Changes in Use of Land

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Changes in use of lands The population continues to grow rapidly in the developing countries and great pressure is being placed on arable land, water, energy, and biological resources to provide an adequate supply of food and energy requirements. Even if these resources are never exhausted, on a per capita basis they will decline significantly because they must be divided among more people. Land is one such natural resources of a nation on which the entire superstructure is created. Thus, land use is a synthesis of physical, chemical and biological systems and processes on the one hand and human/societal processes and behavior on the other hand. Land is important not only for producing food stuffs, cereals, fruits and vegetables for consumption but also for generating surpluses to meet the increasing demands created by rising population and developing industrial sector, for laying down the transport network, communication lines, for the construction of dwellings and public institutions, etc. Due to unprecedented population growth, man has made uses and misuses of land resources causing environmental degradation. Again environmental degradation in developing countries like India, especially its manifestations in the form of soil erosion, deforestation etc, is often attributed to rapid population growth. It has however been increasingly realized that since these predominantly agricultural countries are undergoing the process of technological progress and development, many other factors also modify the relationship between population and land. Changing techniques of production, changes in the pattern of land utilization of natural as well as human resources, industrialization, urbanization, changing life styles, rising aspirations, change in consumption pattern are some of the macro level factors which make the relationship between population and land use much
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