The Kashmir valley is losing agricultural land and its wetlands that too at a very fast pace due to swiftly expanding urbanization and faulty land use.
According to official statistics, the valley loses an average of 1375 hectares of agricultural land per year as a result of the rapid development of commercial infrastructure, brickyards, residential districts, and commercial complexes.
According to the Department of Agriculture, the region has lost 22,000 hectares of farmland in the last 16 years. The arable land declined from 165,000 hectares in 1996 to 143,000 hectares in 2012, according to the department’s report,
Agriculture’s contribution to the region’s gross domestic product has fallen by 11% in the last 12 years. According to the report, this activity accounted for 28% of Kashmir’s GDP in the fiscal year 2004-2005 but has now dropped to 17%.
According to the report, farmland conversion to residential and commercial complexes resulted in a significant drop in employment. In Kashmir, the agricultural sector has dropped from 85 percent in 1961 to 28 percent today.
The net area of crops in Jammu Kashmir is barely 7% of its geographical area, according to a 2016 state economic survey.