Resource and Development

Class : X Subject: Geography

Very important: The handouts to be read only after reading the chapter

‘Resource’:
Everything available in our environment which can be used to satisfy our needs, is called a
resource. It should be technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally
acceptable. Only then, it can be termed as a ‘Resource’. Examples: minerals, forests, fossil
fuels etc.

Classification of Resources:
(a) On the basis of origin: Biotic and Abiotic.
(b) On the basis of exhaustibility: Renewable and Non-renewable.
(c) On the basis of ownership: Individual (Personal), Community, National and International.
(d) On the basis of status and development: Potential, Developed, Reserve and Stock.

 Biotic Resources are obtained from the biosphere. They have life or are living resources,
e.g., human beings, fisheries, forests, etc.
 Abiotic Resources include all non-living things, e.g., rocks and minerals.

Renewable Resources:
The resources which can be renewed or reproduced by physical, chemical and mechanical
processes are known as renewable or replenishable resources, e.g., water, wildlife, forests,
solar energy, wind energy, etc.

Non-renewable Resources:
The resources which once get exhausted, cannot be remade. They take a long geological
period of time, i.e., millions of years in their formation, e.g., minerals, fossil’ fuels, etc.

1. Individual resources: Owned by individuals, e.g., own land, house;

2. Community Owned Resources: Resources which are accessible to all the members of
the community, e.g., parks, playground;
3. National Resources: Resources which belong to the nation, e.g., roads, railways; and
4. International resources: Resources which no individual country can utilize, e.g., oceanic
waters beyond 200 km.

1. Potential resources: Resources found in a region but not in use, e.g., solar energy in
Rajasthan,
wind in Gujarat;
2. Stock: Resources available but do not have appropriate technology to access, e.g., lack
of technical know how to use hydrogen and oxygen as source of energy; and
3. Reserve: Subset of stock. Can be used for future needs, e.g., water in the dams, forest
resources.

DEVELOPMENT OF RESOURCES
 Human beings used them indiscriminately and this has led to the following major
problems.

• Depletion of resources for satisfying the greed of a few individuals.

• Accumulation of resources in few hands, which, in turn, divided the society into two
segments i.e. haves and have nots or rich and poor.

RESOURCE PLANNING

There are some regions which can be considered self sufficient in terms of the availability
of resources and there are some regions which have acute shortage of some vital
resources.

This calls for balanced resource planning at the national, state, regional and local levels

Resource Planning in India

Resource planning is a complex process which involves :

(i) identification and inventory of resources across the regions of the country .
This involves surveying, mapping and qualitative and quantitative estimation
and measurement of the resources.
(ii) Evolving a planning structure endowed with appropriate technology, skill and
institutional set up for implementing resource development plans.
(iii) Matching the resource development plans with overall national development
plans.
The history of colonisation reveals that rich resources in colonies were the
main attractions for the foreign invaders. It was primarily the higher level of
technological development of the colonising countries that helped them to
exploit resources of other regions and establish their supremacy over the
colonies.in India, development, in general, and resource development in
particular does not only involve the availability of resources, but also the
technology, quality of human resources and the historical experiences of the
people.

Sustainable development:
Sustainable economic development means that ‘development should take place without
damaging the environment and development in the present should not compromise with the
needs of future generation’.

Land under important relief features in India:

Plains-43%, Mountains-30%, Plateaus-27%

Land Degradation:
Continuous use of land over a long period of time without taking appropriate measures to
conserve and manage it.

Measures to solve problem of land degradation:

Afforestation, proper management of grazing to control overgrazing planting of shelter belts of
plants, stabilization of sand dunes by growing thorny bushes, control of mining activities, avoid
over-irrigation and overuse of fertilizers and pesticides;
Soil erosion:
The denudation of the soil cover and subsequent washing down is soil erosion. Reasons for soil
erosion include—
(a) Human activities like deforestation, over grazing construction, mining defective method of
fanning etc.;
(b) Natural forces like wind, glacier and water flow.

Types of erosion:
(a) Gully erosion. The running water cuts through the clayey soils and makes deep channels
known as gullies. This makes the land bad land and in the Chambal basin such land is known
as ravines;
(b) Sheet erosion. When top soil over large area is washed away it is known as sheet erosion.

Methods to prevent soil erosion in hilly area:

Ploughing along the contour lines-contour ploughing; terrace cultivation; strip farming and
shelter belts.

Soils and its types:

Alluvial soils: Entire northern plains are made of alluvial soil. Also found in the eastern coastal
plains particularly in the deltas of the Mahanadi, the Godavari, the Krishna and the Kaveri rivers.
Fertile soil therefore, fit for agriculture purpose. Regions of alluvial soils are intensively
cultivated and densely populated. Rich in potash, phosphoric acid and lime which are ideal for
the growth of sugarcane, paddy, wheat and other cereal and pulse crops

Black soil: Black in colour and are also known as regur soils. Ideal for growing cotton and is
also known as black cotton soil. Found in the plateaus of Maharashtra, Saurashtra, Malwa,
Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh also along the Godavari and the Krishna valleys. Made up of
extremely fine, i.e., clayey material. Well-known for their capacity to hold moisture. Rich in
calcium carbonate, magnesium, potash and lime.

Red and yellow soils: Found in the areas of low rainfall in the eastern and southern parts of
the Deccan plateau. Also found in parts of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, southern parts of the middle
Ganga plain and along the piedmont zone of the Western Ghats. Develop a reddish colour due
to diffusion of iron in crystalline and metamorphic rocks

Laterite soils: Develops in areas with high temperature and heavy rainfall. Found in Karnataka,
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and the hilly areas of Odisha and Assam. Suitable for
cultivation with adequate doses of manures and fertilizers. Low Humus content because
decomposers, like bacteria, get destroyed due to high temperature.

Arid soils: Found in the western parts of Rajasthan. After proper irrigation these soils become
cultivable. Lacks humus and moisture because dry climate, high temperature make evaporation
faster. Salt content is very high and common salt is obtained by evaporating the water

Forest soils: Found in the hilly and mountainous areas where sufficient rain forests are
available. Feature differs based on location. Loamy and silty in valley sides and coarse grained
in the upper slopes. Sil in the lower parts of the valleys particularly on the river terraces and
alluvial fans are fertile.
Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit, 1992 In June 1992, more than 100 heads of states met in Rio de
Janeiro in Brazil, for the first International Earth Summit. The Summit was convened for
addressing urgent problems of environmental protection and socioeconomic development at the
global level. The assembled leaders 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 world leaders in 1992 at the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), which took place at Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil. It aims at achieving global sustainable development. It is an agenda to combat
environmental damage, poverty, disease through global co-operation on common interests,
mutual needs and shared responsibilities. One major objective of the Agenda 21 is that every
local government should draw its own local Agenda 21.