Notes Class 10 Geography Chapter 1 Resource and Development

Notes For All Chapters Geography Class 10 CBSE

1. Meaning of Resources

• Definition: Everything available in our environment that can be used to satisfy human needs, provided it is technologically accessible, economically feasible, and culturally acceptable.
• Resources are not free gifts of nature.
  • They are the result of human interaction with nature, using technology and institutions.
  • Human beings themselves are an essential part of resources because they transform materials into usable forms.

Classification of Resources

(a) On the basis of Origin

• Biotic: Living things (forests, animals, human beings, fisheries).
• Abiotic: Non-living things (rocks, minerals, water, metals).

(b) On the basis of Exhaustibility

• Renewable: Can be renewed or reproduced by physical, chemical, or mechanical processes (e.g. forests, wildlife, solar energy, wind energy, water).
• Non-renewable: Limited stock, take millions of years to form (e.g. coal, petroleum, natural gas, minerals).

(c) On the basis of Ownership

• Individual Resources: Owned by private individuals (e.g. plots, houses, plantations, pasture lands).
• Community Resources: Accessible to all members of a community (e.g. village grazing grounds, burial grounds, public parks).
• National Resources: Belong to the nation (all minerals, water, forests, public lands). Government controls their use.
• International Resources: Governed by international institutions; for example, oceanic resources beyond 200 nautical miles from Exclusive Economic Zone.

(d) On the basis of Development Status

• Potential Resources: Present in a region but not fully utilized (e.g. solar and wind energy in Rajasthan and Gujarat).
• Developed Resources: Surveyed, quality and quantity determined, and currently being used (e.g. coal, petroleum, water, iron).
• Stock: Resources available but humans don’t have the technology to use them (e.g. hydrogen and oxygen as fuel).
• Reserves: Subset of stock that can be used with existing technology but are kept for future use (e.g. water in dams, forests).

2. Development of Resources

Resources are essential for human survival and quality of life.

Problems due to indiscriminate use of resources:

• Depletion of resources for satisfying the greed of a few.
• Accumulation of resources in few hands → division into rich and poor.
• Overuse of resources → ecological problems: global warming, ozone depletion, pollution, land degradation.

Conclusion: Equitable distribution of resources is necessary for sustainable quality of life and peace.

3. Sustainable Development

• Definition: Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
• Important Events:
  • Club of Rome (1968): Advocated resource conservation.
  • Schumacher’s “Small is Beautiful” (1974): Reintroduced Gandhian philosophy.
  • Brundtland Commission Report (1987): Introduced “sustainable development.”
  • Rio Earth Summit (1992): Over 100 heads of states met in Brazil. Signed Agenda 21.

Agenda 21

• Global action plan for sustainable development.
• Goals:
  • Combat environmental damage, poverty, disease.
  • Achieve development through cooperation and shared responsibility.
  • Every local government should prepare its own “Local Agenda 21.”

4. Resource Planning

Definition: Strategy for judicious use of resources.

• Importance in India: Unequal distribution of resources.
  • Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh → rich in minerals & coal.
  • Arunachal Pradesh → rich in water, poor in infrastructure.
  • Rajasthan → rich in solar & wind, poor in water.
  • Ladakh → rich in culture, poor in resources & infrastructure.

Steps in Resource Planning:

1. Identification & inventory of resources (survey, mapping, quantitative & qualitative estimation).
2. Planning structure with technology, skill, institutions.
3. Matching resource development plans with national development plans.

Need for Conservation of Resources:

• Gandhiji: “There is enough for everybody’s need and not for anybody’s greed.”
• Modern exploitation + greed = resource depletion.

5. Land Resources

• Land is a natural resource of utmost importance → supports life, vegetation, wildlife, economic activities, transport, communication.
• Relief features in India:
  • Plains → 43% (agriculture, industry, settlement).
  • Mountains → 30% (forests, tourism, rivers).
  • Plateaus → 27% (minerals, fossil fuels, forests).

6. Land Utilisation in India

Land used for:

1. Forests
2. Land not available for cultivation

• Barren and waste land.
• Land under non-agricultural uses (roads, buildings, industry).

3. Other uncultivated land (excluding fallow land):

• Permanent pastures.
• Miscellaneous tree crops.
• Culturable waste land.

4. Fallow Land:

• Current fallow (1 year).
• Other than current fallow (1–5 years).

5. Net Sown Area (NSA): Land actually cultivated.

• Gross Cropped Area = Net Sown Area + Area sown more than once.

7. Land Use Pattern in India

• Determined by physical factors (topography, climate, soil) and human factors (population, technology, culture).
• Forest area less than desired 33% (as per 1952 Forest Policy).
• Net Sown Area: ~54% of reporting area.
  • High (>80%) in Punjab & Haryana.
  • Low (<10%) in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, Andaman & Nicobar.

8. Land Degradation and Conservation

Causes of Land Degradation:

• Deforestation.
• Overgrazing.
• Mining & quarrying.
• Over irrigation (Punjab, Haryana, western UP → salinity, waterlogging).
• Industrial effluents & wastes.

Conservation Measures:

• Afforestation.
• Controlled grazing.
• Shelter belts, sand dune stabilization.
• Proper disposal of industrial wastes.
• Terrace farming, contour ploughing.

9. Soil as a Resource

• Soil = most important renewable resource.
• Takes millions of years to form.
• Factors: relief, rock, climate, vegetation, organisms, time.
• Components: sand, silt, clay, humus, minerals.

Types of Soils in India

1. Alluvial Soil

• Deposited by Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra.
• Found in northern plains, eastern coastal deltas.
• Two types:
  • Bangar (old, less fertile, has kankar).
  • Khadar (new, more fertile).
• Fertile, good for rice, wheat, sugarcane.

2. Black Soil (Regur / Cotton Soil)

• Found in Deccan plateau (Maharashtra, MP, Gujarat).
• Good moisture retention. Rich in lime, iron, magnesium.
• Ideal for cotton.

3. Red and Yellow Soil

• Found in Deccan plateau, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Western Ghats.
• Red due to iron; yellow in hydrated form.

4. Laterite Soil

• Found in Karnataka, Kerala, TN, Odisha, WB, NE.
• Formed due to leaching.
• Poor in nutrients but good for tea, coffee, cashew with proper care.

5. Arid Soil

• Found in Rajasthan, Gujarat.
• Sandy, saline, low humus, cultivable after irrigation.

6. Forest Soil

• Found in hilly, mountainous areas.
• Loamy & silty in valleys; acidic in snow areas.

10. Soil Erosion and Conservation

• Soil Erosion: Removal of topsoil by wind, water, human activity.
• Types:
  • Gully erosion (ravines in Chambal).
  • Sheet erosion.
  • Wind erosion (deserts).

Soil Conservation Methods:

• Contour ploughing.
• Terrace farming.
• Strip cropping.
• Shelter belts (rows of trees to block wind).