LAND AND SOIL RESOURCES Chapter 1

Humans through technology and institutions transform things available with nature.
Resources are of two types natural and human.
Resources can be classified in the following ways
(a) On the basis of origin biotic and abiotic
(b) On the basis of exhaustibility renewable and non-renewable
(c) On the basis of ownership individual, community, national and
international
(d) On the basis of status of development potential, developed stock and
reserves.
The oceanic area up to 12 nautical miles from the coast line is called territorial
waters of a country.
The area up to 200 km from the coast line in which the country has the exclusive
rights to exploit the natural resources is the exclusive economic zone. It includes
territorial waters in it.
Resource planning is the technique or strategy for the judicious use of resources in
a country.
Sustainable economic development means development should take place without
damaging the environment, and development in the present should not
compromise with the needs of the future generations.
Agenda 21 is the declaration signed in 1992 at the UNCED, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It
aims at achieving global sustainable development. It is an agenda to combat
environmental damage, poverty, disease through global co-operation.
Land supports natural vegetation, wild life, human life, economic activities,
transport, and communication systems.
About 43 per cent of the land area is plain, which provides facilities for agriculture
and industry.
Mountains account for 30 per cent of the total surface area of the country. They
ensure perennial flow of some rivers; provide facilities for tourism and ecological
aspects.
About 27 per cent of the area of the country is the plateau region. It possesses rich
reserves of minerals, fossil fuels and forests.
Islands are less than 1 per cent of the area of the country. They provide
opportunities for sea trade, tourism, and fish catch.
Net sown area is over 80 per cent of the total area in Punjab and Haryana. Due to
gentle sloping lands covered with fertile alluvial soils and black soils, climate
favours cereal cultivation, good irrigation facilities, high population pressure.
Net sown area is less than 10 per cent in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur and
Andaman Nicobar Islands because of mountainous areas, lack of irrigational
facilities, infertile soils, low density of population, etc.
The use of land is determined both by physical factors such as topography,
climate, and soil types as well as human factors such as population density,
technological capability and culture and traditions etc.
If a land is left uncultivated for more than 5 agricultural years it is called
Culturable waste land.
If a land is left uncultivated for the past 1 to 5 agricultural years it is called Other
than current fallow.
If a land is left without cultivation for one or less than one agricultural year it is
called Current fallow.
Net sown area is the total area sown with crops and orchards. Area sown more
than once in the same year is counted only once.

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Area sown more than once in an agricultural year plus net sown area is known as
gross cropped area.
Barren Land: This includes all land covered by mountains, deserts, etc.
Land which cannot be brought under cultivation except at an huge cost is classified
as unculturable land.
The top most layer of the earth crust which is composed of organic and non-organic
matter is called soil. Soil is renewable natural resource. The soil is a living system.
33 % of geographical area should be under Forest in the country according to the
National Forest Policy 1952.
Alluvial soils are the most widely spread and important soil of our country.
Alluvial soils are found in the entire northern plains, Rajasthan and Gujarat, eastern
coastal plains, deltas of the Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri rivers.
Duars, Chos and Terai are the Piedmont plains where alluvial soils are coarse.
According to their age alluvial soils are of two types: old alluvial (Bangar) and
new alluvial (Khadar).
Black soils are also known as regur soils or cotton soils.
Black soils develops on Basaltic lava rocks.
Black soils are found in the Deccan trap (Basalt) region of Deccan plateau, the
plateaus of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Red soil develops on crystalline igneous rocks.
Red and yellow soils are found in the eastern and southern parts of the Deccan
plateau, the Western Ghats.
The laterite soil develops due to intense leaching in areas with high temperature
and heavy rainfall.
Laterite soils are found in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and the
hilly areas of Orissa and Assam.
The denudation of the soil cover and subsequent washing down is described as soil
erosion.
When the running water cuts through the clayey soils and makes deep channels it
is called gullies.
The land becomes unfit for cultivation and is known as bad land.
In the Chambal basin such lands are called ravines.
Sometimes water flows as a sheet over large areas down a slope. In such cases the
top soil is washed away. This is known as sheet erosion.
Wind blows loose soil off flat or sloping land known as wind erosion.
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Q.1 Define the term resources.
Ans. Everything available in our environment which can be used to satisfy our needs,
provided, it is technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally
acceptable can be termed as Resource

Q.2 Describe the type of resources classified on the basis of origin.

