Structural changes in land use and cropping pattern of Kolhapur district of Maharashtra

Indian rural economy is basically considered to be crop economy. Agriculture forms the axis of the Indian economy. There is no other sector in India, which is so tied up with the prosperity of the economy. Agriculture is a way of life, a tradition for which centuries have shaped the thought, the outlook, the culture and the economic life to people of India.This paper an attempt is made to analysis the changes in land use and cropping pattern of Kolhapur district. For a period of 34 years (1980-91 and 2013-14) the scenario of land use and cropping pattern in the district were drastic change because of population growth, Industrialization. In 1980-81, out of the total agriculture area 54.60 of agriculture land was under food crops, but in 2013-14 the food crops cultivated area were decrease to 30.13% because remaining agriculture shifted to commercial crops like sugarcane, oilseeds and vegetables etc. Whereas, the area under forest was 146900 hectares (18.69 per cent) in 1980-81, which decreased to 140100 hectares in 2013-14, (4.42 per cent).,the decrease in area under forest may be due to industrialization, population in Kolhapur district The cropping pattern of the district has changed towards commercialization due to increase in irrigation facilities, transport, communication, market facilities etc. The diversified nature of land use pattern and cropping pattern of the Kolhapur district has increased the cropping intensity of the land.