Resources and development Flashcards
Resource
Anything that can be used to satisfy needs that is
- technologically accessible
- culturally acceptable
- economically feasible
How are humans, technology, institutions and nature connected?
Humans interact with nature using technology and create institutions to accelerate economic dev
Classification of resources on 4 criterion
- Origin: abiotic, biotic
- Exhaustibility: renewable, non-renewable
- Ownership: Private, Community, National, International
- Status of dev: potential, developed, stock and reserves
Origin
> Biotic
Obtained from biosphere and have life
Humans, cattle, fisheries
> Abiotic
Non living
Rocks, metals
Exhaustibility
> Renewable
Can be replenished via mechanical, biological or chemical processes
Continuous/flow: sunlight, wind, water
Wildlife, forest
> Non-renewable
Occur over a very long geological period
Fossil fuels like petrol
Metals (recyclable)
Ownership
> Individual
Owned privately
Farmer’s plot, houses/flats, pasture lands, plantations
> Community
All members of a community have access
Parks, burial grounds, playgrounds, village ponds
> National
Technically, all resources belong to the nation
Legal power to acquire private property for public good
All minerals, wildlife, water, forest, land etc within political boundaries and 12 nautical miles from coast (territorial waters)
> International
200 nautical miles beyond the Exclusive Economic Zone: open ocean
No utilisation without concurrence of international instituitions
Status of development
> Potential
Resources abundant but not utilised
Rajasthan Gujarat: solar and wind energy
> Developed
Surveyed
Quality and quantity determined for utilisation
> Stock
Potential to satisfy needs but lack of appropriate technology
Hydrogen in water
> Reserves (subset of stock)
Resources that technologically accessible but their utilisation has not started as to preserve it for future requirements
Forests, dams (river water hydroelectricity)
Problems due to indiscriminate usage of resources
- depletion of resources
- accumulation in a few hands
- ecological crises
Sustainable development
Development that does not harm the environment nor compromise the needs of future generations
Rio De Janeiro Earth Summit
1992, Brazil, UNCED
More than 100 heads of states
Environmental protection and socio-economic development
Declaration of Global Climatic Change and Biological Diversity
Global Forest Principles
Agenda 21
Agenda 21
Signed by world leaders in 1992 at United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro
Global sustainable development
Combat environmental damage, poverty, disease
Through global cooperation based on mutual needs, shared responsibility and common interests
Major objective” every local govt draw its own Agenda 21
Distribution of resources in India
Minerals and coal
> MP, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand
Water but no infrastructure
> Arunachal Pradesh
Wind, solar but no water
> Rajasthan
Cultural, no minerals, water infrastructure
> Ladakh
Resource Planning
i) Identification and Inventory
Mapping, surveying, quantitative and qualitative estimation
ii) Evolving a planning structure
Appropriate tech, institutional set-up and skill
iii) Matching resource development plans with overall national development plans
Resources contribute to dev only when ____?
They are accompanied by appropriate technological development and institutional changes
Gandhi on resources
“There is enough for everybody’s need and not for anybody’s greed”
Mass production < production by the masses
International level
Club of Rome
‘Small is beautiful’ Schumacher
Brundtland Commission Report 1987 (intrduced sust dev)
> ‘Our common future’ book
Landforms + utility
43: Plains
Agriculture, industries
20: Mountains
Perennial flow of rivers, tourism, ecological aspects
27: Plateau
Minerals, fossil fuels, forests
Land classification
- Forests
- Land not available for cultivation
- Other uncultivated lands
- Fallow lands
- Net Sown Area
Land not available for cultivation
- barren + waste
- other uses, housing, industries, roads etc
- Other uncultivated lands
- permanent pastures and grazing lands
- miscellaneous tree crops
- cultruable waste lands (uncultivated > 5 agr years)
- Fallow lands
Current fallow
1 or less agr year
Other than current
1-5 agr year
Gross cropped area
area sown more than once in a year + net sown area
Total geo area
3.28 million sq km
Pattern of NSA
over 80% in Punjab Haryana
less than 10% Mizoram, Manipur, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal
Desired % of forest
33 of total geo area
National Forest Policy 1952
__% of our basic needs for food shelter and clothing comes from land
95
Land degradation in various states
> Deforestation due to mining
Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, MP, Odisha
> Overgrazing
Gujarat, Rajasthan, MP, Maharashtra
> Over-irrigation (water logging increases salinity+alkalinity)
Punjab, Haryana, UP
How does mineral processing degrade land
calcite, soapstone (ceramic industry)
limestone (cement ind)
dust
dust settles, hinders ability of water to infiltrate soil
Ways to solve land degradation
Afforestation
Control grazing
> arid
Thorny bushes: sand dunes stabilisation
Shelter belts of plants
> urban, suburban
Treat industrial effluents and wastes before disposal
Control mining activities
management of waste lands
Soil profile
Top Soil, upper soil layer
Subsoil weathered rock, sand, silt clay
Substratum weathered parent rock
Unweathered parent bed rock
Alluvial soil: distribution
Northern plains (Indus Ganga Brahmaputra)
Extend to Rj Gj narrow corridor
Eastern coastal plains (Godavari Krishna Mahanadi Kaveri deltas)
Chos, Duars and Terai?
