RESOURCES AND
DEVELOPMENT
Introduction:
• Everything available in our
environment which can be used to
satisfy our needs, provided, it is
technologically accessible,
economically feasible and
culturally acceptable can be
termed as ‘Resource’.
• These resources can be classified
in the following ways –
TYPES OF RESOURCES
On the Basis of Origin
• Biotic Resources: Obtained from biosphere and have life such as human beings, flora and fauna, fisheries, livestock etc.
• Abiotic Resources: All those things which are composed of non-living things. Ex-rocks and metals
On the Basis of Exhaustibility
• Renewable Resources: The resources which can be renewed or reproduced by physical, chemical or mechanical
processes are known as renewable or replenishable resources. Ex-solar and wind energy, water, forests and wildlife,
etc. The renewable resource may further be divided into continuous or flow.
• Non-Renewable Resources: Minerals and fossil fuels are examples of such resources. These resources take millions of
years in their formation. Some of the resources like metals are recyclable and some like fossil fuels cannot be recycled.
On the Basis of Ownership
• Individual Resources: These are owned privately by individuals. Urban people own plots, houses and other property.
Plantation, pasture lands, ponds, water in wells etc. are some of the examples of resources ownership by individuals.
• Community Owned Resources: Resources which are accessible to all the members of the community. Village commons
grazing grounds, burial grounds, village.
• National Resources: Technically, all the resources belong to the nation. The country has legal powers to acquire even
private property for public good. All the minerals, water resources, forests, wildlife, land within the political boundaries
and oceanic area up to 12 nautical miles (22.2 km) from the coast termed as territorial water and resources therein
belong to the nation.
TYPES OF RESOURCES
• International Resources: There are
international institutions which
regulate some resources. The
oceanic resources beyond 200
nautical miles of the Exclusive
Economic Zone belong to open
ocean and no individual country can
utilise these without the
concurrence of international
institutions.
TYPES OF RESOURCES
• On the Basis of the Status of Development
• Potential Resources: Resources found in a region, but not being utilised. Ex-Rajasthan and Gujarat have enormous
potential for the development of wind and solar energy, but so far these have not been developed properly.
• Developed Resources: Resources which are surveyed, and their quality and quantity have been determined for
utilisation.
• Stock: Materials in the environment which have the potential to satisfy human needs, but human beings do not have
the appropriate technology to access these, are included among stock. For example, water is a compound of two
gases; hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen can be used as a rich source of energy. But we do not have advanced
technical ‘know-how’ to use it for this purpose. Hence, it can be considered as stock.
• Reserves: they are subset of stock and can be used with the help of existing technical ‘know-how’ but are not being
used. These can be used for meeting future requirements. The water in the dams, forests etc. is a reserve which
can be used in the future.
• Considering resources as free gifts of nature, human beings used them
indiscriminately and this has led to the following major problems.
DEVELOPMENT • Depletion of resources for satisfying the greed of a few.
OF RESOURCES • Accumulation of resources in few hands.
& RESOURCE • Indiscriminate exploitation of resources resulting in global warming, ozone
PLANNING layer depletion, environmental pollution and land degradation.
• In India, there is regional disparity in availability of resources. For example,
Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are rich in minerals and coal
deposits. Arunachal Pradesh has abundance of water resources but lacks in
infrastructural development. The state of Rajasthan is very well endowed with
solar and wind energy but lacks in water resources.
• The cold desert of Ladakh is relatively isolated from the rest of the country. It
has very rich cultural heritage, but it is deficient in water, infrastructure and
some vital minerals. This calls for balanced resource planning at the national,
state, regional and local levels.
• Steps involved in Resource Planning in India :
I. Identification, inventory preparation of resources across the
RESOURCE country. This involves surveying, mapping and qualitative and
PLANNING II.
quantitative estimation and measurement of the resources.
Evolving a planning structure endowed(supported by) with
IN INDIA: appropriate technology, skill and institutional set up for
implementing resource development plans.
III. Matching resource development plans with overall national
development plans.
• Availability of resources is necessary for development but mere
availability of resources in the absence of corresponding changes in
technology and institutions may hinder development.
• Therefore, resources can contribute to development only when they
are accompanied by appropriate technological development and
institutional changes.
CONSERVATION OF
RESOURCES &
LAND RESOURCES
• Over Exploitation of resources may lead to socio-
economic and environmental problems. Gandhiji once said
“There is enough for everybody’s need and not for any
body’s greed.”
• He placed the greedy and selfish individuals and
exploitative nature of modern technology as the root
cause for resource depletion at the global level. He was
against mass production and wanted to replace it with the
production by the masses.
• Land resources are used for the following purposes:
1. Forests
2. Land not available for cultivation
(a) Barren and waste land
(b) Land put to non-agricultural uses, e.g. buildings,
roads, factories, etc.
3. Other uncultivated land (excluding fallow land)
a) Permanent pastures and grazing land,
b) Land under miscellaneous tree crops, groves (not
included in net sown area),
c) Culturable waste land (left uncultivated for more
than 5 agricultural years).
