Kashmir's Farmland Loss Intensifies Worry Over Food Security, Rice Dependence

The rapid and continuous conversion of agricultural land into residential colonies, commercial structures, orchards and other non-farm uses has sharply impacted Kashmir’s food security, pushing the region into growing dependence on rice and other food grains sourced from outside Jammu & Kashmir.

- Observer News Service

Official figures, accessed by KNO reveal that the Valley has lost nearly 34,000 hectares of cultivable farmland between 1996 and 2023, a trend experts say is alarming and unsustainable. The shrinking land bank has drastically reduced local food production at a time when population growth and consumption demands are steadily rising.

As a result, Kashmir now faces an overall food grain deficit of around 0.89 million tonnes, forcing reliance on supplies from Punjab, Haryana, and other states.

The region produces only 0.45 million tonnes of food grains against a need of 1.34 million tonnes, leaving a deficit of 0.89 million tonnes. Official estimates warn the shortfall could hit 36 per cent by next year and cross 50 per cent by 2030.

Farmers across the Valley say they have watched their fertile paddy fields vanish year after year.