Common Property Resources and Land Degradation in Tamil Nadu, India

The main purpose of the present study is to estimate the changes that are taking place on wastelands in proportion to total geographical area in between the periods 1985 and 2000 for the selected 10 districts in Tamil Nadu, as per the wastelands map prepared by National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA). The share of wasteland to the total geographical area has increased from 16.04 per cent in 1985 to 17.69 percent in 2000 for Tamil Nadu as a whole. The growth rate is the highest for barren rocky/stony waste/sheet rock area at 6.44 per cent. It means that this type of wasteland has increased at the rate of 6 per cent from the base year to the current year. It is followed by degraded land under plantation crop at 3.85 per cent, steep sloping area at 3.18 per cent and land affected by salinity and alkalinity - coastal/inland at 1.44 per cent. There is a marginal increase in growth rates of wastelands in the components of shifting cultivation area 0.13 per cent and underutilised / degraded notified forest lands 0.72 per cent in the state of Tamil Nadu in between the base and current years. However, the overall state average of growth rate is 0.04 per cent. It implies that all categories of wastelands have increased at 0.04 per cent from the base year to the current year. It could be reasoned out as population growth and technological change.