Annual Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) Atlas of India

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Atlas, released by the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), aims to systematically examine land utilization patterns to offers invaluable insights into the evolving dynamics of our environment.

Key highlights of the Atlas
- Agriculture: Over the past 17 years, Kharif and Rabi cropland has expanded by 46.06% and 35.23% respectively, as fallow land diminished by 45.19%.
  - Double/ triple/ annual cropping areas have also increased by 82.22%. (Double/ triple crop land are areas where crops are sown and harvested twice/ thrice in one crop year. Annual crop are perennial and grow throughout year such as sugarcane)
  - Since 2005, shifting cultivation increased until 2016-17, after which it witnessed a decline.
- Water resources: Indicated by minimum water body surface showed an increase by 146 % since 2005.
- Built-up land: Shows an increase with an overall growth of 30.77% since 2005.
  - Built-up area refers to an area with buildings, paved surfaces, commercial and industrial sites, and urban green areas.
  - Wastelands (degraded and unproductive lands) contributed significantly to built-up area expansion by 12.3%.

Reasons for changes in LULC: Improved availability of farm inputs such as improved irrigation facilities, urbanization and infrastructure development, etc.

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