Class 10 Geography · Chapter 1 NotesResources and Development

Everything in our environment that 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. They are a function of human activities: human beings interact with nature through technology and create institutions to speed up economic development. Nature, technology and institutions are interdependent. People transform material available in the environment into resources and then use them. This is why the same substance may be a resource in one place and time but not in another.

• Resourceusable material or energy that is technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally acceptable.
• Resources are a function of human activities, not free gifts of nature.
• Nature, technology and institutions are interdependent.

Resources are grouped in four ways. On the basis of origin, they are biotic (obtained from the biosphere, such as plants and animals) and abiotic (non-living things such as minerals and water). On the basis of exhaustibility, they are renewable, which can be renewed or reproduced by physical, chemical or mechanical processes, and non-renewable, which take millions of years to form and get exhausted with use. On the basis of ownership, resources are individual, community, national and international. On the basis of status of development, they are potential, developed, stock and reserves.

• Originbiotic and abiotic.
• Exhaustibilityrenewable and non-renewable.
• Ownershipindividual, community, national and international.
• Status of developmentpotential, developed, stock and reserves.

Resources are vital for human survival and for maintaining the quality of life. When people treated them as free gifts of nature, they used them indiscriminately. This caused depletion of resources for the greed of a few, accumulation of resources in few hands, and global ecological crises such as global warming, ozone layer depletion, environmental pollution and land degradation. An equitable distribution of resources is therefore essential for a sustained quality of life and global peace. Sustainable economic development means development should take place without damaging the environment, and development in the present should not compromise the needs of future generations.

• Sustainable developmentdevelopment without damaging the environment and without compromising the needs of future generations.
• Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit, 1992more than 100 heads of states met and signed the Declaration on Global Climatic Change and Biological Diversity.
• Agenda 21signed at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), Rio de Janeiro, to achieve global sustainable development.

Planning is the widely accepted strategy for judicious use of resources. It matters in India because resource availability is very uneven: Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are rich in minerals and coal, Arunachal Pradesh has abundant water resources but lacks infrastructure, Rajasthan has solar and wind energy but lacks water, and Ladakh has rich cultural heritage but is deficient in water, infrastructure and some vital minerals. Resource planning in India involves identification and inventory of resources, evolving a planning structure with appropriate technology, skill and institutional set-up, and matching resource development plans with national development plans. Conservation is also essential because irrational consumption causes socio-economic and environmental problems.

• Resource planningidentification and inventory of resources; planning structure with technology, skill and institutions; matching with national development plans.
• Gandhiji"There is enough for everybody's need and not for any body's greed."
• Club of Rome advocated resource conservation in 1968; Schumacher wrote Small is Beautiful in 1974; Brundtland Commission Report, 1987 introduced sustainable development in Our Common Future.

Land is a natural resource of utmost importance. It supports natural vegetation, wildlife, human life, economic activities, transport and communication. It is an asset of finite magnitude, so it must be used with careful planning. About 43 per cent of India's land area is plain, which helps agriculture and industry; mountains cover 30 per cent and ensure perennial flow of some rivers and support tourism; plateaus cover about 27 per cent and hold rich reserves of minerals, fossil fuels and forests. Land use is determined by physical factors such as topography, climate and soil, and human factors such as population density, technological capability and culture.

• Land use categoriesforests; land not available for cultivation; other uncultivated land; fallow lands; net sown area.
• Net sown areaphysical extent of land on which crops are sown and harvested.
• Gross cropped areanet sown area plus area sown more than once in an agricultural year.

Continuous use of land without conservation measures has caused land degradation, with serious effects on society and the environment. Deforestation, overgrazing, mining and quarrying contribute significantly. Mining sites are abandoned after excavation, leaving deep scars. In Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, deforestation due to mining has caused severe degradation. In Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, overgrazing is a main reason. In Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, over-irrigation causes water logging, increasing salinity and alkalinity. Mineral processing dust and industrial effluents also degrade land and water. Afforestation, proper grazing management, shelter belts, control on overgrazing, stabilisation of sand dunes with thorny bushes, and proper discharge of treated industrial wastes are conservation measures.

• Causes of land degradationdeforestation, overgrazing, mining and quarrying, over-irrigation, mineral processing dust, industrial effluents.
• Conservation measuresafforestation, proper grazing management, shelter belts, stabilisation of sand dunes, control of mining, proper waste disposal.

Soil is the most important natural resource. It is the medium of plant growth and supports different types of living organisms. Soil is a living system and takes millions of years to form a few centimetres in depth. Relief, parent rock or bedrock, climate, vegetation and other forms of life, and time are important factors in soil formation. Running water, wind, glaciers, temperature changes and decomposers also contribute. Soil consists of organic material (humus) and inorganic materials. On the basis of formation, colour, thickness, texture, age and chemical and physical properties, the soils of India are classified into alluvial, black, red and yellow, laterite, arid and forest soils.

• Alluvial soilmost widely spread; found in northern plains and eastern coastal deltas; fertile; rich in potash, phosphoric acid and lime.
• Black soilalso called regur or black cotton soil; made of clayey material; holds moisture; rich in calcium carbonate, magnesium, potash and lime; poor in phosphoric contents.
• Laterite soildevelops under tropical and subtropical climate with alternate wet and dry seasons; result of intense leaching; acidic (pH<6.0); useful for tea and coffee after conservation.
• Arid soilsandy, saline, lacks humus and moisture; kankar layer restricts infiltration.
• Forest soilfound in hilly and mountainous areas; loamy and silty in valley sides, coarse grained on upper slopes.

The denudation of the soil cover and its subsequent washing down is called soil erosion. Soil formation and erosion go on simultaneously and usually balance each other, but human activities such as deforestation, overgrazing, construction and mining disturb this balance. Running water cuts through clayey soils and makes deep channels called gullies, making land unfit for cultivation; such land is called bad land, and in the Chambal basin these are called ravines. Water flowing as a sheet over a slope causes sheet erosion, while wind blowing loose soil off flat or sloping land causes wind erosion. Defective farming methods, such as ploughing up and down the slope, also cause erosion. Conservation methods include contour ploughing, terrace cultivation, strip cropping and shelter belts.

• Contour ploughingploughing along contour lines to slow the flow of water down slopes.
• Terrace cultivationcutting steps on slopes to restrict erosion; well developed in the western and central Himalayas.
• Strip croppingdividing large fields into strips with strips of grass between crops to break the force of wind.
• Shelter beltsrows of trees planted to stabilise sand dunes and check wind erosion.