Land utilization refers to "The distribution of land for different uses such as forestry, cultivation, Pasteures etc...".
In India, the Land utilization patterns can be classified into seven categories-
1) Net area sown:- It includes land that can be used to cultivate crops. This category is very important in an agricultural country like India. It accounts for about 42.42% of the total reported area of India. However, it is not evenly disturbed all over the country.
The states found more Net area sown are:- Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala.
2) Forest area:- In India, there is only 22.8% of the total reported area is under forests. It is highly found in Andaman and Nicobar islands and in the North-eastern states.
The states found least Forest area are:- Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat.
3) Land not available for cultivation:- Land used for non-agricultural purposes like human settlements, roads, railways, canals, mountains, Sandy waste etc., comes under this category. Nearly 14.1% of the total reported area of the country belongs to this category.
The states found largely in Land not available for cultivation are:- Assam, Manipur, Sikkim.
The states found least in Land not available for cultivation are:- Goa, Kerala, Odisha, Maharashtra.
4) Fallow land:- It refers to the land which is not used for cultivation. It accounts to 8.2% of the reported area.
The states found largely the Fallow land are:- Mizoram, Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya.
5) Cultivable wasteland:- It includes the land which is not taken up for cultivation due to certain soil deficiencies.
The states found largely in Cultivable wasteland are:- Meghalaya, Goa, Nagaland, Rajasthan. It accounts 4.3% of the reported area.
6) Permanent pasteurs and other grazing:- It occurs for only 3.4% of the total reporting area in India.
The states found largely in Permanent pasteurs and other grazing lands are:- Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh.
7) Land under miscellaneous uses:- It includes gardens, orchards and plantations, which account for only 1.1% of the total area in the country.
The states found largely in Land under miscellaneous uses are:- Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Kerala, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh. etc.