Mir Farooq
The rapid shrinking of agricultural land has become one of the gravest threats to India’s food security, rural livelihoods and sustainable development. Agriculture is not just an economic activity. It is the foundation of the nation’s food system, ecological stability and rural economy. Yet, across the country, fertile farmland is steadily being converted into residential colonies, commercial establishments, industrial zones and ever-expanding road networks. Infrastructure development is essential for economic progress, but it should never come at the irreversible cost of the country’s most productive agricultural soils.
According to a national-level survey by IIM Ahmedabad, a significant extent of prime agricultural land was converted to non-agricultural use between 1991 and 2011, with the pace picking up sharply after 2006, particularly around rapidly growing cities and Special Economic Zones (SEZs). Government data also point to continued farmland loss over the following decade, driven largely by urban expansion, industrialisation and infrastructure growth. Studies on cities such as Bengaluru show that urban sprawl has consumed vast tracts of agricultural land, much of it highly productive cropland and plantation area.
(A quick note: the exact hectare figures in the original draft, 1.59 million hectares between 1991 and 2011, 1.66 million hectares between 2011 and 2024, and 200 sq km around Bengaluru, could not be independently verified against a current, authoritative source. Before this goes for publication, it would be worth confirming these numbers against the original IIM Ahmedabad study and the latest Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare land-use statistics.)
Unfortunately, development projects often go ahead without any scientific land-capability assessment or proper land-use planning. Productive agricultural soils, which take centuries to form, are being permanently buried under concrete. This loss is irreversible and poses a serious threat to future food production, water security and environmental sustainability.
The situation is even more alarming in horticulture-based regions such as Jammu and Kashmir, where orchards and cultivated land form the backbone of the regional economy. Official figures indicate a substantial decline in paddy cultivation in Kashmir over the past decade, along with a rise in fallow and uncultivated land and continued expansion of non-agricultural land use. Traditional almond cultivation has also seen a sharp fall over the past fifteen years. Despite provisions in the J&K Land Revenue Act that prohibit the conversion of paddy and vegetable land, and despite repeated directions from the High Court, enforcement remains weak, allowing fertile agricultural and horticultural land to disappear under residential colonies, commercial complexes and unplanned infrastructure.
(Another note: the specific paddy, fallow-land and almond-cultivation figures from the original draft should be checked against current Jammu & Kashmir agriculture department records before publishing, since these numbers change with each revenue year.)
One of the most overlooked contributors to agricultural land loss is the unplanned widening of roads. Better connectivity is necessary, no doubt, but acquiring fertile agricultural land for road widening cannot become the default answer to traffic congestion. Experience from many cities shows that widening roads alone rarely solves congestion. It often just encourages more people to use private vehicles, and the same jams return within a few years. The real and lasting solution lies in building efficient, affordable and well-organised public transport systems that let people reach workplaces, schools, hospitals and markets without hassle. Safe pedestrian pathways, cycling infrastructure and integrated public transport networks can significantly cut down dependence on private vehicles, and in turn ease the pressure to keep expanding roads into valuable farmland.
Agricultural universities, as centres of scientific excellence, have a crucial responsibility to address this emerging crisis. It is time to introduce Landscape Architecture and Agricultural Land Use Planning as a dedicated academic discipline and research programme. Some universities already offer courses in landscape architecture, but these mostly focus on ornamental horticulture and garden design. India urgently needs a specialised, agriculture-rooted programme that focuses on protecting productive land while ensuring balanced rural and urban development.
Such a programme should cover agricultural landscape planning, land-capability classification, soil survey and mapping, GIS and remote sensing, precision agriculture, environmental impact assessment, watershed management, climate-resilient land-use planning, agroforestry, soil and water conservation, rural infrastructure planning, agricultural zoning, farmland-protection policy, urban-rural interface planning, and the legal framework governing agricultural land use. Students should also be trained to scientifically evaluate development proposals, so that roads, industries, housing colonies and other infrastructure are sited on less productive or degraded land wherever possible, rather than on prime agricultural soil.
Agricultural universities should further set up Centres of Excellence for Agricultural Landscape Architecture and Sustainable Land Use Planning. Such centres could prepare district-level land-use plans, carry out scientific land-capability assessments, develop GIS-based agricultural land inventories, monitor land-use change through satellite imagery, maintain digital cadastral databases, and provide technical support to government departments, urban planners, engineers and policymakers. They could also train farmers, local bodies and development agencies in sustainable land-management practices and help shape evidence-based policies for agricultural land conservation.
The benefits of such an initiative would extend well beyond agriculture. Scientific land-use planning would conserve fertile soils, protect groundwater, reduce soil erosion, preserve biodiversity, strengthen climate resilience, improve watershed health, maintain scenic rural landscapes, and create new employment in agricultural consultancy, environmental planning and natural resource management. More importantly, it would ensure that future development is guided by scientific principles rather than short-term economic considerations.
India has produced internationally recognised experts in crop science, horticulture, soil science and agricultural engineering. The next frontier must be the scientific planning, management and protection of agricultural landscapes. Without a long-term vision for land use, the nation risks losing the very resource on which its food security, rural prosperity and ecological sustainability depend.
The time has come for agricultural universities to lead this transformation. Introducing Landscape Architecture and Agricultural Land Use Planning into agricultural education would be a visionary step towards ensuring that development, transport planning and environmental conservation move forward together. Equally important, governments must recognise that organised public transport, safe pedestrian infrastructure and scientific land-use planning, and not endless road widening, offer the most sustainable path to urban mobility while safeguarding India’s precious agricultural land.
Protecting agricultural land today is not merely an environmental obligation. It is a strategic investment in the nation’s food security, rural economy, ecological balance and long-term prosperity.
