Cultivable Land and the Nature of Its Distribution in Cold Desert of Lahaul-Spiti District of Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

Limited availability of cultivable land and its distribution in colddesert regions in general and in Lahaul-Spiti in particular reveal theseverity of natural environment. It also affects socio-cultural,political and economic aspects. Cultivable land is limited and it occursonly in a few suitable locations due to rugged topography. Climate showsextremity with very cold, arid to semi-arid conditions. Thin andundeveloped mountain soil and nearly absent natural vegetation furtherexemplify harsh environment. Role of environmental factors get furtheraccentuated owing to lack of all weather linkages those hinder theproper functioning of many infrastructural facilities. Severity of thesenatural factors varies attitudinally as well as spatially. Lahaul-Spitiis the largest district of Himachal Pradesh covering an area of 13,835km 2 accounting for 24.85% geographical area of the state. It wasinhabited by 33,224 persons in 2001 forming density of about two personsper km(2). Only 272 villages out of total 403 villages were inhabited.Altitude ranges from 2,650 to 5,600 m. An attempt has been made in thispaper to analyse the spatial variations and temporal changes in thedistribution of cultivable land and its per capita availability acrossaltitudinal zones. Data used in the study was acquired from bothsecondary sources as well as through primary survey. Primary surveycovered 300 households selected from 10 villages lying across threealtitudinal zones. Per capita availability of agricultural land wasfound to be 0.12 ha with inter-zonal and inter-personal variationsacross zones during 1991-2001.