The total Geographical area of the State is 1.30 crore ha. Perambalur district is reorganized and bifurcated into Perambalur and Ariyalur districts as per the G.O.(Ms) 683, Revenue(RA1(1)) dept, dated:19.11.2007.
Coimbatore and Erode districts have been reorganized into Coimbatore, Erode and Thiruppur districts as per the O.(Ms) 617, Revenue(RA1(1)) dept, dted: 24.10.2008.
1. Forest - 16.2%
2. Barren and unculturable land - 3.8%
3.Land put to non-agricultural uses - 16.7%
4. Culturable waste - 2.6%
5. Permanent pastures and other grazing lands - 0.8%
6. Current fallow - 7.8%
7. Net area sown - 38.7%
Forest
Forest represent all actually forested area on the lands classed or administered as forest under any legal enactment dealing with forest, whether state owned or private. The forest area of the state is 2105906 ha accounting for 16.2% of the total geographical area of the state. Erode district with an extent of 227511 ha under forest is the highest among districts in their contribution to the forest area of the state. This works out to 10.8% of the state’s total forest area. This is followed by Krishnagiri district with 202409 ha (9.6%) and Dharmapuri with 164177 ha (7.8%).
The unique feature of The Nilgiris district is that about 56% of the total area of the district is under forests followed by Erode with 39.8%, Krishnagiri with 39.4%, Dharmapuri with 36.5%, Kanyakumari with 32.4% and Theni with 32.0%.
Barren and unculturable Land
Land which cannot be brought under cultivation unless at a high cost whether such land is in isolated blocks or within cultivated holdings, such as mountains, deserts, hills etc. are classified as barren and unculturable land. Villupuram district alone accounted for 56,651 ha which is 11.5% of the state’s barren and unculturable land and about 7.8% of its geographical area under this category. The area under this category is very meagre in Thiruvarur district with just 113 ha.
Net Area Sown
Net area sown represents the area sown under first crop during the fasli year. Out of 13026645 ha of the total geographical area, 5042896 ha of land constituting 38.7% was cultivated once with various crops.
total net area sown in the State, the share of Villupuram district was the highest with 336079 ha (6.7%) followed by Dindigul district with 229681 ha (4.6%), Thiruvannamalai district with 220594 ha (4.4%), Cuddalore with 214214 (4.3%),salem with 210562 (4.2%) and Erode district with 206587 ha (4.1%). When comparing the net area sown with that of the geographical area of the district, Thiruvarur and Tirunelveli districts are ranked first and least, contibuting 73.7% and 24.3% of its geographical area respectively towards this category.
Cropping Intensity
Cropping intensity refers to the ratio between the Gross area sown and the Net
area sown. The cropping intensity for the State is 1.155. It is highest in Nagapattinam district with 1.824 followed by Thiruvarur district with 1.701.
