Temporal changes in the land use pattern of Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh from 1997 to 2017

Abstract

The land use pattern under any region changes as time passes, there are so many reasons behind it. The most important factor behind this land use change is population growth. As population increased in an area, hence the demand of food crop as well as other crops also increase. In this scenario, to match the food and other demand either we have to increase the production of crop per hectare or per unit or we have to increase the land under crops. If we have to increase the land under crops, then we have to acquire land, which is being used for other purposes, in that case land use of the region would definitely change. Other factors behind the land use change are road construction, urban expansion, forest cover depletion, conversion of fallow land for other useful activities. In this paper the researcher has selected the Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh to study the land use changes in the last 20 years (from 1997 to 2017). Land use change has been recorded in the Shamli district in the last 20 years.