Karnataka: 60,000 ha of farmland being converted for nonagricultural purposes every year

I'm skipping to the last paragraphs in the following report. 

   

Karnataka has lost 6 lakh ha of farm land in a decade: official

by AJ VINAYAK

September 13, 2016

The Hindu Business Line

[...]
Stating that the Karnataka Agriculture Price Commission has prepared a report on “shift in cropping patterns in the State in a decade’, Kammardi said this report will be submitted to the State government soon.

The total area under both agricultural and horticultural crops has come down from 129.36 hectares in 2005-06 to 123.39 hectares in 2014-15.

Around 60,000 hectares of farm land are being converted for non-agricultural purposes every year, he said.

Asked if the state has seen the entry of any new crop, he said there was no new crop as such in the last decade.

However, during this period, farmers have started growing more Bt cotton and maize, said Kammardi.

Notes
1 lakh = 100,000
1 hectare (ha) = approx. 2.5 acres
1 crore = 10 million; 100 lakhs, especially of rupees, units of measurement, or people
Rs = rupee; basic Indian monetary unit 

Karnataka, a state in southwestern India, is home to megacity Bangalore , also called Bengaluru.

See also my September 12 post Water allocation dispute in South India misses the point. For more background on the dispute see India’s Silicon Valley shuts down over water politics; Quartz India; September 9, 2016

For latest in English print on water allocation dispute see Firstpost's September 14 report, Bengaluru protests have cost Karnataka over Rs 25,000 crore; public transport worst-hit

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