Spatial Analysis of Land Use Change and Crop Land Use Pattern in Uttar Pradesh

Abstract

 Land use is the human use of land. Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. It also has been defined as "the arrangements, activities and inputs people undertake in a certain land cover type to produce, change or maintain it" (FAO, 1997a; FAO/UNEP, 1999). [1]. Land is the most significant as by far the larger proportion of inhabitants depend to carry out economic activities on it. Land use presents an extremely complex pattern, falling into different types. The land use pattern which emerges in any area is resulted in by human settlement and its development represents due to the interaction of physical, historical, and socioeconomic factors. Any increase and decrease in area under cultivation and in net sown area reveals the changes that have taken place in land use pattern. To identify the changes in land use and crop landue pattern, simple percentages have been considered Area under different land use categories and their percentages from geographical area during the period of 1996-2000 to 2001-2005.