Nagpur-based National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning will conduct the survey, which is a pending proposal of the BJP-led government.
“Government has approved the proposal for conducting the survey of fallow lands in the State in accordance with the Budget assurance,” an official said.
The official said field survey staff will be deployed in all talukas expect Quepem and Sattari to verify fallow land and prepare a land resources inventory for the land use plan. The work will start immediately and continue up to March 31.
“Public, farmers, local institutions, local bodies and government departments are requested to provide suitable information to the survey team so that the work gets completed within the time limit,” the Agriculture Department said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The survey will be comprehensive, as it will reveal how much land has become fallow, the status of present land use and crops and the potential cropping pattern for the future and other aspects,” an official said.
The official said remote sensing techniques can be usefully tapped to draw up land use classification and even parameters of water quality can be determined by using satellite imagery.
The government at the last Budget had tabled the Goa Agricultural Tenancy (amendment) Act 2014, as per which fallow agricultural land would be developed through contract farming. The Act is currently in force.
