Chapter 1: Resources and Development
What is a Resource?
Everything available in our environment which can be used to satisfy our needs is called a resource, provided it is technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally acceptable. Resources are not free gifts of nature — human beings transform material available in the environment into resources. Resource creation is an interactive process between nature, technology and institutions.
Classification of Resources
| Basis | Types | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Origin | Biotic (living); Abiotic (non-living) | Biotic: forests, animals, fisheries, human beings; Abiotic: rocks, metals, water |
| Exhaustibility | Renewable (can be reproduced/regenerated); Non-renewable (fixed stock, take millions of years to form) | Renewable: solar energy, wind, water, forests; Non-renewable: coal, petroleum, minerals |
| Ownership | Individual; Community; National; International | Individual: farm land, house plot; Community: grazing grounds, village ponds, public parks; National: all resources within political boundaries and up to 12 nautical miles of territorial water; International: oceanic resources beyond 200 nautical miles of the Exclusive Economic Zone (regulated by international institutions) |
| Status of Development | Potential; Developed; Stock; Reserves | Potential: found in a region but not utilised (wind and solar energy in Rajasthan and Gujarat); Developed: surveyed, quality and quantity determined for utilisation; Stock: materials which could satisfy needs but we lack technology to access them (hydrogen in water as fuel); Reserves: subset of stock which can be used with existing technology but kept for future (water in dams, forests) |
Development of Resources and Sustainable Development
Indiscriminate use of resources has led to: (i) depletion of resources to satisfy the greed of a few, (ii) accumulation of resources in a few hands, dividing society into rich and poor, and (iii) global ecological crises — global warming, ozone layer depletion, pollution and land degradation. Hence resource planning and equitable distribution are essential for sustained quality of life and global peace.
Sustainable development means development that takes place without damaging the environment, and development in the present should not compromise the needs of future generations.
- Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit, 1992: More than 100 heads of state met in Brazil for the first International Earth Summit to address urgent problems of environmental protection and socio-economic development. Leaders signed the Declaration on Global Climatic Change and Biological Diversity, endorsed the Global Forest Principles and adopted Agenda 21.
- Agenda 21: An agenda to combat environmental damage, poverty and disease through global cooperation on common interests, mutual needs and shared responsibilities. One major objective is that every local government should draw its own local Agenda 21.
Resource Planning in India
Resource planning is the widely accepted strategy for judicious use of resources, vital for a country like India with enormous regional diversity in resource availability. Resource planning involves three stages:
- Identification and inventory of resources across regions — surveying, mapping, and qualitative and quantitative estimation.
- Evolving a planning structure with appropriate technology, skill and institutional set-up for implementing resource development plans.
- Matching resource development plans with overall national development plans.
Mere availability of resources is not enough — history of colonisation shows that rich resources attracted foreign invaders; resources were exploited without corresponding institutional and technological development. Hence resources, technology and quality of human resources must go together. Gandhiji said: "There is enough for everybody's need and not for anybody's greed." He blamed the greedy and selfish individuals and the exploitative nature of modern technology, and favoured production by the masses over mass production.
Land Resources and Land Use Pattern in India
India has land under a variety of relief features: 43% plains (agriculture and industry), 30% mountains (rivers, tourism, ecological balance) and 27% plateaus (minerals, fossil fuels, forests).
Land use categories: (i) Forests; (ii) Land not available for cultivation — barren/waste land, land put to non-agricultural uses (buildings, roads, factories); (iii) Other uncultivated land — permanent pastures, land under miscellaneous tree crops and groves, culturable waste land (left uncultivated for more than 5 agricultural years); (iv) Fallow lands — current fallow (left uncultivated for one or less than one agricultural year) and other than current fallow (1–5 years); (v) Net sown area. Area sown more than once in an agricultural year plus net sown area is gross cropped area.
- Land use data is available only for about 93% of the total geographical area (reporting area), because land use reporting for most of the north-east states except Assam has not been done fully, and some areas of Jammu and Kashmir occupied by Pakistan and China are not surveyed.
- The pattern of net sown area varies greatly: over 80% in Punjab and Haryana, less than 10% in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
- Forest area is far lower than the desired 33% of geographical area outlined in the National Forest Policy (1952).
Land Degradation and Conservation Measures
About 130 million hectares of degraded land exists in India. Human activities such as deforestation, overgrazing, mining and quarrying have contributed significantly.
- Mining: abandoned mine sites with deep scars and over-burdening — Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha.
