Agricultural growth and land use land cover change in peri-urban India.

Varanasi district is comprised of eight administrative blocks. Owing to economic development, it has shown an increase in urban activities. Analysis of remotely sensed data for a period of two decades reveals that the built-up area increased by about 345% while vegetation decreased by 86% during 1993-2013. Contrary to other observations, land use changes, due to urban growth, increased not only the built area but also the agriculture class. Agricultural area increased by 39% in the two decades. Population density increased from 1217 to 1806 person/km and household density grew from 152 to 273 households/km during 1991-2011. Land absorption coefficient (LAC) and land consumption ratio (LCR) were calculated as demographic indices of land use land cover change (LULC). Vegetation delineation shows that sparse vegetation increased from 40.2 to 90.1 km while dense vegetation decreased from 28.4 to 1.7 km in 1993-2013. There was a distinct shift from agriculture, as a primary economic activity, towards non-agricultural pursuits. In order to frame better strategies for sustainable development and food security, this phenomenon of increasing urbanization around cities needs to be studied. This micro scale study can be helpful in formulating policy for urban areas in developing countries like India which heavily depend on agriculture to sustain their population and economy.