To increase the land-man ratio and to solve the food problem of India, the most effective step seems to be to bring the uncultivated lands under plough, wherever economically feasible. Before embarking on such an ambitious plan, detailed survey of cultivable lands should be undertaken at the microlevel. As a sample study an administrative sub-division of the district of Aligarh (U.P.) i.e., the Koil Tahsil was chosen for plot-to-plot survey of the uncultivated lands, pinpoint the causes for their existence and work out cost-benefit relationship if these lands are reclaimed. In tracing out the distributional pattern, the map of every village (Koil Tahsil has 358 villages) was collected and every plot of land was demarcated with regard to its nature and fertility in consultation with the concerned Lekhpal (village accountant) and then the maps of all the villages were joined together and thus a complete map of Koil Tahsil showing all the uncultivated lands plot-by-plot was prepared, later, it was reduced to a convenient size. The author has thus made a survey of all the uncultivated lands and mapped where these lands were available and then has tried to suggest suitable measures for their reclamation according to the conditions prevailing in different areas. An attempt has also been made to estimate the cost of reclamation in terms of the expenditure involved, likely addition to the food production and the input-output balance. This appears to be a pioneer study of a subject of great practical importance in the Indian context. Collecting numerous data and checking and mapping the relevant geo-ecological as well as socio-economic factors involved in the field and the very pains-taking work results in good example of applied geography. This is the first work of its kind done on a micro-level and such work if extended over the whole of India will have great impact on the nutrition of india’s growing population.
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