RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

1 1974 Gandhian philosophy was presented by Schumacher in his book ‘Small is Beautiful’
RESOURCE Brundtland Commission Report, 1987 introduced the concept of ‘Sustainable Development’ published in a book entitled
‘Our Common Future’.

Technologically accessible, economically feasible & culturally acceptable

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Classification of Resources LAND RESOURCES
These resources can be classified in the following ways
(A) (B) (C) (D) Land an asset of a finite magnitude supports natural vegetation, wild life, human life, economic activities, and transport
On the basis of On the basis of On the basis of On the basis of status of and communication systems.
origin – biotic and exhaustibility – ownership – development – potential,
abiotic renewable & individual, community, developed stock & reserves Land Distribution in India-
non-renewable national & international
About 43 % of the land area plain About 30 % of the total surface area Mountain About 27 % of the area of the country the
provides facilities for agriculture ensure perennial flow of some rivers; provides plateau region rich reserves of minerals,
and industry. facilities for tourism and ecological aspects. fossil fuels and forests.
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DEVELOPMENT OF RESOURCES
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Vital for human survival & maintaining the quality of life
LAND UTILISATION
But Indiscriminate use led to major problems
Land resources are used for the following purposes:
Forests
Depletion of Accumulation of resources in Global ecological crises like global
resources few hands divided the society warming, ozone layer depletion, Land not available for cultivation (a) Barren and waste land (b) Land put to non-agricultural uses,
into two segments i.e. haves environmental pollution and e.g. buildings, roads, factories, etc.
and have nots land degradation.
Other uncultivated land (excluding fallow land)
Permanent pastures and grazing land Land under miscellaneous tree crops groves (not included in net sown area),
Solutions:-
Culturable waste land (left uncultivated for more than 5 agricultural years).
An equitable distribution of resources Proper resource planning. sustainable development.
Fallow lands

Sustainable Development- Current fallow-(left without cultivation for one or less than one agricultural year),

Development should take place Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit Other than current fallow-(left uncultivated for the past 1 to 5 agricultural years).
without damaging the environment, (UNCED),1992 Agenda 21
and development in the present Sustainable Development Net sown area the physical extent of land on which crops are sown harvested is known as Net sown area. Area sown more
should not compromise with the than once in an agricultural year plus net sown area is known as Gross cropped area.
needs of the future generations
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LAND USE PATTERN IN INDIA
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RESOURCE PLANNING
Total geographical area of India Land use data is available only for 93 per cent of the
3.28 million sq. km. total geographical area
Regional Inequality in the distrubution of Example: Arunachal Pradesh has abundance of
Resources So there is a need for a balanced water resources but lacks in infrastructural
resource planning at the national, state, regional development. The state of Rajasthan is very well The pattern of net sown area varies greatly from one state to another Forest area in the country far lower than the
and local levels. endowed with solar and wind energy but lacks in over 80 per cent of the total area in Punjab and Haryana less than 10 per desired 33 per cent of geographical area as per
water resources cent in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur and Andaman Nicobar Islands the National Forest Policy (1952)

Resource Planning in India-

(i) identification and inventory of resources across the regions of the country. 7
(ii) Evolving a planning structure with appropriate technology, skill and institutional set up.
LAND DEGRADATION AND CONSERVATION MEASURES
(iii) Matching the resource development plans with overall national development plans.
95 % of our basic needs obtained Human activities degradation of land & India About 130 million hectares of degraded
Conservation of Resources- from land aggravated the pace of natural forces to land
cause damage to land. • 28 per cent forest degraded area
Gandhiji “There is enough for everybody’s need and not for any body’s greed
• 56 per cent water eroded area and the rest
At international level the Club of Rome advocated resource conservation for the first time in a systematic way in 1968. is affected by saline and alkaline deposits.
Causes of Land degradation- Forest Soils
Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha mining • Hilly and mountainous areas where sufficient rain forests are available
• Loam and silt in valley side and coarse grain in upper side
• In the snow covered areas Acidic with low humus content
Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra overgrazing • Lower parts of the valleys and alluvial fans fertile

Soil Erosion :
Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh over irrigation
Denudation of the soil cover and subsequent washing down soil erosion

Deforestation Over-grazing Construction and Mining

Ways to solve the problems of land degradation-
Running water cuts through the clayey soils and makes deep channels gullies
Land unfit for cultivation Badlands in Chambal such lands are called ravines
Afforestation Planting of shelter belts of plants Control on over grazing
Top soil is washed away Sheet erosion

Soil Conservation:
stabilisation of sand dunes by growing thorny bushes Contour Ploughing-decrease flow along contour lines
Terrace cultivation-restrict erosion (western and central Himalayas)
Strip cropping large fields to strips
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SOIL AS A RESOURCE Shelter belts rows of trees stabilize sand dunes

Most important renewable natural resource 9

Various forces of nature change in temperature, actions of running water, wind and glaciers, activities of decomposers etc.
STATE OF INDIA’S ENVIRONMENT: A CASE STUDY
contribute to the formation of soil.
People’s management-Sukhomanjari village and Jhabua Tree density in Sukhomajri increased from 13 per hectare in
Classification of Soil: 1976 to 1,272 per hectare in 1992

Alluvial Soil People being made the decision-makers by the Madhya Pradesh government 2.9 million hectares or about 1 per cent of
• Very Fertile Most widely spread and important soil consists of sand, silt & clay India’s land area, are being greened across the state through watershed management.
• Deposited by three important river systems the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra
• Extend in Rajasthan and Gujarat through a narrow corridor.
• Also found in the eastern coastal plains in the deltas of the Mahanadi, the Godavari, the Krishna and the Kaveri rivers.
• Ideal for the growth of sugarcane, paddy, wheat and other cereal and pulse crops
• Bangar Old Alluvial, higher concentration of kanker nodules
• Khadar New Alluvial, more fine particles

Black Soil
• Suitable for cotton
• known as Regur soils extremely fine Clayey Material hold moisture rich in Calcium Carbonate, magnesium, potash & lime
poor in phosphoric contents
• Maharashtra, Saurashtra, Malwa, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and extend in the south east direction along the Godavari
and the Krishna valleys

Red and Yellow Soil

• Develops on crystalline igneous rocks in areas of low rainfall in the eastern and southern parts of the Deccan plateau
• Found in parts of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, southern parts of the middle Ganga plain & along the piedmont zone of the Western Ghats
• Reddish colour due to diffusion of iron in crystalline and metamorphic rocks
• Yellow when it occurs in a hydrated form

Laterite Soil
• From the Latin word ‘later’ means brick
• Develops in areas with high temperature and heavy rainfall as a result of intensive leaching
• Humus content low due to most of the microorganisms, particularly the decomposers, like bacteria get destroyed due to
high temperature
• found in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and the hilly areas of Odisha and Assam
• Hilly areas of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, tea and coffee
• Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala cashew nut

Arid Soils
• From red to brown in colour
• 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.
• Dry climate, high temperature faster evaporation lacks humus and moisture
• lower horizons of the soil are occupied by Kankar
• becomes cultivable in case of western Rajasthan