Karnataka Agricultural Policy - Institute for Social and Economic ...

Karnataka Agicultural Policy 2006
5.2 Land reforms in Karnataka are heralded as better-implemented reforms compared to many other states
in the country. Not only analysts from Karnataka but also from by other states endorse this. The
reforms in Karnataka were pragmatic in their
content but the process of implementation left a
large grey area that remained unattended. Major
Marginalisation of the Size of Holding
Number of Holding (in lakhs)
achievements in this process included the
acquisition of surplus land, abolition of
intermediaries and abolition of tenancy (at least
the recorded tenancy) and ensuring land to the
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
tillers. The main failures listed by a few analysts
19 9 0 - 9 1 19 9 5- 9 6 2000-01
in the context of reforms are the inadequate
distribution of surplus land, quality of surplus land, economic viability of the distributed land and
unabated concealed tenancy with usurious practices.
5.3 There are significant changes in the land use structure. Cultivable land in the state is declining and at
the same time, land used for non-agricultural purposes is increasing. Trends in the cultivable wasteland
and other fallow are also matter of concern. Large steppe of cultivable wasteland remains
economically redundant. Cropping intensity and irrigation efficiency are among the lowest. The
acreage under large and medium farms is going down at a faster rate and though this has not shown
any telling effect on production, it is likely to be problematic in future in the context of the fast
changes taking place in the agricultural sector. The average size of holding is 1.95 ha and the number
of holdings having land less than 1.0 ha accounted for 42 per cent of the total holdings in the state,
which in itself is a cause for concern. The land policy document prepared by Land Use Board a few
years ago provides far-reaching imperatives. These are:
The responsibility of development of wastelands will be handed over to the farmers’ groups,
constituted at Panchayat level under the technical support of the State Departments of Agriculture in
a public-private partnership programme. If the farmers do not want to contribute monetarily in the
programme, the department may undertake it and the cost should be treated as a loan at nominal
interest rate. It is proposed that during the next ten years 10 lakh hectares of waste land will be
brought under economic use, specifically in Bijapur, Bagalkot, Raichur, Koppal, Hassan, Bellary and
Gulbarga districts.
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