Ans. On the Basis of Origin:
1. Biotic Resources: These are obtained from biosphere and have life such as
human beings, flora and fauna, fisheries, livestock etc.
2. Abiotic Resources: All those things which are composed of non-living things
are called abiotic resources. For example, rocks and metals.

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Q.3 Describe the type of resources classified on the basis of exhaustibility.
Ans. On the Basis of Exhaustibility
1. Renewable Resources: The resources which can be renewed or reproduced by
physical, chemical or mechanical processes are known as renewable or
replenishable resources. The renewable resource may further be divided into
continuous or flow such as wind, water etc. and biological such as forest and
wildlife.
2. Non-Renewable Resources: These resources take a very long geological time
(millions of years) to form. Some of the resources like metals are recyclable and
some like fossil fuels cannot be recycled and get exhausted with their use.

Q.4 Describe the type of resources classified on the basis of Ownership.

Ans. On the Basis of Ownership
1. Individual Resources: These resources are owned privately by individuals. For
example farm land owned by farmers, urban people own plots, houses and other
property.
2. Community Owned Resources: These resources are available to all the members
of the community. For example the village common land for grazing, burial, village
ponds, public parks, picnic spots, playgrounds are available to all the people living
there.
3. National Resources: All the minerals, water resources, forests, wildlife, land
within the political boundaries and oceanic area upto 12 nautical miles (19.2 km)
from the coast are included in national resources.
4. International Resources The oceanic resources outside 200 km of the Exclusive
Economic Zone belong to open ocean and no individual country can utilise these
without the agreement of international institutions.

Q.5 Describe the type of resources classified on the basis of status of development.
Ans. On the Basis of the Status of Development
1. Potential Resources: Resources which are found in a region, but have not been
utilized are called potential resources. For example, wind and solar energy is
abundant in Rajasthan and Gujarat but so far these have not been developed
properly.
2. Developed Resources: Resources which are surveyed and their quality and
quantity have been determined for utilization is called developed resources. The
development of such resources depends on technology and level of their viability.
3. Stock: Resources which have the potential to satisfy our needs but human beings
do not have the appropriate technology to use these, are included among stock.
For example, inflammable gases; hydrogen and oxygen are compounds of water,
which can be used as a source of energy. But we do not have the required technical
know-how to use them for this purpose. Hence, it can be considered as stock.
4. Reserves are the subset of the stock, which can be put into use with the help of
existing technical know-how but their use has not been started. The water in the
dams, forests etc. are a reserve which can be used in the future.

Q.6 Mention the major problems which has arisen due to indiscriminate use of
resources.
Ans. Human beings has used resources indiscriminately and this has led to the following
major problems.
1. Resources have depleted due to the greed of few individuals/countries.
2. Resources have accumulated in few hands, which, in turn, divided the society
into two segments i.e. haves and have nots or rich and poor.

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3. Indiscriminate exploitation of resources has led to global ecological crises

such as, global warming, ozone layer depletion, environmental pollution and
land degradation.

Q.7 Why resource planning is necessary for country like India?

