productive land utilization in J&K: 2004-05 (area in ’000 ha)
District Total Net area NAS as Average size Irrigated IA as Cropping
reported sown per cent of holding area per cent intensity
area (TRA) (NAS) of TRA (ha) (IA) of NAS (%)
Anantnag 119.80 76.44 63.81 0.44 45.24 59.18 128
Pulwama 97.61 57.00 58.40 0.62 35.77 62.75 147
Srinagar 51.01 21.40 41.96 0.26 16.26 75.98 127
Budgam 77.83 51.82 66.58 0.56 29.17 56.29 109
Baramulla 143.75 81.38 56.61 0.51 38.02 46.72 115
Kupwara 66.59 43.12 64.75 0.44 19.75 45.80 105
Leh 45.17 10.18 22.54 0.70 08.48 83.30 103
Kargil 19.46 09.05 46.51 0.71 09.04 99.89 110
Jammu 320.12 119.03 37.18 0.84 62.93 52.87 179
Udhampur 431.01 69.67 16.16 1.13 05.76 8.27 161
Doda 411.02 69.27 16.85 0.65 07.29 10.52 120
Kathua 264.73 63.79 24.10 1.04 22.17 34.75 196
Rajouri 253.34 52.97 20.91 1.07 07.42 14.01 185
Poonch 114.38 27.30 23.87 0.89 03.60 13.19 167
Total 2415.80 752.42 31.15 0.66 310.90 41.32 146
Source: Digest of Statistics, Government of J&K, Srinagar (2004-05)
1985; Dev, 1989). The average size of holdings has
been found to be lower in the state than the national
average. Across districts, Udhampur has the highest
average size of holdings (1.13 ha), while Srinagar
has the lowest holding-size (0.26 ha), which is in
consonance with the population density in these
districts.
Intensification-based classification of districts has
been presented in Table 5. The class I included the
districts having cropping intensity above 175 per cent,
class II included districts having cropping intensities
from 125 to 175 per cent, and class III up to 125 per
cent. Out of the fourteen districts, only three districts
were found under class I, five were under class II

Wani et al. : Land-use Dynamics in Jammu and Kashmir 151
Table 5. Intensification-based land-use classes in
different districts of J&K
Region Class
I II III
(above 175%) (125 – 175%) (up to 125%)
Kashmir - Anantnag Budgam
- Pulwama Baramulla
- Srinagar Kupwara
Ladakh - - Leh
- - Kargil
Jammu Jammu Udhampur Doda
Kathua Poonch -
Rajouri - -
and six under class III. Due to variations in the
geographical, climatic and other factors, a wide
variation amongst the provinces regarding land-use
cannot be ruled out.
The Ladakh province experiences a very harsh
climate for about 3/4th part of a year and the farmers
have access to their agricultural land only for a few
months in a year. Kashmir province too witnesses a
harsh climate during winters and receives less
rainfall, whereas most of the districts in the Jammu
province receive more and evenly distributed rainfall
and have a comparatively favourable climate for
most part of the year.
Untapped Land/Unproductive Utilization
The productivity can be improved by tapping
uncultivated land, including wasteland and fallow
land. The magnitude of untapped agricultural land
in the state has remained stagnant for the past few
decades, though some inter-sectoral fluctuations
have been observed (Table 6).
The two broad classes of untapped land, viz. area
not available for cultivation, and fallow land have
depicted opposite trends over the years. Area not
available for cultivation has increased from 417
thousand hectares in 1966-67 to 430 thousand
hectares in 2004-05, whereas the fallow land
including current fallows has decreased during this
period from 93 thousand hectares to 86 thousand
hectares. Thus, the overall level of untapped land
has been found to be maintained around 500
thousand hectares. The agricultural production can
be more or less doubled if this untapped land could
be brought under cultivation. In this direction, land-
use planners and government have a major role to
play. Farmers should be provided training to use land
on scientific lines. Incentives in the form of cheap
credit, development subsidies, etc. may improve
financial status of the poor farmers, enabling them
to invest on land improvement, and purchase of
technologies and critical inputs. In this way, they
could shift unproductive land to productive use and
Table 6. Untapped agricultural land in Jammu and Kashmir: 1966-67 to 2004-05 (area in ’000 ha)
Year Total Area not available for cultivation Fallow land Total
reported Barren Cultur Total Fallow land Current Total Area % of
area & unculti- -able Area % of other than fallow Area % of TRA
vated land waste TRA current land TRA
land fallows
1966-67 2418 271 146 417 17.24 15 118 133 5.50 550 22.75
1974-75 2415 244 155 399 16.52 8 105 113 4.68 512 21.20
1980-81 2414 231 147 378 15.66 8 94 102 4.22 480 19.88
1985-86 2415 259 164 423 17.51 7 86 93 3.85 516 21.37
1990-91 2416 295 137 432 17.88 6 97 108 4.47 541 22.35
1995-96 2416 291 141 432 17.88 7 96 103 4.26 535 22.14
2000-01 2416 291 140 431 17.84 8 82 90 3.72 521 21.56
2004-05 2416 289 141 430 17.80 13 73 86 3.56 516 21.36
Source: Digest of Statistics (various issues), Government of J&K, Srinagar

