Resource and Development - Ars Study Point

Resource and Development :- Everything available in our environment which can be used to satisfy our needs, provided is termed as Resource. It is technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally acceptable.

Fig :- 1.1 Interdependent relationship between nature, technology and institutions

These resources can be classified in the following ways –

On the basis of origin – Biotic and Abiotic
On the basis of exhaustibility – Renewable and Non-renewable
On the basis of ownership – Individual,Community, National and International
On the basis of status of development – Potential, Developed stock and Reserves.

Fig 1.2 :- Classification of resources

Development of resources :-

It was believed that resources are free gifts of nature. As a result, human beings used them indiscriminately and this has led to:-

Depletion of resources for satisfying the greed of a few individuals.
Accumulation of resources in few hands.
Indiscriminate exploitation of resources has led to global ecological crises such as, global warming, ozone layer depletion, environmental pollution and land degradation.

An equitable distribution of resources has become essential for a sustained quality of life. Therefore, resource planning is essential for sustainable existence of all forms of life. Sustainable existence is a component of sustainable development.

Sustainable Development :-

It means ‘development should take place without damaging the environment, and development in the present should not compromise with the needs of the future generations.’

Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit:-

June 1992, Held in Brazil
100+ states attend this summit,
First international earth summit
for addressing urgent problems of environmental protection and socio- economic development at the global level.
The Rio Convention endorsed the global Forest Principles and adopted Agenda 21 for achieving Sustainable Development in the 21st century.

Agenda 21:-

Signed by world leaders in 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), which took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It aims at achieving global sustainable development.

Resource Planning :- Planning is the widely accepted strategy for judicious use of resources. It has importance in a country like India, which has enormous diversity in the availability of resources. There are regions which are rich in certain types of resources but are deficient in some other resources.

Resource planning in India :- Resource planning is a complex process which involves :-

Identification and inventory of resources across the regions of the country.
Evolving a planning structure endowed with appropriate technology, skill and institutional set up for implementing resource development plans.
Matching the resource development plans with overall national development plans.

Conservation of Resources :-

“There is enough for everybody’s need and not for any body’s greed.” said by Gandhiji. He was against mass production and wanted to replace it with the production by masses.

At the international level, the Club of Rome advocated resource conservation for the first time in a more systematic way in 1968. Subsequently, in 1974, Gandhian philosophy was once again presented by Schumacher in his book Small is Beautiful.

The seminal contribution with respect to resource conservation at the global level was made by the Brundtland Commission Report, 1987 :- This report introduced the concept of “Sustainable Development” and advocated it as a means for resource conservation, which was subsequently published in a book entitle “Our Common Future”

Land Resources:- land is a natural resource of utmost importance. It supports natural vegetation, wild life, human life, economic activities, transport and communication systems.

Fig 1.3 India : Land under important Relief Features

Land is an asset of finite magnitude. About 43% of the land area is plain . Mountains account for 30% of the total surface area of the country.

Land Utilisation:-

Net sown area:- the physical extent of land on which crops are sown harvested is known as net sown area.
Forest
Land not available for cultivation:-

(a) Barren and waste land

(b) Land put to non-agricultural uses, e.g.buildings, roads, factories, etc.

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).

Fallow lands:- (a) Current fallow:- left without cultivation for one or less than one agricultural year

(b) Other than current fallow:- left uncultivated for the past 1 to 5 agricultural years.

Gross cropped area :- Area sown more than once in an agricultural year plus net sown area is known as Gross Cropped Area.

Land Use Pattern in India :- Total geographical area of India is 3.28 million sq km. Land use data, however, is available only for 93 per cent of the total geographical area.

Most of the other than the current fallow lands are either of poor quality or the cost of cultivation of such land is very high. Hence, these lands are cultivated once or twice in about 2 to 3 years and if these are included in the net sown area then the % of NSA in India comes to about 54 per cent of the total reporting area.

Forest area in the country is far lower than the desired 33 % of geographical area,as it was outlined in the National Forest Policy (1952).

Land degradation :- Continuous use of land over a long period of time without taking appropriate measures to conserve and manage it , has resulted in land degradation.

Land conservation measures:-

Planting of shelter belts of plants
Control on over grazing,
Stabilisation of sand dunes by growing thorny bushes.
Proper management of waste lands,
Control of mining activities,
Proper discharge and disposal of industrial effluents and wastes after treatment.

Soil as a resource:-

Renewable Resources
It is the medium of plant growth and supports different types of living organisms on the earth.
The soil is a living system. It takes millions of years to form soil upto a few cm in depth.
Important factors in the formation of soil:- Relief, Parent Rock, Climate, Vegetation etc .

On the basis of the factors responsible for soil formation colour thickness, texture, age,chemical and physical properties the soil of India are classified in different types:-

(1) Alluvial Soil :- Entire northern plains are made of alluvial soil. Also extend in Rajasthan and Gujarat through a narrow corridor. Alluvial soil also found in the eastern coast.

The alluvial soil consists of various proportions of sand, silt and clay.

In the upper reaches of the river valley i.e. near the place of the break of slope, the soils are coarse. Such soils are more common in piedmont plains such as Duars, Chos and Terai.

On the basis of age Alluvial soil can be classified as :-

Old alluvial (Bangar) :- has higher concentration of kankar nodules than khadar.
New alluvial (Khadar):- Khadar has more fine particles and is more fertile than Bangar.

Alluvial soils as a whole are very fertile.Mostly these soils contain adequate proportion of potash, phosphoric acid and lime which are ideal for the growth of sugarcane, paddy,wheat and other cereal and pulse crops.

(2) Black Soil:-

These soils are black in colour and are also known as Regur Soil . Black soil is ideal for growing cotton and is also known as Black Cotton Soil.
This type of soil is typical of the Deccan trap (Basalt) region spread over northwest Deccan plateau and is made up of lava flows.
Area:- Maharashtra, Saurashtra, Malwa, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and extend in the south east direction along the Godavari and the Krishna valleys.
Made up of extremely fine i.e. clayey material.They are well-known for their capacity to hold moisture.
They are rich in soil nutrients, such as calcium carbonate, magnesium, potash and lime.

Black soils are sticky when wet.

(3) 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.
Yelllow and red soils are also found in parts of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, southern parts of the middle Ganga plain.
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.

(4) Laterite Soil:-

Laterite has been derived from the Latin word ‘later’ which means brick.
It develops under tropical and subtropical climate with alternate wet and dry season.
Intense leaching due to heavy rain.
Area:- Maharashtra,Odisha, West Bengal, North-East region.
support deciduous and evergreen forests
It is humus rich, but under sparse vegetation and in semi-arid environment, it is generally humus poor.
After adopting appropriate soil conservation techniques particularly in the hilly areas of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, this soil is very useful for growing tea and coffee.
Acidity:- PH less than 6.0

(5) Forest Soil:-

Found in the hilly and mountainous areas where sufficient rain forest are available.

(6) Arid Soils:-

Arid soils range from red to brown in colour.
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.
The lower horizons of the soil are occupied by Kankar because of the increasing calcium content downwards.

Soil Erosion:-

The denudation of the soil cover and subsequent washing down is described as soil erosion.
The 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.

Soil Conservation Measures:-

Contour Ploughing:- Ploughing along the contour lines can decelerate the flow of water down the slopes.This is called contour ploughing.
Terrace Cultivation:- restrict soil erosion, this type of agriculture practices is done in western and Central Himalayas.
Strip Cropping:- when a large filled is divided into strips and strips of grass are left to grow between crops known as strip cropping.
Shelter Belt:- Planting lines of plants to create shelter helps in the stabilization of sand dunes.