Gross cropped area
Also called: GCA · Topic: Land Reforms, the Green Revolution and Farm Subsidies · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Gross cropped area (GCA) is the total area sown with crops in a year. If a field is sown more than once in the year, it is counted once for each sowing. GCA shows how intensively land is used, and it is the top part of the cropping intensity formula:
Cropping intensity = (GCA ÷ NSA) × 100
Example
A village has 100 ha of sown land. On 60 ha, farmers grow kharif paddy and then rabi wheat. GCA = 100 + 60 = 160 ha, and cropping intensity = 160 ÷ 100 × 100 = 160%.
Don't confuse with
- Net sown area (NSA): NSA counts land sown more than once only once. So in the example, NSA is 100 ha, while GCA is 160 ha.
Related concepts
- Green Revolution
- High-yielding variety seeds
- Research and extension
- Farm mechanisation
- Crop yield
- Seed replacement rate
- Kharif crops
- Rabi crops
- Zaid crops
- Multiple cropping