What is culturable wasteland?

In India, land use is classified into several categories based on the duration of cultivation. Culturable wasteland is defined as any land that is left fallow or uncultivated for a period exceeding five years [5]. This category represents land that is potentially suitable for agriculture but is currently idle due to various constraints; however, it can be brought back under cultivation through reclamation practices [2]. In contrast, 'Current Fallow' refers to land left uncultivated for one year or less to allow natural fertility recovery [3]. 'Fallow other than Current Fallow' includes land left uncultivated for more than one year but less than five years [4]. Therefore, the specific threshold for a land parcel to be categorized as culturable wasteland is a fallow period of more than five years [2].

Sources

1. [1] INDIA PEOPLE AND ECONOMY, TEXTBOOK IN GEOGRAPHY FOR CLASS XII (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 3: Land Resources and Agriculture > Land Use Categories > p. 22
2. [5] https://sathee.iitk.ac.in/ncert-books/class-12/geography/india-people-and-economy/chapter-03-land-resources-and-agriculture/
3. [2] https://ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/legy203.pdf
4. [3] https://www.mospi.gov.in/sites/default/files/Statistical_year_book_india_chapters/Agriculture-writeup.pdf
5. [4] https://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/server/api/core/bitstreams/77bc9c26-f45e-4823-b5ef-a8da071085e1/content