4. Fallow lands
a) Current fallow-(left without cultivation for one or
less than one agricultural year),
b) Other than current fallow-(left uncultivated for
LAND
the past 1 to 5 agricultural years).
5. Net sown area
UTILIZATION:
6. Area sown more than once in an agricultural year plus
net sown area is known as gross cropped area.
LAND UTILIZATION: SOME
MORE FACTS
• Land use data available=93% of the total geographical area because for most of the north-east states
except Assam surveying has not been done fully.
• Some areas of Jammu and Kashmir occupied by Pakistan and China have also not been surveyed.
• The other than the current fallow lands are either of poor quality or the cost of cultivation of such land is
very high. Such lands are cultivated once or twice in about 2 to 3 years and if these are included in the
net sown area then the percentage of NSA in India comes to about 54 per cent of the total reporting area.
• The pattern of net sown area is over 80 per cent of the total area in Punjab and Haryana and less than 10
per cent in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur and Andaman Nicobar Islands.
• Forest area is far lower than the desired 33% of geographical area, as it was outlined in the National
Forest Policy (1952).
LAND DEGRADATION AND
CONSERVATION MEASURES
• 95% of our basic needs for food, shelter and clothing are obtained from land. Abandoned mines, in states like Jharkhand,
Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha and deforestation due to mining have caused severe land degradation.
• In Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra overgrazing is one of the main reasons for land degradation. In
Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, over irrigation is responsible for land degradation due to water logging leading to
increase in salinity and alkalinity in the soil.
• The mineral processing like grinding of limestone for cement industry and calcite and soapstone for ceramic industry generate
huge quantity of dust in the atmosphere. It retards the process of infiltration of water into the soil after it settles down on the
land.
• Afforestation, Planting of shelter belts of plants, control on over grazing, stabilisation of sand dunes by growing thorny bushes
are some of the methods to check land degradation.
• Proper management of waste lands, control of mining activities, proper discharge and disposal of industrial effluents and
wastes after treatment can reduce land and water degradation in industrial and suburban areas.
SOIL
• The soil is a living system. It takes millions of years to
form soil upto a few cm in depth.
• Relief, parent rock or bed rock, climate, vegetation and
other forms of life and time are important factors in the
formation of soil.
• Weathering through change in temperature, actions of
running water, wind and glaciers, activities of
decomposers etc. contribute to the formation of soil.
TYPES OF SOIL:
• Indian Soils can be classified as:
• Alluvial Soils.
❑ Found in northern plains, these soils have been deposited by the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra. These soils also extend in Rajasthan and
Gujarat through a narrow corridor and found in the eastern coastal plains in the deltas of the Mahanadi, the Godavari, the Krishna and the Kaveri
rivers.
❑ The alluvial soil consists of various proportions of sand, silt and clay. Such soils are more common in piedmont plains such as Duars(eastern
Himalayan foothills ), Chos(Network of river in north of the plains jointed with the shiwaliks are called chos) and Terai(marshy land at foot of
mountain of the Himalayas in North India). Old alluvial soils are called Bangar and new alluvial soils are called Khadar.
❑ Alluvial soils are rich in potash, phosphoric acid and lime which are ideal to grow sugarcane, paddy, wheat and other cereal and pulse crops.
• Black Soils.
❑ This soil is Black in colour, also known as regur soils and is ideal for growing cotton(known as black cotton soil).
❑ Found in Deccan trap (Basalt) region spread over northwest Deccan plateau and is made up of lava flows. They cover the plateaus of Maharashtra,
Saurashtra, Malwa, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and extend in the southeast direction along the Godavari and the Krishna valleys.
❑ The black soils are made up of extremely fine i.e., clayey material, hence have excellent water retention capacity. They rich in calcium carbonate,
magnesium, potash and lime but poor in phosphoric contents.
❑ They develop deep cracks during hot weather, which helps in the proper aeration of the soil. These soils are sticky when wet and difficult to work
on.
TYPES OF SOIL
• Red and Yellow Soils
❑ Red soil develops on crystalline igneous rocks in areas of low rainfall in the eastern and southern parts of the Deccan plateau
and found in parts of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, southern parts of the middle Ganga plain and along the piedmont zone of the
Western Ghats.
❑ These soils develop a reddish colour due to diffusion of iron in crystalline and metamorphic rocks. It looks yellow when it
occurs in a hydrated form.
• Laterite Soil
❑ Laterite has been derived from the Latin word ‘later’ which means brick. The laterite soil develops under tropical and
subtropical climate with alternate wet and dry season.
❑ This soil suffers intense leaching(leaching is the loss of water-soluble plant nutrients from the soil) due to heavy rain. These
soils are usually acidic (pH<6.0), generally deficient in plant nutrients and occur mostly in southern states, Western Ghats
region of Maharashtra, Odisha, some parts of West Bengal and North-east regions.
❑ The places at which they support deciduous and evergreen forests, it is humus rich, but under sparse vegetation and in semi-
arid environment they are generally poor in humus.
