Assam sees decline in gross agricultural land, but irrigated areas expand: Minister

Assam's gross agricultural land has seen a marginal decline over the past nine years, while irrigated land has increased significantly, Irrigation Minister Ashok Singhal informed the Assembly on Friday.

Responding to a query from Independent MLA Akhil Gogoi, Singhal stated that the state's gross agricultural land stood at 35.09 lakh hectares in 2015-16 but has slightly decreased to 34.94 lakh hectares in 2024-25.

However, he noted a slight rise in net agricultural land, which increased from 28.01 lakh hectares to 28.62 lakh hectares during the same period.

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"The net irrigated land and gross irrigated land in 2015-16 were 3.25 lakh hectares and 4.55 lakh hectares, respectively, accounting for 11.60 per cent of the state's total agricultural land," Singhal said.

By 2024-25, these figures had grown significantly, with net irrigated land reaching 6.95 lakh hectares and gross irrigated land expanding to 8.80 lakh hectares, now covering 24.28 per cent of total agricultural land, he added.

The minister clarified that the 2015-16 data was sourced from the Statistical Handbook, 2017, and the irrigation department, while the figures for 2024-25 were derived from the department’s latest records.