Class 10th NCERT Resources and development notes by Vibha Maam | Chapter 1 Geography notes | English

Resources

       Everything available in our environment which can be used to satisfy our needs, is technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally acceptable can be termed as resources.

       Resources can be classified on the basis of origin, exhaustibility, ownership and the status of development. 

Type of resources:-

• On the basis of origin:- biotic and abiotic

Biotic resources:- these are obtained from biosphere like flora and fauna. These resources can be renewed.

Abiotic resources:- these resources are obtained from non-living materials such as rocks,metal, land, mountains etc. these cannot be renewed.

• On the basis of exhaustibility :- renewable and non-renewable

Renewable resources:-these resources can be renewed by the physical or chemical process like solar energy, wind energy, forests. 

Non-Renewable resources :- these resources cannot be renewed or reproduced. It can take millions of years to form. like minerals and fossil fuels.

• On the basis of ownership:– Individual, Community, National and International

Individual Resources

       These are privately-owned by individuals like houses, plots, wells, vehicles, etc.

Community Owned Resources

       These are owned by all the members of the community like public parks, picnic spots, burial ground etc.

National Resources

       These resources belong to a nation like minerals, water resources, forests, wildlife, railways, etc.

International Resources

       These resources do not belong to an individual nation. These resources can be used by the international community or by any other country. like oceanic resources beyond 200 nautical miles of the exclusive economic zone are examples of these resources.

• On the basis of status of development :- Potential ,Developed ,Stock and Reserves.

Potential resource

       Resources are found in a region but have not been utilized like wind energy and solar energy in western part of India.

Developed resources

       Resources which are surveyed and their quality and quantity have been determined for utilization. The development of resources depends on technology. like minerals and energy resources.

Stock

       The materials in the environment which have the potential to satisfy the human needs but cannot be utilized in absence of appropriate technology are known as stock. like hydrogen and oxygen( water components) can be used as a resource of energy but we do not have the technology for that.

Reserves

       The stock for which technology is available but the use has not been started and these can be used for the future requirement are known as reserves. For example, river water can be used for generating hydroelectric power.

Development of Resources

       Resources play a vital role for human survival and maintaining the quality of life. Therefore humans use them indiscriminately. as a result resources are depleted ,accumulated in few hands and lead to global ecological crisis like global warming

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 generation.
• In June1992, the first International Earth summit was held at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Agenda 21). The agenda of this summit was to combat environmental damage and poverty at the global level.

Resource Planning 

• Resource planning is the widely accepted source by judicious use of resources. a country like India has enormous diversity in the availability of resources. Therefore it is important to plan about the resources.
• There are some regions in India which can be considered self-sufficient in terms of availability of resources and there are some regions which have shortage of  resources. Therefore, Indians need balanced resource planning at the national,state, regional and local levels.

Resource Planning in India

       Resource planning is a complex process which involves the three steps

i) Identification and inventory of resources across the regions of the country 

ii) Proper planning with appropriate technology skill and institutional setup for implementing resource development plans.

iii) Matching the resource development plans with overall national development plans.

• India has made a concerted effort for achieving the goals of resource planning from the First Five Year Plan launched after independence.
•  Irrational consumption and overutilization of resources may lead to social- economic and environmental problems. To overcome these problems resource conservation at various levels is important.

Land Resources

 Land is a natural resource. It supports natural vegetation, wildlife, human life, economic activities, transportation and communication systems.

Land Utilization

      Land resources are used for many purposes like 

• Forests, 
• Land not available for cultivation(barren and wasteland, non- agricultural use like building, road)
• Other uncultivated land ( grazing land, miscellaneous tree or groves land, left uncultivated land)
• The fallow land 

           i) Current fallow (left without cultivation for one or less than one agricultural year)

           ii) Other than current fallow (left uncultivated for the past  five agricultural year)

• Net sown area 

           i) Area shown only once in any agricultural year is known as net shown area.

           ii) Area shown more than once in an agricultural area plus net net sown area is known as gross cropped area.

Land use Pattern in India

       Land use pattern is determined both by physical factors like topography, climate soil type and human factors. Total geographical area of India is 3.28 million sqkm but only 93% area is used due to some internal and land dispute issues.

• Land Degradation and Conservation Measures

       Continuous use of land over a long period of time resulted in land degradation. Human activities have not only brought about degradation of land but have also aggravated the pace of natural forces to cause damage to land. 

• Land Conservation

       There are many ways to solve the problem of land degradation such as deforestation, proper management of grazing, planting of shelterbelts of plants, stabilization of sand dunes, control of mining activities, proper disposal of industrial effluent and proper management of waste land etc.

Soil as a resource

• Soil is the topmost layer of the earth’s crust. It is the most significant natural renewable resource. It is a living system where plants and many types of living organisms grow.
• India has varied relief features, landforms, climatic realms and vegetation types. These have contributed to the development of various types of soil.

Classification of Soils

• Alluvial soil is deposited by the three important Himalayan river systems : the Indus ,the Ganga and the Brahmaputra.
• Black soil is ideal for growing cotton and is known as regur soil.
• Red soil due to the diffusion of iron in crystalline and metamorphic rock red soil appears red in colour; it looks yellow when it occurs in a hydrate form.
• Laterite soil is the result of intense leaching due to heavy rain and high temperature.
• Arid soils are sandy in texture and saline in nature.
• Forest soils are loamy and silty soil the soil are acidic which was contained in the  snow covered area of Himalaya.

Soil Erosion

• The denudation of the top soil cover and its washing down is described as soil erosion.
• The running water cuts through the clayey soil and makes deep channels as gullies and known as bad land.
• When the topsoil is washed away due to heavy flow of water over a large area down a slope. it is known as sheet erosion .
• When the top fertile soil blows off due to wind, it is known as the wind erosion. 

Soil Conservation

• Ploughing along  the contour lines can decelerate the flow of water down the slopes. This is called contour ploughing.
• Planting lines of trees to create shelter to break up the force of the wind is known as Shelterbelts.
• In hilly areas terrace cultivation restricted erosion.