❑ After adopting appropriate soil conservation techniques, this soil is very useful for growing tea and coffee(hilly areas of
Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu). Red laterite soils in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala are more suitable for crops
like cashew nut.
TYPES OF SOIL
• Arid soils
• Colour ranges from red to brown. They are generally sandy in texture and saline in nature.
• In some areas the salt content is very high and common salt is obtained by evaporating the water. Due
to the dry climate, high temperature soil lacks humus and moisture.
• The lower horizons of the soil are occupied by Kankar because of the increasing calcium content
downwards. The Kankar layer formations in the bottom horizons restrict the infiltration of water. With
proper irrigation these soils become cultivable (Ex-Western Rajasthan).
• Forest Soils
• Found in the hilly and mountainous areas where sufficient rain forests are available.
• The soils texture varies according to the mountain environment, hence they are loamy and silty in
valley sides and coarse grained in the upper slopes. In the snow covered areas of Himalayas, these
soils experience denudation and are acidic with low humus content.
• The soils found in the lower parts of the valleys particularly on the river terraces and alluvial fans are
fertile.
Soil Erosion
• The denudation of the soil cover and subsequent washing down is described as soil
erosion.
• Soil erosions is aggravated by deforestation, over-grazing, construction and mining etc., SHEET EROSION
while natural forces like wind, glacier and water lead to soil erosion.
• At times, running water cuts through the clayey soils and makes deep channels as gullies.
The land becomes unfit for cultivation and is known as bad land. In the Chambal basin such
lands are called ravines.
• Sometimes water flows as a sheet over large areas down a slope. In such cases the top
soil is washed away. This is known as sheet erosion.
• Wind blows loose soil off flat or sloping land known as wind erosion .
GULLY EROSION
Soil Conservation:
• Steps can be cut out on the slopes making terraces.
Terrace cultivation restricts erosion.
STRIP FARMING
• Large fields can be divided into strips. Strips of
grass are left to grow between the crops. This
breaks up the force of the wind. This method is
known as strip cropping.
TERRACE CULTIVATION
SOIL
CONSERVATION:
SHELTER BELTS • Planting lines of trees to create shelter also
works in a similar way. Rows of such trees are
called shelter belts. These shelter belts have
contributed significantly to the stabilisation of
sand dunes and in stabilising the desert in
western India.
• Ploughing along the contour lines can
decelerate the flow of water down the slopes.
This is called contour ploughing.
CONTOUR PLOUGHING
• Sustainable economic development means ‘development should
take place without damaging the environment, and development in
SUSTAINABLE the present should not compromise with the needs of the future
generations.
DEVELOPMENT • Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit, 1992
& RESOURCE • First international Earth summit, held in Rio (Brazil), in 1992,
CONSERVATION. attended by 100 head of the states.
• Agenda was addressing urgent problems of environmental
protection and socioeconomic development at the global level.
• Participants signed the Declaration on Global Climatic Change
and Biological Diversity. The Rio Convention endorsed the
global Forest Principles and adopted Agenda 21 for achieving
Sustainable Development in the 21st century.
• Agenda 21
• It is the declaration signed by participants of the Rio earth
summit. It aims at achieving global sustainable development.
• One major objective of the Agenda 21 is that every local
government should draw its own local Agenda 21.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
& RESOURCE CONSERVATION.
• At the international level, the Club of Rome advocated
resource conservation for the first time in 1968.
• In 1974, Gandhian philosophy was once again presented by
Schumacher in his book Small is Beautiful.
• Brundtland Commission Report, 1987 contributed majorly in
context of resource conservation.
• This report introduced the concept of ‘Sustainable
Development’ and advocated it as a means for resource
conservation, which was subsequently published in a book
entitled “Our Common Future”.
State of India’s Environment:
• The village of Sukhomajri and the district of Jhabua have reversed land degradation. Tree
density in Sukhomajri increased from 13 per hectare in 1976 to 1,272 per hectare in 1992;
• Regeneration of the environment leads to economic well-being, as a result of greater
resource availability, improved agriculture and animal care, Average annual household
income in Sukhomajri ranged from Rs 10,000-15,000 between 1979 and 1984;
• People’s management is essential for ecological restoration. With people being made the
decision-makers by the Madhya Pradesh government, 2.9 million hectares or about 1 per cent
of India’s land area, are being greened across the state through watershed management.
Important Questions:
• What do you mean by economic feasibility in context of resources?
• “Planning is the widely accepted strategy for judicious use of resources in a country like India”.
Justify this statement with two relevant points and an example.
• Explain the concept of resource conservation as voiced by Gandhiji.
• What is the difference between gross cropped area and Net sown Area.
• Explain the types of resources according to their classification based on status of development
• What is land degradation? What is the area of degraded land in India? Name the states which
suffer land degradation due to overgrazing.
• Differentiate among current fallow, other than current fallow and culturable waste land.
• Write some measures/ways to solve problems of land degradation.
• Write the main factors responsible for soil formation. On what basis are soils classified into
different types?
