\
42
t
CHAPTER VI
POPILATION PRESSURE ON LAND
I n a s p a r s e l y populated area any r i s e i n popxil a t l o n i s mostly welcomeolt makes a v a i l a b l e more hands t o
(§xploit v a r i o u s n a t u r a l r e s o u r c e s , i n c l u d i n g c u l t i v a t i o n
of landoRising demand i n c r e a s i n g labour supply and v a s t
land r e s o u r c e s c r e a t e s ^ o n d u c i v e admosphere f o r produc- '
t i v e e f f o r t s . B u t i ^ a <cpi}nt^:j i s over populated,any f u r t h e r i n c r e a s e i n p a p u l a t i o n prevent c a p i t a l investment i n
v i t a l a r e a s , o f the economy,therefore,employment situatSidn
i s aggravated p e r p e t u a t i n g t h e low l e v e l of income and
ma'^-nutrition i n t h e countryeOne of the arearwrtiere p r e s s u r e
of i n c r e a s i n g p o p u l a t i o n i s immecfi-ately f e l t i s land r e s o u r c e s , p a r t i c u l a r l y c u l t i v a t e d land and f o r e s t o
Land U t i J i s a t i o n t
MiMram i s an a g r i c u l t t r a l s t a t e s with more t h a n
60 p e r c e n t of i t s p o p u l a t i o n engaged i n a g r i c u l t u r a l ac**
t i v i t l e s o l n a predominantly a g g s r a r i a n economy a g r i c u l t u r e
plays a)highly s t r a t e g i c r o l e from s e v e r a l p o i n t s of viewso
*'and i s the f i r s t thing t h a t comes t o mind when we t a l k of
a g r i c u l t u r e . L a n d u t i l i s a t i o n i s v i t a l becouse^of i t s p e c u l i a r i t i e s as a f a c t o r ofl p r o d u c t i o n . L a n ^ T i s l i m i t e d O i n
supply wdiile t h e p r e s s u r e of i n c r e a s i n g p o p u l a t i o n i s f e l t
on i t *
Mizoram has a g e o g r a p h i c a l ( 3 ^ ^ of 21,08,000 h e c t a r e s of which f o r e s t c o n s t i t u t e s 61,99 p e r c e n t and net
^ H ^ ^ a r e a 3,09 percent r e s p e c t i v e l y , T o t a l o p e r a t i o n a l
holdings were 5200 h a c t a r e s l m 9 8 5 - 8 6 . More than-60 percent
of the area remain u n u t i l i s e d o r under u t i l i s e d f o r c u l t i v a t i o n w h i c h * i n d i c a t e s a w a f S f u l p a t t e r n of a l l o c a t i o n - o f
land resources»A l a r g e p o r t i o n of land i s not c u l t i v a b l e .
43
t
I n M^izoram, a wasteful method of c u l t i v a t i o n , t h a t isJhum,^
s h i f t i n g c u l t i v a t i o n , ' L ~ v r O s t i l l contences to-dominate agr i c u l t u r ^ ^ i a e ^ i ^ s ® « I * ~ i s necessary to i t s f u r t h e r p r o g r e s s
SO as*to save valuable land resources from f u r t h e r d e t e r i o r ation*
- Recently Government has come out-with a proposal
f o r c l o s i n g down jhum by p r o v i d i n g - l a n d f a r - s e t t l e d c u l t i v a tion-and a l l i e d a c t i v i t i e s , a n d - t o f a c i l i t a t e a rather rapid
t r a n s f a r m a t i o n « I t has a l s o come
Table 6.1
Area under v a r i o u s land u t i l i ; s a t i o n c a t e g o r i e s i n Mlzoram.
-
r'
;
^and c l a s s ! . f i c a t i o n I
Area (OOOha.) Percentage
U Forest - - - - - 2o' N o t - a v a i l a b l e f o r c u l t i v a t i o n
3» Other c u l t i v a t e d land e x c i u ^ n g
' • fallow, (a) C u l t i x ^ a b l i ^ ^ S e
1303
211
6U99
IO0O4
"^^
3-^8^
7
0.33
183
25?
86 71
12^32
5o Net-4hSwrydrea
65
69 T o t a l r e p o r t i n g area f o r land
utilisation statistic©
2l02
7. T o t a l geographical area
"^'2108
3.09
-^
4^
(b) Others
Fallow land
(a) Current
>). Old fallow
Sources
s
Agro H o r t i c u l t u r e survey.