Ans. Resource planning is necessary due to -
i. An equitable distribution of resources is essential for a sustained quality of life and
global peace.
ii. The large diversity in the availability of resources in India.
a. For E.g. We are rich in metallic minerals but deficient in non-metallic
minerals.
iii. Some regions which are rich in certain types of resources but are deficient in some
other resources.
a. For E.g. The state of Rajasthan is very well endowed with solar and wind
energy but lacks in water resources.
b. Arunachal Pradesh has abundance of water resources but lacks in
infrastructural development.
iv. Some regions are self sufficient in resources while others are have acute shortage
of vital resources.
a. For example, the states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are
rich in minerals and coal deposits.
b. While, The cold desert of Ladakh is deficient in water, infrastructure and
some vital minerals.

Q.8 Explain the three stages of resource planning in India.

Ans. Resource planning is a complex process which involves:
(i) First step is identification and making inventory (list) of resources found across the
regions of the country. This involves surveying, mapping and qualitative and
quantitative estimation and measurement of the resources.
(ii) Second step is developing a planning structure which has appropriate technology,
skill and institutional set up for implementing the resource development plans.
(iii) Matching the resource development plans with overall national development plans.

Q.9 Mention three factors on which the development of resource depend.

Ans. In India resource development involve
i. The availability of resources,
ii. The availability of technology,
iii. The quality of human resources,
iv. The historical experiences of the people.

Q.10 Explain why some regions are resource rich but are economically backward?
Explain why some regions are resource poor but are economically developed?
Ans. It is because of the following two reasons:-
1. The eastern states are economically backward even when they have vast resource.
It is because they do not have appropriate technology and institutions to use the
available resources profitably.
2. Mere availability of resources does not guarantee economic development. For the
development it is necessary to have good quality of human resources.
3. Rich states are capable of importing resources from outside therefore some states
which are poor in resources are more developed.

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Q.11 Why resource conservation is important?
Ans. Resource conservation is important because -
1. Resources are vital for any developmental activity.
2. Irrational consumption and over-utilisation of resources has lead to socio-economic
and environmental problems.
3. The greedy and selfish individuals and exploitative nature of modern technology
has caused depletion of resources at the global level.
4. To overcome these problems, resource conservation at various levels is important.

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Self Activity 1
A.1 Study the diagram showing Land Use patterns and answer the following
questions:
i. What is the percentage of land under:
a. forests, -
b. current fallow land, -
c. net sown area, -
d. pastures and grazing land -
e. tree crops, -
f. Barren and waste land, -
g. Land put to non agricultural uses-
h. culturable waste land, -
i. Other than current fallow lands. -
ii. Which type/types of land use shows an increase/decrease during 1960 to
2002?
iii. What does low area under permanent pastures indicates?
(Hint: large scale cultivation, high population pressure, huge cattle population)
iv. What are fallow lands? How much is total cultivated area if the fallow
land is included under cultivated area? Why fallow lands are decreasing?
(Hint: left uncultivated, poor quality soils, the cost of production) 54%
v. What is the desired percentage of forest area essential for maintenance
of the ecological balance in India? How are forests helpful?
(Hint: livelihoods of people)
vi. What are waste lands & land put to non-agricultural uses?
vii. What is main cause of land degradation in India?
(Hint: Continuous use of land, no conserve and manage)

Self Activity 2
Study the figure showing waste lands and answer the following questions:
i. Below are given in List A the names of different waste lands of India and in List B
the percentages of waste lands. Write against each waste lands, the relevant
percentage of it.
LIST A (i) Water eroded area, (ii) forest eroded area (iii) saline & alkaline land and
(iv) Wind eroded area.
LIST B 10%; 28%; 6% and 56%

ii. Which type of waste land is largest of all types? Mention its percentage.

iii. Why this type of wasteland largest in all types. Give one reason.

