Land Use Pattern in Madhya Pradesh State :

Madhya Pradesh landlocked in the central part of the country, Madhya Pradesh is bordered by the states of Rajasthan to the northwest, Uttar Pradesh to the north, Chhattisgarh to the east, Maharashtra to the south, and Gujarat to the west. Madhya Pradesh had the honor of being the largest state of the country until Chhattisgarh was carved out of it on 1st November 2000. The state has a mixed topography that consists of both hills and plains. Land use statistics in general indicate the way in which the land area is put under various uses. Land as a scarce resource, is to be managed effectively to benefit the human race that depends on land for its livelihood. Therefore, the details on the land use pattern in Madhya Pradesh are :

i) Geographical Area :

It could be seen from table 2.8, that the total geographical area in the State is 30.7959 million hectares. Among the districts, Chhindwara has the maximum geographical area of 11.85 lakh hectares and Bhopal has the minimum geographical area of 2.78 lakh hectares.

 ii) Forest :

Further indicates that the area under forest is around 85.87 lakh hectares accounting for 28 percent of the geographical area. The district of Mandla has the maximum area under reserve forest 5.93 lakh hectares and Ujjain has the minimum area under reserve forest with 3149 hectares only. Over years, the area under forest had increased very marginally by about 3000 hectares. However, it is pointed out that for a natural / environmental balance to receive good rains there must be 33 percent of the geographical area under forest cover. This indicates that a forestation must be taken up. Since, the scope for bringing more area under natural forest cover is almost an impossible proposition, the development efforts must be dovetailed for intensification of green cover in forest area as well as on hills and hillocks and planting tree crops in shrub-jungles, village wastelands and farms in almost all the districts in the State.

iii) Land not available for cultivation :

The barren and uncultivable land & land put to non-agricultural uses is around 34.60 lakh hectares in 2011 - 12 as compared to that of 32.00 lakh hectares in 1999 - 2000. It could be seen that the area under this criteria is being increase over the period of 12-years could be witnessed. This trend is not a good sign, even after having the several land development programme etc.

iv) Cultivable Waste Land : The area under cultivable wastelands was 10.55 lakhs hectares in 2011- 12, while it was 10.24 lakh hectares in year of 1999-00. Thus, increase of about 0.42 lakh hectares could be observed during the period under question. Among the districts, the maximum area under culturable waste is found in Guna district, with 64879 hectares followed by Shivpuri (59360 ha), Panna (40884 ha) Sidhi (30113 ha) districts in that order.

v) Net Area Sown :

The net sown area was 153.017 lakh hectares in year 2011-12. This trend shows marginally increase in Net Area .This might be the cause that some increase in lands put to agricultural uses, due to little better infrastructure in agriculture.

vi) Area Sown more than once :

Area sown more than once had shown a little upward trend over the period considered.This is a good sign for the improvement in agriculture practices. Infrastructure i.e. irrigation systems and extension reform are contribute for this improvement, but the speed of improvement is little slow which required boosting by making realistic plan & policy as well as it’s strategically implementation in the state. The cropping intensity for the State as a whole, is showing little improvement of 149.3 % (2011-12) but it is not sufficient as the ratio increased in population of state. The district of Khargone has the maximum cropping intensity of 225.3%, Harda (190.7 percent), Indore district 182.7 percent followed by Hoshangabad (177.0 percent) districts and the district of Bhind has minimum cropping intensity as 111.4 percent.with Rewa as(102.6%).

                Agriculture is the basis of Madhya Pradesh's economy. Little less than half of the land area is cultivable; however its distribution is quite uneven because of variations in topography, rainfall, and soils. The main cultivated areas are found in the Malwa Plateau, the Rewa Plateau, and the Chhattisgarh Plain. The Narmada valley, covered with river-borne alluvium, is another fertile area. The most important crops are rice, wheat, sorghum (jowar), corn (maize), pulses (legumes such as peas, beans, or lentils), and peanuts (groundnuts). Rice is grown mainly in the east, where there is more rainfall, while in western Madhya Pradesh wheat and sorghum are more important.