The ratio of total population to net cultivated area is called _____.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Physiological Density
Density of population is a crude measure of the human-land relationship. To see the real pressure of people on farm land, two finer measures are used.
Option (1) Arithmetic Density — Incorrect. Arithmetic density is the ordinary density of population: the number of persons per unit of total area, not per unit of cultivated land.
Option (2) Agricultural Density — Incorrect. Agricultural density counts only the agricultural population (cultivators, agricultural labourers and their families), not the total population.
Option (3) Physiological Density — Correct. It divides the total population by the net cultivated area. It shows how many people depend on each unit of farmed land.
Option (4) Agricultural Ratio — Incorrect. There is no such concept.
Note: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2026 on 24-05-2026 (Slot 2).
NCERT (2026-27): “The density of population, as discussed in the earlier paragraph, is a crude measure of human and land relationship. To get a better insight into the human-land ratio in terms of pressure of population on total cultivable land, the physiological and the agricultural densities should be found out which are significant for a country like India having a large agricultural population.”
Box: Physiological and Agricultural Density |
