Land represents an important resource for the economic life of a majority of people in the world. The way people handle and use land resources impacts their social and economic well-being as well as the sustained quality of land resources. Land use planning is also integral to water resources development and management for agriculture, industry, drinking water, and power generation. This valuable work brings to the forefront the state of practice of land use planning in India, highlighting governmental programs and research with wide-ranging chapters on important topics. Covering various agro-ecosystem, including irrigated, rainfed, coastal, semi-arid, arid (drylands), and hill and mountain (temperate) regions, this volume discusses a variety of issues related to sustainable agriculture and rural development. Chapters address the following questions: *What are the sources, scales, and quality of land resources and land use data for efficient planning * Which are the agroecological systems hot spots that are have been degraded? How can these areas be rejuvenated in terms of quality? * What should be the unit of planning for a holistic approach for the conservation and efficient use of natural resources at different administrative levels and domains? * What are the roles of state land use boards and district planning committees? * How can various programs be integrated and implemented by central and state agencies? * What are the technologies, new policies, and support systems required to address sustainable land use? * What are the legal issues? * What should be the role of communities in planning for poverty alleviation and integrated planning for sustainable agriculture based livelihoods? * What is the role GIS in sustainable agriculture and rural development? With high population growth, endemic poverty, and weak existing institutional capacity for land management, India (and other regions of the world) require strong scientific and strategically important land use policies and methods for sustainable development. This book helps to show the way. This volume is being published in association with the Centre for Agrarian Studies and Disaster Mitigation of the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRD and PR).

Land represents an important resource for the economic life of a majority of people in the world. The way people handle and use land resources impacts their social and economic well-being as well as the sustained quality of land resources. Land use planning is also integral to water resources development and management for agriculture, industry, drinking water, and power generation. This valuable work brings to the forefront the state of practice of land use planning in India, highlighting governmental programs and research with wide-ranging chapters on important topics. Covering various agro-ecosystem, including irrigated, rainfed, coastal, semi-arid, arid (drylands), and hill and mountain (temperate) regions, this volume discusses a variety of issues related to sustainable agriculture and rural development. Chapters address the following questions: *What are the sources, scales, and quality of land resources and land use data for efficient planning * Which are the agroecological systems hot spots that are have been degraded? How can these areas be rejuvenated in terms of quality? * What should be the unit of planning for a holistic approach for the conservation and efficient use of natural resources at different administrative levels and domains? * What are the roles of state land use boards and district planning committees? * How can various programs be integrated and implemented by central and state agencies? * What are the technologies, new policies, and support systems required to address sustainable land use? * What are the legal issues? * What should be the role of communities in planning for poverty alleviation and integrated planning for sustainable agriculture based livelihoods? * What is the role GIS in sustainable agriculture and rural development? With high population growth, endemic poverty, and weak existing institutional capacity for land management, India (and other regions of the world) require strong scientific and strategically important land use policies and methods for sustainable development. This book helps to show the way. This volume is being published in association with the Centre for Agrarian Studies and Disaster Mitigation of the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRD and PR).

Indian agriculture is presently at the crossroads in more than one sense. The share of agriculture in the GDP has been shrinking and has reached about 15 per cent, while it continues to provide livelihood support to more than two-thirds of the rural population. The slowdown in performance of the sector in the recent years is a cause for concern in the overall agenda for food and income security. More than 80 per cent of the farmers, mostly with marginal and small holdings, depend on agriculture as the primary activity and are highly vulnerable to multiple risks. The escalating cost of production and unremunerative and often volatile output prices have raised questions of viability of farming as a livelihood activity. Several factors have contributed to the imbalance, of which the low agricultural productivity and its stagnation are notable. Among the supply side factors, declining factor productivity, degradation of soil and water resources due to intensive agriculture, inequitable access to input and imperfection in output market are prominent. The problem of lack of appropriate technology especially for vast areas of dryland and rainfed farming, the persistence of inadequate infrastructure and declining public investment have brought to the fore the issue of sustainability of agriculture. These are the areas of main focus of the contributions in the book. Besides helping in understanding the present state of Indian agriculture, the contributions in the book are expected to help evolve appropriate policy approaches.