RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

Everything available in our environment which can be used to satisfy our needs can be termed a Resource. It plays an important role in good quality of life.

Types of resources

Based on origin

• Biotic resources: Those are obtained from the biosphere and have a life such as human beings, flora and fauna, fisheries, livestock etc.
• Abiotic resources: Things that are composed of non-living things such as rocks and materials.

Based on exhaustibility

• Renewable resources: the resources which can be reproduced. For example solar and wind energy, water, forests and wildlife etc.
• Non-renewable resources: these occur over a long geological time for example minerals and fossil fuels.

Based on ownership

• Individual resources: Resources owned by an individual, for example, houses and agricultural lands.
• Community-owned resources: Resources owned by a group of people example grazing grounds, burial grounds, public parks, playgrounds etc.
• National resources: Technically, all the resources belong to the nation. For example Roads, canals, railways, forests, wildlife, and oceanic area up to 12 nautical miles from the coast.
• International resources: resources that are regulated by international institutions. The oceanic resources beyond 200 nautical miles of the exclusive economic zone belong to the open ocean no one can utilize these without permission.

Sustainable development: Sustainable development means development without damaging the environment and protecting it for future generations. The global level conversation was made by the Brand Land Commission report in 1987. This report introduced the concept of sustainable development

Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit 1992: It is the first international Earth Summit held in Brazil. They Adopted Agenda 21 to combat environmental damage, poverty, diseases, mutual needs and shared responsibilities. The leaders signed the declaration on global climatic change and biological diversity.

2. Resource planning in India

India has made concerted efforts for resource planning from the first five-year plan.

Conversation of Resources: The resources can be overutilized; which leads to socio-economic and environmental problems. To overcome these problems, we adopted resource conversation.

Club of Rome advocated an international level, resource conversation in 1968.

Land resources: 43% of the land area is plain, 30 % mountains and 27% plateau in India.

• Land utilization;
• Forests,
• Land not for cultivation example barren and wasteland,
• Another uncultivated land [left uncultivated for more than 5 agricultural years]
• Fallow lands [left without cultivation for one or less than one agricultural year].
• Net shown area [area sown more than once in an agricultural year]

3. Solis

"Soil" refers to the upper layer of the Earth's crust that supports plant life. It is a complex and dynamic natural resource that provides a habitat for a variety of organisms and plays a crucial role in sustaining life on Earth. Soli is an important renewable natural resource.

Classification of soils

• Alluvial soils: Alluvial soils are very fertile, it contain a high amount of potash, phosphoric acid and lime. They consist of sand, silt and clay. Old alluvial [bangar] new alluvial [khaddar]. Found in the deltas of the Indus, the Ganga, the Brahmaputra, the Mahanadi the Godavari, the Krishna, and the Kaveri rivers. They also extend Rajasthan and Gujarat. Crops grown in this soil are sugar cane, paddy, wheat and other cereal and pulse crops.
• Black soil: The black soils are made up of clayey material, and soil nutrients such as calcium carbonate, magnesium, potash and lime. Generally, these are Poor in phosphoric content. Found in the Deccan plateau, the plateau of Maharashtra, Saurashtra, Malwa, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and extends the southwest direction of the Godavari and Krishna valleys. Crops grown in this soil are cotton.
• Red and yellow soils: Red soil develops on crystalline igneous rocks This soil develops a reddish colour due to diffusion of iron in crystalline and metamorphic rocks. It looks yellow when it occurs in a hydrated form. These soils are found in the eastern and southern parts of the Deccan plateau, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, southern parts of the middle Ganga plain and the predominant form of western Ghats.
• Laterite soils: Laterite has been derived from the Latin word ‘later’ which means brick. It develops in areas of high temperature and high rainfall. Humus content is low due to high temperature. These are mainly found in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and the hilly areas of Odisha and Assam.
• Red laterite soils in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala are more suitable for crops like cashew net.
• Forest soils: These soils are found in hilly, river terraces and mountain areas. These soils experience denudation and are acidic with low humus content.

Soil erosion and soil conservation

• The displacement of the upper layer of the soil is said to be soil erosion.  It is due to deforestation, over-grazing, construction and mining etc. The land which is unfit for cultivation is called bad land.
• Water flows as a sheet over large areas and washed topsoil is called sheet erosion.  The wind blows loose soil of a flat is known as wind erosion.
• Strip cropping is a kind of farming wherein areas are cut into long narrow strips which are then used to plant or grow crops
• Shelterbelts are a barrier to trees and shrubs that protect from wind and storm and decrease erosion.