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Q.12 Describe the natural as well as human causes of land degradation in India.
Ans. The natural causes are:
i. Erosion caused by running Water such as streams and rivers in hilly areas.
ii. Depletion of forests.
iii. Increase in salinity & alkalinity of land due to water logging and droughts.
iv. Erosion caused by the wind in semi-arid and arid areas.
The human factors are:
i. Mineral processing activities: - The mineral processing like grinding of limestone for
cement industry and calcite and soapstone for ceramic industry generate huge
quantity of dust in the atmosphere. It retards the process of infiltration of water
into the soil after it settles down on the land.
ii. Industrial activities: - In recent years, industrial effluents as waste have become a
major source of land and water pollution in many parts of the country.
iii. Mining activities: - Mining sites are abandoned after excavation work is complete
leaving deep scars and traces of over-burdening.
iv. Deforestation: - In states like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa
deforestation due to mining have caused severe land degradation.
v. Overgrazing: - In states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra
overgrazing is one of the main reasons for land degradation.
vi. Over irrigation: - In the states of Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, over
irrigation is responsible for land degradation due to water logging leading to
increase in salinity.

Q.13 Describe various measures to solve the problems of land degradation in India.
Ans. There are many ways to solve the problems of land degradation.
i. Afforestation and proper management of grazing can help to some extent.
ii. In dry and arid areas: - Planting of shelter belts of plants, control on over grazing,
stabilisation of sand dunes by growing thorny bushes are some of the methods to
check land degradation.
iii. In industrial and suburban areas: - Proper management of waste lands, control of
mining activities, proper discharge and disposal of industrial effluents and wastes
after treatment can reduce land and water degradation.

Q.14 Describe the factors which control the formation of soil.

Ans. A number of factors contribute to the soil formation and fertility.
i. Parent rocks: - the rock on which the soil is formed decomposes and disintegrates
under the processes of weathering. The characteristics of rocks influence the
characteristics of soils. For example Black soils are formed on lava rocks and Red
soils are formed on iron oxide rich rocks.
ii. Climate: - climate influence the rate of weathering of rocks and type of vegetation,
thus these influence the characteristics of soils.
iii. Slope: - the nature of relief and slope influence the accumulation of soils.
Mountains have thin soil cover but the plains have thick soil cover.
iv. Time: - time provides maturity to the soil.
v. Various forces of nature such as change in temperature, actions of running water,
wind and glaciers, activities of decomposers etc. contribute to the formation of soil.
vi. Chemical and organic changes which take place in the soil are equally important.

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Q.15 Name the different types of soils found in India.

Ans. the different soils found in India are:
i. Alluvial soils
ii. Black soils
iii. Laterite soils
iv. Red and yellow soils
v. Forest and mountainous soils
vi. Arid soils.

Q.16 Describe any four important characteristics of alluvial soils.

Ans. Important characteristics of alluvial soil are:
These soils have been deposited by three important Himalayan river systems the
Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra.
The alluvial soil consists of various proportions of sand, silt and clay.
In the upper river valleys alluvial soil particles are bigger in size. Such soils are
common in piedmont plains such as Duars, Chos and Terai.
According to their age alluvial soils are of two types: old alluvial (Bangar) and new
alluvial (Khadar).
Alluvial soils as a whole are very fertile.
Mostly these soils contain adequate proportion of potash, phosphoric acid and lime
which are ideal for the growth of sugarcane, paddy, wheat and other cereal and
pulse crops.
Due to its high fertility, regions of alluvial soils are intensively cultivated and
densely populated.
Soils in the drier areas are more alkaline and can be productive after proper
treatment and irrigation.

Q.17 Differentiate between Bangar soils and Khadar soils.

Ans. The differences are: -
a. The bangar soils are old alluvium whereas the khadar soils are new alluvium.
b. The bangar soil has higher concentration of kanker nodules than the Khadar.
c. Khadar soil has more fine particles and is more fertile than the bangar.

Q.18 Describe any four characteristics of black soil found in India.

