Dynamic cropping pattern within the last two decades: A case study of Gautam Buddh Nagar District, National Capital Region, India

Over the years, there is a change in agrarian structure, though 80% of farmers are operating small and marginal land holdings and having a weak access to critical production resources. In respect of this, the study was designed to find out the dynamic changes from last four decades in cropping pattern in Gautam Budh Nagar District of Uttar Pradesh falls under the perview of Delhi- National Capital Region. Data collection based on the standard methods in the selected villages of the district. A total of 35020 hectare agriculture lands belonged to fifteen villages, located 10 kilometres from the district head quarter, during January 2012 to April 2012. Six types of crops were grown by these villages. Gulistanpur was the largest and Rampur was the smallest village in the study area. Khodna Kala village had the maximum cultivable land while Gurjarpur village had the least cultivable land. Three villages (i.e. Gulistanpur, Rampur and Tughalpur) were recorded complete absence of cultivation because of human habitation and industrial influence. Most of the selected villages recorded similar cropping pattern from last 20 years. Due to rapid land acquisition by the Government, Farmers are distress to sell their land. If this trend of land acquisition continues in this area, no any land will be left in the future for cultivation.