Rural development and land use land cover change in a rapidly developing agrarian South Asian landscape
2019
It is a general belief that agricultural area, particularly in developing countries, is decreasing with rapid urbanization. This is an important phenomenon in the form of land use land cover change (LULCC) as these countries depend on agriculture to a great extent for food and economic growth. Using Landsat data our investigation in the rural area of Varanasi district revealed that agricultural area, which constituted about 50% of land cover, increased by 37% in the 1993–2013 period and built area increased by 236%. A Relative Rural Development Index (RRDI) was formulated to find out the comparative development in rural blocks of the district. RRDI was based on built, green and agriculture land use, and the number of agricultural workers, LAC and LCR. Kashi Vidyapeeth (KV) and Chiragaon (CG) rural blocks present in close proximity of the urban core had the highest RRDI score and change in Land Absorption Coefficient (LAC) and Land Consumption Ratio (LCR). Proximity to the urban area influenced rural development in the form of agricultural and built area increase. The study can be helpful for focussing development and policymaking efforts to a rural area according to its RRDI score.
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