Ans. Important characteristics of black soils are:
a. The black soils are made up of extremely fine i.e. clayey material.
b. They are well-known for their capacity to hold moisture.
c. In addition, they are rich in soil nutrients, such as calcium carbonate,
magnesium, potash and lime. These soils are generally poor in phosphoric
contents.
d. They develop deep cracks during hot weather, which helps in the proper
aeration of the soil.
e. It is believed that climatic conditions along with the parent rock material are
the important factors for the formation of black soil.
f. These soils are sticky when wet and difficult to work on unless tilled
immediately after the first shower or during the pre-monsoon period.

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Q.19 Describe any four characteristics of red and yellow soil found in India.
Ans. Important characteristics of red and yellow soils are:
a. Red soil develops on crystalline igneous rocks in areas of low rainfall.
b. These soils develop a reddish colour due to diffusion of iron in crystalline
and metamorphic rocks.
c. It looks yellow when it occurs in a hydrated form.
d. They are found in parts of Orissa, Chhattisgarh.

Q.20 Describe any four characteristics of Laterite soil found in India.

Ans. Important characteristics of Laterite soils are:
a. Laterite has been derived from the Latin word later which means brick.
b. The laterite soil develops in areas with high temperature and heavy rainfall.
c. This is the result of intense leaching due to heavy rain.
d. Humus content of the soil is low because most of the micro organisms,
particularly the decomposers, like bacteria, get destroyed due to high
temperature.
e. Laterite soils are suitable for cultivation with adequate doses of manures
and fertilizers.
f. After adopting appropriate soil conservation techniques particularly in the
hilly areas of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, this soil is very useful for
growing tea and coffee.
g. Red laterite soils in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala are more
suitable for crops like cashew nut.

Q.21 Describe any four characteristics of arid soil found in India.

Ans. Important characteristics of arid soils are:
a. Arid soils range from red to brown in colour.
b. They are generally sandy in texture and saline in nature.
c. In some areas the salt content is very high and common salt is obtained by
evaporating the water.
d. Due to the dry climate, high temperature, evaporation is faster and the soil
lacks humus and moisture.
e. The lower horizons of the soil are occupied by Kankar because of the
increasing calcium content downwards. The Kankar layer formations in the
bottom horizons restrict the infiltration of water.
f. After proper irrigation these soils become cultivable as has been in the case
of western Rajasthan.

Q.22 Describe any four characteristics of forest soil found in India.

Ans. Important characteristics of forest soils are:
a. These soils are found in the hilly and mountainous areas where sufficient
rain forests are available.
b. The soils texture varies according to the mountain environment where they
are formed.
c. They are loamy and silty in valley sides and coarse grained in the upper
slopes.
d. In the snow covered areas of Himalayas, these soils experience denudation
and are acidic with low humus content.
e. The soils found in the lower parts of the valleys particularly on the river
terraces and alluvial fans are fertile.

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Q.23 State how is the balance between the soil formation and soil erosion get disturbed?
Explain the factors which cause soil erosion.
Ans. This balance is disturbed due to human activities like
a. deforestation,
b. over-grazing,
c. construction and mining,
d. Defective methods of farming: Ploughing in a wrong way i.e. up and down
the slope form channels for the quick flow of water leads to soil erosion.
It is also disturbed due to natural forces like:
a. Wind,
b. Glacier and
c. Running water leads to soil erosion.

Q.24 Explain the different methods of controlling soil erosion.

Ans. Some of the methods of controlling soil erosion are:
a. In Hilly areas: Ploughing along the contour lines can slow down the
speed/flow of water down the slopes. This is called contour ploughing. Steps
can be cut out on the slopes making terraces. Terrace cultivation restricts
erosion. Western and central Himalayas have well developed terrace
farming.
b. Agricultural regions: Large fields can be divided into strips. Strips of grass
are left to grow between the crops. This breaks up the force of the wind.
This method is known as strip cropping.
c. Dry areas: Planting lines of trees to create shelter also works in a similar
way. Rows of such trees are called shelter belts. These shelter belts have
contributed significantly to the stabilisation of sand dunes and in stabilising
the desert in western India.

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