Till 1949-50, the land area in India was classified into five categories known as the five-fold land utilisation classification. These categories were:(i) forests, (ii) area not available for cultivation, (iii) other uncultivated land, excluding the current fallows, (iv) fallow lands, and (v) the net area sown. This five-fold classification was, however, a very broad outline of land-use in the country & was not found adequate enough to meet the needs of agricultural planning in the country. The states were also finding it difficult to present comparable data according to this classification owing to the lack of uniformity in the definitions & scope of classification covered by these five broad categories. To remove the noncomparability & to break up the broad categories into smaller constituents for better comprehension, the Technical Committee on Co-ordination of Agricultural Statistics, set up in 1948 by the Ministry of Food & Agriculture, recommended a nine-fold land-use classification replacing the old five-fold classification, & also recommended standard concepts & definitions for all the states to follow. The statement below gives the nine-fold classification & its relationship with the old five-fold classification.

The total of these classes under both classifications adds up to the reporting area. The revised classification has been accepted in principle by all the states & has been adopted since 1950-51, except by West Bengal, in respect of which the data are still presented on the basis of the old classification.

The above land-use classification is primarily based on whether a particular area is cultivated, grazed or forested. Its main purpose is to show the distribution in detail of the existing land according to its actual use & not how a particular piece of land can be potentially utilised. Thus, the area under culturable waste land does not represent the area which is really culturable, as it may not be possible to bring under cultivation large part of the area, except at huge cost. Thus the potential land-use classification is beset with several difficulties, as this classification would depend upon the suitability of different areas for different uses, taking into account their natural endowments, the availability of capital & other resources for the development of land for the desired use & likely economic returns. If the potential use of the land has to be taken into account, a large amount of data relating to the inherent characteristics of each soil type & the economics of putting it to a particular use would have to be specially collected through soil surveys, land-use surveys & waste land utilisation surveys.

On the basis of the above nine-fold classification, it is possible to build up the old five-fold classification as well as to arrive at the area according to concepts like 'arable land' or 'potential land' available for crop husbandry. The 'arable land' would comprise the 'net area sown' plus the 'current fallows' & 'other fallow land'.Similarly, the 'potential land' available for cultivation would include, besides the 'arable land', the land under 'culturable waste','permanent pastures & grazing land',& 'miscellaneous tree crops & groves, not included in the net area sown'.However, such potential land cannot be ascertained without surveys of the soil types & land-use & the economics of bringing them under cultivation. The utility of the above concepts of 'arable' & 'potential' land can be enhanced if some indicators of arable & potential land are computed:

1. Percentage Potential
   • land exploited = Net area sown/Potential land*100
2. Percentage arable
   • land exploited = Net area sown/arable land*100

With the adoption of the nine-fold classification since1950-51 an element of noncomparability has been introduced in the data before and after that year . For instance,in the old land-utilisation classification, the term 'current fallows' included the land lying fallow even upto a period of ten years in the former Bombay state and for two years in the former Punjab state , where as in the revised nine-fold classification, the current fallows have been limited to the lands lying fallow for one year only, and the term 'other fallow land' includes land lying fallow for more than one year , but less than five years . Thus the area under 'current fallow' in the old five-fold classification need not necessarily add up to two sub classes in the new classification,i.e 'current fallows' and 'other fallow land'. Some of the land lying fallow beyond five years may have been included in the nine-fold classification as 'culturable waste'.

To standardize the concepts and definitions, the Technical Committee on Co-ordination of Agricultural Statistics laid down standard definitions of the various categories of land use. These are given in Annexure 1.

Based on the nine-fold classification, the all-India data on land utilisation for 1970-71 are given below :

Land utilisation in India- 1970-71

S.No.	Classification	Area('000 ha)	Percentage of the reporting area
	1	2	3
1.	Total geographical area	328,048	-
2.	Reporting Area:	305,985	100.0
	(i)Forests	65,928	21.6
	(ii)Not available for cultivation	46,215	15.1
	(a)Non-agricultural uses	16,049	5.2
	(b)Barren & unculturable	30,166	9.9
	(iii)Other uncultivated land(excluding fallow land)	32,500	10.6
	(a)Permanent pastures & other grazing land	12,996	4.2
	(b)Miscellaneous tree crops & groves	4,339	1.4
	(c)Culturable waste land	15,165	5.0
	(iv)Fallow land	20,181	6.6
	(a)Fallow land other than current fallows	9,072	3.0
	(b)Current fallows	11,109	3.6
	(v)Net area sown	141,161	46.1
	(vi)Gross cropped area	167,412	-
	(vii)Area sown more than once	26,251	-
	(viii)Net irrigated area	31,292	-
	(ix)Gross irrigated area	38,552	-

In many countries, there is considerable scope for bringing new areas under cultivation, but in India the scope for extension of cultivation to new lands is very limited. Already, about 49.7 percent of the total reporting area is cultivated. athough culturable land, which is not cultivated at present (culturable waste land & other fallow lands & permanent pastures & grazing lands & miscellaneous tree crops), is estimated at about 42 million hectares of 13.6% of the total, most of this area is occupied by marginal & sub-marginal lands, & the extension of cultivation to this area will be costly, as it requires extensive works for soil & water conservation, irrigation & reclamation.