[short_answer] India's net sown area figures do not include culturable waste land. Using this fact, assess whether India is utilising its full agricultural potential and suggest one reason why culturable waste land remains uncultivated.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-26 13:28 · grounding rag
Model Answer
No, India is not fully utilising its agricultural potential. Net sown area covers about 46% of reporting area, but if culturable waste land (left uncultivated for more than 5 years) is included, it rises to about 54%. This unused land represents untapped potential.
Reason: The cost of cultivation of most culturable waste land is very high, making it economically unviable for farmers to bring it under cultivation.
Source: Land Utilisation / Land Use Pattern in India, Chapter 1 – Resources and Development
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Explanation
- The key fact from the passage is that culturable waste land is "left uncultivated for more than 5 agricultural years" and that including it raises NSA to ~54%.
- The passage directly states "the cost of cultivation of such land is very high" — examiners expect this exact reason.
- Don't confuse culturable waste land with barren/waste land; the former can be cultivated, the latter cannot. This distinction may fetch a mark.