alluvial soils found in Piedmont plains which are coarse especially in the upper reaches of the river valley
Alluvial soil based on age
Bangar
OLD
- more kanker nodules
Khadar
NEW
- more fine particles
- more fertile
Alluvial soil usage
Right proportion of potash lime and phosphoric acid
ideal for sugarcane, paddy, wheat, cereals, pulses
intensively cultivated and densely populated
Black soil distribution
Deccan trap (basalt) region
NW deccan plateau
Maharashtra, MP, Malwa, Saurashtra, Chhattisgarh
Black soil properties
aka regur soils, black cotton soil
made of extremely fine clayey material
hold moisture well
rich in calcium carbonate, Mg, potash, lime
poor in phosphoric content
deep cracks in hot weather= proper aeration of soil
sticky when wet:: diff to work with unless immediately tilled after the first shower/pre monsoon
Red and yellow soils
low rainfall, on crystalline igneous rocks
east and south deccan
odisha, chhattisgarh, south ganga plain, piedmont western ghats
red due to diffusion of iron in crystalline and metamorphic rocks
yellow hydrated form
Laterite soil
Latin, later = brick
devs in tropical/subtropical climate w alternate wet and dry season
result of intense leaching due to heavy rain
deep- very deep,
acidic
deficient in nutrients
humus rich w deci and evergreen forests, vice versa
prone to degradation and erosion
TN kerala kntk coffee cashew AP
Laterite soil distribution and usage
> mhrhtra, kerala, TN, odisha, WB, NE region
humus rich: support deciduous and evergreen forests
humus poor: sparse vege, semi arid
prone to erosion and degradation due to position of landscape
TN, Kerala, Karnataka : coffee + tea (appropriate soil cons techniques)
Red laterite TN Andhra P Kerala: cashew
Arid
red-brown color
sandy
saline (salt can be obtained sometimes)
lacks humus and moisture
lower horizons= kankar (increasing calcium content downwards)
restricts infiltration of water
irrigation>cultivable Rj
Forest soils
Hilly/mountainous areas, rain forests available
Valley: loamy + silty
Upper slopes: coarse grained
Snow covered himalayas: denudation, acidic, low humus
Lower valley (esp river terraces and alluvial fans): fertile
Soil erosion
denudation of soil cover and subsequent washing down
Causes of s erosion
man made
over grazing
deforestation
mining
construction
natural
wind
water
glacier
different ways of soil erosion
water, clayey soil: deep channels, gullies
unfit for cult, bad land
chambal basin: ravines
sheet erosion
water flows as a sheet
top soil washed
wind erosion
blows loose soil off flat/sloping land
ploughing up/down the slope
channels for quick flow of water, erosion
soil erosion solutions
contour ploughing
ploughing along contour lines to decelerate flow of water
terrace farming
steps cut on slopes
western and central himalayas well deved
Strip cropping
strips of grass are made to grow in between crops to stop the force of wind
Shelter belts
planting lines of trees
stabilisation of sand dunes/desert western india