- Overgrazing: Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra.
- Over-irrigation: waterlogging leading to salinity and alkalinity — Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh.
- Mineral processing: grinding of limestone for cement and calcite/soapstone for ceramics releases dust that retards infiltration of water into soil.
- Industrial effluents pollute land and water.
Conservation measures: afforestation, proper management of grazing, planting shelter belts, stabilisation of sand dunes by growing thorny bushes, proper management of waste lands, control of mining activities, and proper discharge and disposal of industrial effluents after treatment.
Soil as a Resource
Soil is the most important renewable natural resource, the medium of plant growth. It takes millions of years to form soil up to a few centimetres in depth. Factors of soil formation: relief, parent rock (bed rock), climate, vegetation and other forms of life, and time. Natural agents like changes in temperature, running water, wind, glaciers and decomposers contribute; chemical and organic changes are equally important.
Classification of Soils of India
| Soil | Formation / Features | Regions | Crops |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alluvial | Deposited by Himalayan river systems (Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra); contains sand, silt and clay. Bangar = old alluvium with kanker nodules, less fertile; Khadar = new alluvium, finer, more fertile. Rich in potash, phosphoric acid and lime. | Northern plains, eastern coastal plains, deltas of Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri; extends through Rajasthan and Gujarat via a narrow corridor | Sugarcane, paddy, wheat, pulses, other cereals |
| Black (Regur) | Made of lava flows (Deccan trap); climatic conditions plus parent rock. Clayey, holds moisture, rich in calcium carbonate, magnesium, potash and lime; poor in phosphoric contents. Develops deep cracks in hot weather (self-aeration); sticky when wet. | Deccan trap — Maharashtra, Saurashtra, Malwa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh; Godavari and Krishna valleys | Cotton (called black cotton soil) |
| Red and Yellow | Develops on crystalline igneous rocks in areas of low rainfall; reddish due to diffusion of iron; yellow when hydrated | Eastern and southern Deccan plateau, parts of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, southern middle Ganga plain, piedmont zone of Western Ghats | Coarse grains, pulses (with irrigation, other crops) |
| Laterite | Develops under tropical/subtropical climate with alternate wet and dry seasons; result of intense leaching due to heavy rain; low humus (decomposers destroyed by high temperature); needs manures and fertilisers | Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, hilly areas of Odisha and Assam | Tea, coffee, cashew nut (red laterite soils of TN, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh) |
| Arid | Red to brown colour; sandy texture, saline nature; lacks humus and moisture due to dry climate and high evaporation; kankar layer in bottom horizons restricts infiltration of water | Western Rajasthan (arid and semi-arid regions) | Cultivable after proper irrigation (Indira Gandhi Canal) |
| Forest / Mountain | Found in hilly and mountainous areas with sufficient rain forests; loamy and silty in valley sides, coarse-grained in upper slopes; acidic with low humus in snow-covered Himalayan areas; fertile in lower valleys and river terraces | Himalayan and other hilly regions | Fruits, tea, spices; fertile alluvial fans support agriculture |
Soil Erosion and Soil Conservation
Soil erosion is the denudation of the soil cover and subsequent washing down. Causes: deforestation, overgrazing, construction, mining, defective methods of farming (up-down ploughing), and natural forces (wind, glacier, water).
- Gully erosion: running water cuts deep channels through clayey soils, making land unfit for cultivation (bad land/ravines, e.g. Chambal basin).
- Sheet erosion: water flows as a sheet over large areas down a slope, washing away the topsoil.
- Wind erosion: wind blows loose soil off flat or sloping land.
Conservation measures:
- Contour ploughing: ploughing along contour lines decelerates flow of water down slopes.
- Terrace farming: steps cut on slopes restrict erosion (Western and Central Himalayas).
- Strip cropping: large fields divided into strips; strips of grass left between crops break the force of wind.
- Shelter belts: rows of trees planted to create shelter; they have stabilised sand dunes in western India.
Map Work (CBSE Prescribed)
Only one map item is prescribed from this chapter — identification of major soil types on the outline map of India:
- Alluvial soil — Northern plains and coastal/deltaic strips
- Black soil — Deccan trap (Maharashtra, Malwa, Saurashtra)
- Red and Yellow soil — eastern and southern Deccan plateau
- Laterite soil — Karnataka, Kerala, hilly Odisha and Assam
- Arid soil — western Rajasthan
- Forest/Mountain soil — Himalayan region