Contents - Previous

How much land is already used?

The illustrations on this and the facing page provide a vivid picture of the amount of agricultural land available nationally for future expansion.

The original AEZ land inventory provided estimates of the land that is potentially cultivable under rainfed agriculture. With this as a basis, the figures can be adjusted to take account of major improvements that have already been made, such as terracing of steep land and installation of irrigation in desert and other lands. Other factors may need to be considered, such as non-food crops, for example, rubber in Malaysia, which extend the cultivable land; land which is considered cultivable even though yields are very low; and land cultivable with special technologies.

It is evident from the results that some countries have considerable areas of potentially cultivable land still available. Many of the countries with nearly all their potentially cultivable land already in use have installed major improvements, particularly irrigation, but some are also using marginal land on an unsustainable basis with the result that it may become so degraded that it can no longer produce.

The figures suggest that Southwest Asia is in that position. Southeast Asia is reaching a critical stage while South America and Africa have considerable areas of potentially arable land to exploit, although much of it is remote and difficult to manage.

Percent of land in use, 1983

Regional distribution of land

Percent of land in use, 2000, estimated

Figure

Contents - Previous