100.00
44
t
out-with-schemes for-pxoviding comprehensive marketingapportunities» However>it i s appairent that unless appropriate f a c i l i t i e s l i k e rural paths,irrigation,new seeds
and other ir^uts,marketing and c r e d i t are a v a i l a b l e - i n
l i b e r a l dosage, the farmer would h e s i t a t e to take to such
land use and thus jhum system^of^agriculture would c o n t i nue, to prevail.•.^ .
C^*''''*^
Population Pressure
s
. . . , . . ,
In teim-of-population density,an i n d i c a t o r
indicating^spsTce^nd people l i v i n g i n that space,the popul a t i o n - o f Mizoram i s sparcg^and thfe region's lan4s»mar#ratto
i s favourable-for-holding-additional pressure pf population
However,the density-of population i s not-the-correct measujo
re-indicating pressure of population, on land»The carrying
capacity-of land depends upon t h e - a v a i l a b l e resources and
number of-people-per-square k i l o m e t e r o f c u l t i v a t e d areas.
Natural resourpes'^with degree of industrialisation determine
the extentt-'Co which the land can support the population.
"It i s i n t e r e s t i n g to note that most of the workers ai« of
the opinion that carrying capacity of land should have
p o s i t i v e corelaj^ion with area under c u l t i v a t i o n and foodgrain prodhiction,none of them halve shown (^ptimum carrying
capacity l e v e l of the land at a^given point of time "o
In studying popula^on pressure on l a n d , e f f o r t s
have been made to co-relat^^Kthe carrying capagity of c u l t i v a t e d land to productivity and pressure of population
on cultivated land.Two fCSifEsQSsrj^jt parameters have been
taken to determine the pressure of population*
( l ) Cultivated land under foodgrain crops*(2) Productivity
of foodgrain*The carrying capacity of land act&al popula-y'
t l o n oki land i s shown on the table 6o2.
f
t
45
t
Table 6,2
Carrying caoasitv and pressure of populatioiu
Carrying capasity
State
1972-73 1881-82 1985-86
Actual pressure (no*
of person / hac )
1972-73 I 9 8 l - 8 t 1985-86
5.0
6.0
6.2
6«0
A. P.
Assam
Manipur
Meghalaya
•^Sj^i^sUCStflStSi
Mizoram
Nagalan^
NER
Sources
5o5
3.3
5.7
t
Basic s t a t i s t i c of ^ER -^EC^
From the above table 6.2»per hectare carrying
capacity of land i n Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur can hold
the pressure of population.In other s t a t e s the pressure of
population i s greater than the carrying capacity of land.
In Mizoram»the pressure of population on area
under foodgrain i s much higher than carrying capa'City of
c u l t i v a t e d land.The carrying capacity also decreased from
6.0 i n 1981-82 t o 5.3 i n 1985-86 while i n other s-^ates i t
i s increased due to increase i n agricultural output.The
carrying capa:|city did not keep pace with the increase i b
the pressure of population.
I t has been said repeatedly that the p o p u l a t i on i s low as con^ared to other states»However.the^|de-nsity.=»«=,
of population per square kilometer of cultivated land i n
Mizaxam-As=^siJ^^rj£,^TCl|uI^
advantage with Kerela
i s that i t s e n t i r e western border i s link with resources
from the Arabian sea;several horticulture crops are cultivated
i n commercial s c a l e .
t
46
t
Table 6«3
Population density
1961
Mlzoram
13
India ~ - 134 „
Sources
t
1971
1981
16
23
167. 216
1991
33
267
Density sq/lNiQ c u l t i v a t
area*
1981
1991
1961 1971
a
- 336
337
365
796
406
830
424
Basic s t a t i s t i c s of NER -NEC*
To conclude^lt may be pointed out that population
density on geographical area may not r e f l e c t the correct
picture*There are several factors such as productivity of
land>pressure on population,land r e s o u r c e s , i t s C 3 i n d u s t r i a l
c a p a b i l i t i e s etc.me^iJs^t'er be taken i n t o consideration Cl^^h®!'
an area i s spareJ^jUP© heavy populate^^TPassure of population
on available resources ''needs°"To~6e° visualisedAMan^cultivated
land r a t i o and productivity are parameters determining the
pressure of population/particularly i n the h i l l y regions
l i k e Mizoram*There are several f a c t o r s for shortage of land
available for c u l t i v a t i o n i n Mizoram«A large proportion about
90 percent of t o t a l land area i s h i l l y and under forest•Thus
there i s a linoited scope for opening new land for cultivation*
In Mizoram,the io^act o$ population pressure can
be met through development f
'"^of horticulture crops and
^&J cultur©/whlch I s i n addition to the production of food>grain*