Agriculture Minister Brijmohan Agrawal on Thursday confessed in the State Assembly that 51,000 hectares of agriculture land have decreased in the State during the past nine years.
However, he said, 1.4 lakh-hectare land has been increased due to distribution of patta for forest land and declaration of forest villages as revenue villages. As such, additional cultivation has been started in about 1 lakh hectare area. Replying to the question raised by Congress member Bhupesh Baghel, Agrawal said that as on January 2004, the state had 56,03,101 hectare cultivable land, which has decreased to 55,51,275 hectare as on June 2013.
Agrawal said that during these years 1 lakh hectare has increased as the government has given away forestland patta and 40,000 hectare has increased due to the declaration of forest villages as revenue villages. So, additional cultivation has been started in 1 lakh hectare area.
When the Congress member Dhanendra Sahu asked about the area of uncultivable land transformed to cultivable land, the minister reiterated his answer. leader of the opposition TS Singhdeo said that the forestland patta has been given to the farmer who has been cultivating the land, hence question does not arise of increasing additional cultivation.