Microsoft Word - Concepts_&_Definitio Ns.DOC.pdf

A. Terms Used in Publication:

- Geographical Area: Data sourced from the Office of the Surveyor General of India.
- Reporting Area for Land Utilization Statistics: The specific area for which land use classification data is available. This may not perfectly align with state boundaries, as village papers (for land records) might be incomplete in certain areas like forests or tracts without recorded ownership. Agricultural census data from 1995-96 and 2000-01 is used to fill gaps.
- Forest Area: Includes all legally classified forest lands, both state-owned and private, regardless of tree density. Also encompasses land used for agriculture within forests.
- Area under Non-Agricultural Uses: Land occupied by infrastructure (roads, railways), water bodies (rivers, canals), and other non-agricultural purposes.
- Barren and Un-Culturable Land: Inaccessible or uncultivatable terrain like mountains, deserts, and areas with prohibitive cultivation costs, even if they contain some vegetation.
- Permanent Pasture and Other Grazing Land: All grazing lands, including village common areas.
- Land under Miscellaneous Tree Crops, etc.: Cultivable land not included in 'Net Area Sown', used for non-orchard crops like casuarina trees, thatching grasses, bamboo, and fuelwood.
- Culturable Waste Land: Land suitable for cultivation but left fallow for at least five consecutive years or more due to various reasons. This includes land covered in shrubs or jungles.
- Fallow Lands other than Current Fallows: Land previously cultivated but temporarily out of use for 1-5 years.
- Current Fallows: Cropped area intentionally left fallow during the current year.
- Net Area Sown: Total area sown with crops and orchards, counting each area once even if sown multiple times.
- Gross Cropped Area: Total area sown once or more in a year, counted as many times as it is cultivated.
- Area Sown more than once: Areas cultivated more than once during the agricultural year.
- Irrigated Area: Assumed to be under cultivation via various sources like canals, tanks, tube wells, etc. Categorized into:
- Net Irrigated Area: Area irrigated once per year for a specific crop.
- Total Net Un-irrigated Area: Net sown area minus net irrigated area.
- Gross Irrigated Area: Total area under crops, irrigated once or more in a year.
- Total/Gross Un-Irrigated Area: Gross sown area minus gross irrigated area.
- Cropping Intensity: Ratio of Net Area Sown to Total Cropped Area.

B. Definition of Commonly Used Terms:

- Agricultural Land/Total Culturable Land/Total Cultivable Area: Combines net area sown, current fallows, fallow lands other than current fallows, culturable waste land, and land under miscellaneous tree crops.
- Total Un-Cultivable Area/Land: Total reported area minus total cultivable area.
- Total Cultivated Area/Land: Net area sown plus current fallows.
- Total Un-Cultivated Area/Land: Total reported area minus total cultivated area.

C. Estimation Procedure for Missing Information:

When data on area under crops is missing from land record authorities, estimates from state agricultural statistics authorities are used. In other cases, the latest available data is repeated for the current year as a standard practice.