152 Agricultural Economics Research Review Vol.22 January-June 2009
transform agriculture towards commercialization. Soil
and water conservation and other reclamation
measures could help bring the untapped land under
plough for productive uses.
Determinants of Productive and Unproduc-
tive Land Utilization
The exponential function was fitted to quantify
the determinants of productive (cropping intensity)
and unproductive (current fallow) land-use. The
estimates of exponential function (Table 7) for
productive land-use have revealed that the net
irrigated area, literacy level and area not available
for cultivation are the positive significant determinants
of the variation in cropping intensity. The irrigation is
a critical input for multiple cropping; hence, there is
a need to expand irrigation capacities of the state,
particularly where they are much needed. The
existing irrigation capital stock should also be made
functional to improve its efficiency. The regression
coefficient of the average holding size (0.15) has
revealed its positive contribution to the improvement
of cropping intensity, although the relation has not
been found statistically significant. Small size of
holdings hinders mechanization and capital formation,
which are important determinants of productivity and
intensity in the long-run. The literacy level was also
found to be an important positive determinant of
cropping intensity. Educated farmers can put
agriculture on scientific lines and remain aware about
the possible benefits of multiple cropping. The positive
coefficient of the area not available for cultivation
indicated that further increase in this area may
significantly improve cropping intensity. The
increasing demand of land for urbanization and
infrastructural development due to increasing
population may increase pressure on area left for
cultivation and improve cropping intensity per se. The
adjusted regression coefficient has turned out to be
statistically significant, indicating the function to be a
best fit (Table 7).
The estimated adjusted R2 of current fallow
equation was found to be 0.62, which indicated that
the variables specified in the model could explain
more that 60 per cent of the variations in the
endogenous variables (Table 7). The regression
coefficient of agricultural density (0.13) signified
that the increase in rural population in relation with
cultivated area had significantly contributed to the
increase of area under current fallow. The current
fallows are left as such for few years and are
ultimately used for construction and other non-
agricultural uses. In view of this, there is a dire need
to implement and revitalize land laws being included
in the 9th schedule of Indian Constitution.
The area under rice was found to be significant
and positive determinant of area under current
fallows. The crop season of rice usually coincides
with the crops to be taken up during the rabi season
and compel the farmers to leave their land as fallow.
Although, SKUAST-K has developed a few short-
Table 7. Estimates of exponential function of cropping intensity and current fallows
Cropping intensity Current fallows
Explanatory variable Coefficients Explanatory variable Coefficients
Net irrigated area 0.39* Agricultural density 0.13**
(0.03) (0.08)
Average holding size 0.15 Yield 0.003
(0.09) (0.20)
Area not available for cultivation 0.79* Area under rice 1.2**
(0.34) (0.59)
Literacy rate 0.18* Rainfall -0.09
(0.08) (0.12)
Adjusted R20.9041 Adjusted R20.6259
Notes:* and **denote significance at 1 per cent and 5 per cent levels, respectively.
Figures within the parentheses indicate standard errors

Wani et al. : Land-use Dynamics in Jammu and Kashmir 153
duration genotypes of rice, but these varieties are
still confined to a few pockets of the state. The
research efforts coupled with proper extension
services should be emphasized in this area.
Moreover, the existing farming system should be
diversified towards short-duration vegetable crops.
The multiple cropping of vegetable crops may help
generate higher revenue and uplift the rural
community.
Conclusions and Policy Implications
The study has revealed a major shift of land from
the desirable to undesirable land-use classes. There
has been an increase in the net area sown in Jammu
and Kashmir on account of various land reclamation
measures adopted till early-1980s, but later this land-
use class has shown an unfavourable decline towards
2004-05. Cropping intensity has been lower in the
Kashmir than Jammu province due to unfavorable
climatic conditions prevalent in the valley. No
significant association has been found between
irrigated area and cropping intensity, indicating lack
of location-specific technological advancements and
their respective channelization. It is required more
so due to altitudinal variations that demand short-
duration varieties for increasing cropping intensity.
The state largely comprises small and marginal
farmers (about 94 %), and the per capita availability
of cultivated land in the state is only 0.072 ha, which
is a major constraint in agricultural development in
the state. Therefore, a high priority needs to be
accorded for exploring the potentialities of crop
diversification in different agro-climatic zones of the
state with a view to maximizing the returns per unit
of land to the farmer. The unproductive utilized land
in the state, though has decreased over the years, is
still over 500 thousand hectares, which need to be
brought under cultivation through effective
measures.
The study has suggested that the following
policy options could be considered for the
management of land resources of the state:
The declining trend in the reported area of the
state needs to be checked by land surveys through
remote sensing under GIS. Since irrigation is an
important determinant of agricultural growth, low
gestation irrigation projects should be funded to
expand irrigation capacities. Moreover, the existing
irrigation structures should be made functional to
improve efficiency of the existing capital stock.
Desirable land-use pattern could be achieved through
sectoral approach/plan linkages and there is a need
to apply modern science and technology to enhance
productivity on a sustainable basis. Further
fragmentation of holdings should be strictly
prohibited. There should be a suitable institutional
mechanism for scientific management, conservation
and development of land resources. There is an
immense requirement of preserving agricultural land.
The land reform measures should be strictly
implemented and the construction of residential
buildings and other establishments on agricultural
land should be banned. Reform policies should be
supported by strict laws and regulations.
Diversification of agriculture should be encouraged
in the state because it not only enhances income and
protects from risks, it also enhances soil properties
and prevents degradation of land.
Acknowledgement
The authors are highly grateful to the anonymous
referee for his valuable suggestions
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