6. Landuse Sustainability of Agricultural Zones

Karnataka state is the second most drought-prone region in India next only to Rajasthan. Even then, the traditional cropping land use pattern in the state has kept the people and the agriculture alive. But the recent onslaught of the high-yield variety seeds and western crops are posing a serious threat to the sustainability of the region. Located on the southeastern part of the peninsular India, Karnataka state enjoys the both wet and dry conditions from west to east. The climatic condition of the state has manifested different agriculture regions, which has paved the way to grow more than 200 varieties of crops. The mixed- and multi-cropping land use pattern is the tactful crop selection game played by the farmers to overcome the failure of monsoons. The entire cropping system of Karnataka depends on rain. Physiologically Karnataka has been classified into four divisions, such as, Coastal, Hilly, Northern, and Southern Plains. The coastal and hilly region experiences high rainfall and temperature, which are apt for agriculture, followed by the southern region. The northern plains are situated amidst of the land-locked condition, which experiences high temperature with scanty rainfall along with an overall dry condition. Despite these conditions, the northern region is the most sustainable compared to other regions. The gist of this article is to explain the sustainable factor existing in the land use pattern of northern dry region in comparison to the other three physiographic divisions.