Status of grazing resources and waste lands in India

STATUS OF GRAZING RESOURCES AND WASTE LANDS IN INDIA

  • The extent of waste lands in India is approximately 158 million hectares. The extremes of climate, soil conditions, biotic factors and inconsistent rain fall are characteristic of these sites. Overgrazing of such wastelands induces secondary succession and ultimately to desertfication. It then becomes very expensive to put back the waste lands into pasture lands.
  • Categories of land under different types of wastelands in India (1986).

Category

Area in million hectares

Water eroded

73.60

Degraded forest

40.00

Riverine

2.73

Ravines and gullies

3.97

Shifting cultivation

4.36

Sand dunes

7.00

Water logged

6.00

Saline/alkaline waste lands

7.50

Wind eroded

12.90

Total

158.06

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Last modified: Saturday, 30 July 2011, 7:06 AM