As told to Parliament (August 7, 2026): Around 6.38 lakh ha affected by desertification and land degradation across India
The government informed the Rajya Sabha on August 7, 2026 that around 6.38 lakh hectares of land across India are affected by man-made desertification and land degradation, as of 2018-19
The figure is drawn from the Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India, prepared by ISRO's Space Applications Centre
The government acknowledged that no separate assessment has been undertaken on how much agricultural land is affected by degradation or its specific impact on crop productivity
The reply also referenced the Crop Diversification Programme under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, which promotes a shift away from water-intensive paddy cultivation in Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh
Under this programme (2020-21 to 2025-26), crop diversification demonstrations covered 9,460 hectares in Punjab, 53,723 hectares in Haryana, and 61,349 hectares in western Uttar Pradesh
Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India
The Atlas is prepared periodically by ISRO's Space Applications Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad, in collaboration with the Department of Land Resources, using multi-temporal satellite remote sensing data to map the extent and change in degraded and desertified land across India. The first edition was released in 2007, with subsequent updates in 2016 and 2021, allowing comparison of degradation trends over time.
Key Details
- The 2021 Atlas assessed land degradation status for 2018-19 against a baseline of 2003-05
- Nationally, roughly 30% of India's total geographical area is estimated to be under some form of degradation or desertification, with several states exceeding 50% of their area affected
- Degradation categories mapped include water erosion, wind erosion, salinity/alkalinity, waterlogging, and vegetation degradation
- The Atlas is the primary technical basis the government cites for parliamentary replies on land degradation, since no separate agriculture-productivity-linked survey exists
The 6.38 lakh hectare figure cited in Parliament is not a fresh survey finding but a pull from the existing 2021 Atlas dataset (2018-19 status), underscoring that India currently relies on periodic satellite mapping rather than continuous monitoring of degradation's agricultural impact.
UNCCD and India's Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) Target
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), adopted in 1994, is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management. It is one of the three Rio Conventions, alongside the UNFCCC (climate) and CBD (biodiversity). India signed the UNCCD in October 1994 and ratified it in December 1996.
Key Details
- India hosted UNCCD COP-14 in Greater Noida in September 2019, under the theme "Restore Land, Sustain Future"
- At COP-14, India raised its land restoration target from 21 million hectares to 26 million hectares to be restored by 2030, as part of its Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) commitment
- Restoring this target area is projected to help create an additional carbon sink of roughly 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent, contributing to India's NDC commitments
- Official reporting cites over 18.9 million hectares of degraded land restored so far towards the 26-million-hectare goal [Unverified — figure varies across recent reports]
The desertification figures shared in Parliament sit within this larger LDN framework — Parliament replies on scattered degradation data are the kind of granular detail that feeds into India's UNCCD reporting obligations and progress tracking on the 26-million-hectare restoration target.
Crop Diversification and Land/Water Stress
Water-intensive paddy cultivation in the Green Revolution belt (Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh) is a recognised driver of groundwater depletion and soil degradation, prompting the Crop Diversification Programme under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), administered by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
Key Details
- RKVY is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme aimed at incentivising states to draw up agriculture plans holistically, integrating livestock, poultry, and fisheries
- The Crop Diversification Programme specifically supports the shift from paddy to less water-intensive crops such as pulses, oilseeds, and maize in the northwestern plains
- The scheme's core objective is groundwater conservation and reducing the land degradation/salinity pressures associated with continuous paddy-wheat cropping cycles
The government's parliamentary reply linked the land-degradation question directly to crop diversification efforts, framing water-use reform in agriculture as a mitigation strategy for further land degradation, even though a direct causal assessment of degradation-to-productivity has not been undertaken.
- Man-made desertification/land degradation affected area (2018-19): 6.38 lakh hectares (as reported to Rajya Sabha, August 7, 2026)
- Source dataset: Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas of India, ISRO Space Applications Centre (latest edition 2021)
- India's UNCCD ratification: signed October 1994, ratified December 1996
- India's LDN restoration target: 26 million hectares by 2030 (raised from 21 million hectares at UNCCD COP-14, 2019, held in Greater Noida)
- Crop diversification demonstration coverage (2020-21 to 2025-26): Punjab 9,460 ha; Haryana 53,723 ha; western Uttar Pradesh 61,349 ha
- Nationally, an estimated ~30% of India's geographical area is affected by some form of land degradation or desertification (Atlas-based estimate)