Land Use Pattern in Rajasthan :

The land use pattern of a region determines the ecological balance in the region and helps to understand the environmental status as well. It includes the management and modification of natural environment in to build environment such as settlements, cultivated land etc. Approximately half of the area of the Rajasthan state is under cultivation with an average Cropping Intensity of 125%. 12.6% is put to Non agricultural Uses i.e. not available for cultivation. The other Land Use classes include 13.27% of land as Culturable Waste, 7.76% under Forest, 10.75% Fallow Land, 5 % under Pastures and Grazing Land.

Forest :

During 2007, the maximum area under forest was in Ajmer, Alwar and Udaipur districts, whereas the lowest three districts were Nagaur, Jodhpur and Churu. Udaipur, Jaisalmer and Bikaner districts lead in area that is not available for cultivation and Sikar, Dausa and Jhunjhunu are the bottom three districts.

Permanent Pasture :

Under the use of Permanent pasture and other grazing lands Bharatpur, Hanumangarh and Ganganagar have the least area whereas Barmer, Jodhpur and Bhilwara have the largest area under this category. Churu and Rajsamand districts have no land under miscellaneous trees, crops and groves. Districts Nagaur, Jalore and Hanumangarh cover the least whereas Dungarpur, Ganganagar and Jhalawar cover the maximum area under the same category.

Cultivable Wasteland :

Culturable Wasteland is highest in Ajmer, Alwar and Jaisalmer and minimum at Hanumangarh, Jhunjhunu and Bharatpur. Fallow lands other than current fallow cover the highest area in Alwar, Ajmer and Jodhpur whereas they are lowest at Karauli, Dholpur and Bharatpur. The current fallow land covers the highest area in Ajmer, Alwar and Barmer whereas the lowest are at Karauli, Banswara and Rajsamand.

Net Area Sown :

Under the category of Net Area Sown and Net Area Sown more than once Ajmer and Alwar stand on the top two positions with Barmer and Hanumangarh at the third positions respectively. Dhoplur, Dungarpur and Rajsamand are the lowest three in the category of Net Area Sown and Dungarpur, Sirohi and Rajsamand are the last three of Net Area Sown more than once.

 It can be seen that the western districts of Jaisalmer, Bikaner and Barmer have large stretches of sandy soils therefore a very high percentage of cultivable waste and fallow land is present in the region. The net sown area is also less than the other types of land uses here. Higher percentage of seasonal pasture lands exist in Barmer, Jodhpur, Jalore and Nagaur districts. Generally, Forest areas are evidently absent in the entire western Rajasthan.

 Churu, Nagaur, Jodhpur, Pali and Jalore districts lying in the mid western districts of arid and the semi arid zone support only rain-fed crops in this area and because of low rainfall the percentage of fallow land is quite high. The net sown area is the highest in the semi-arid zone and the sub-humid parts of eastern Rajasthan which also accounts for extensive agriculture. Due to the presence of hilly terrain in parts of Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Kota and Baran districts the percentage of cultivable waste and the land put to non agricultural use is highest. The percentage of forest areas in Kherwara (Udaipur), Dungarpur, Banswara, Sirohi, Kota, Jhalawar, Baran, and Sawai Madhopur districts are noticeably high.