Resources are everything available in the environment which can be used to satisfy human needs provided, it is technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally acceptable. Human beings interact with nature through technology and create institutions to accelerate their economic development.
Resources are a function of human activities. Human beings themselves are essential components of
resources. They transform material available in our environment into resources and use them.
Classification of Resources:
- On the basis of Origin – biotic and abiotic.
- On the basis of Exhaustibility – renewable and non-renewable.
- On the basis of Ownership – individual, community, national and international.
- On the basis of Status of Development – potential, developed stock and reserves.
Types of Resources
On the basis of Origin:
- Biotic Resources: These resources are obtained from biosphere and have life such as human beings,
flora and fauna, fisheries, livestock etc. - Abiotic resources: These are things which are composed of non-living things such as rocks and metals.
On the basis of Exhaustibility:
- Renewable (or Replenishable) Resources: These are resources which can be renewed or reproduced by physical, chemical or mechanical processes. For example – solar, wind energy, water, etc. They may further be divided into continuous or flow.
- Non-Renewable Resources: These occur over a very long geological time. For example – Minerals, fossil fuels etc. Some of them like metals are recyclable and some like fossil fuels cannot be recycled.
On the basis of Ownership:
- Individual Resources: These are also owned privately by individual. Such as Plantation, pasture lands, ponds, water in wells etc.
- Community Owned Resources: These are resources that are accessible to all the members of the community. For example – Village commons (grazing grounds, village ponds etc.).
- National Resources: Technically, all the resources belong to the nation. All the minerals, water resources, forests, land within the political boundaries and oceanic area up to 12 nautical miles (22.2
km) from the coast termed as territorial water and resources therein belong to the nation. - International Resources: The oceanic resources beyond 200 nautical miles of the Exclusive Economic Zone belong to open ocean and no individual country can utilise these without the concurrence of international institutions. (ISBA, UNCLOS).
On the basis of the Status of Development:
- Potential Resources: These are those resources which are found in a region but they have not been
utilised. For example – The Western parts of India have not developed the wind and solar energy properly despite having enormous potential. - Developed Resources: These are resources which are surveyed and their quality and quantity have been determined for utilisation. Their development depends on technology and level of their feasibility.
- Stock: They are the materials in the environment which have the potential to satisfy human needs but human beings do not have the appropriate technology to access these. For example, Human beings do not the advanced technology to utilize hydrogen from water as a source of energy.
- Reserves: They 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. For example, River water can be used for generating hydroelectric power but it is being utilised only to a limited extent.
Development of Resource:
Resources are vital for human survival as well as for maintaining the quality of life. Human beings considered resources are free gift which resulted into indiscriminate use of the resources.
- Depletion of resources for satisfying the greed of a few individuals.
- Accumulation of resources in few hands which divided the society into two segments i.e. haves and have nots or rich and poor.
- Indiscriminate exploitation of resources has led to global ecological crises such as, global warming, ozone layer depletion, environmental pollution and land degradation.
Resource Planning:
Resource planning is essential for sustainable existence of all forms of life. Sustainable existence is a component of sustainable development.
- Planning is the widely accepted strategy for judicious use of resources. It has importance in a country like India, which has enormous diversity in the availability of resources.
- There are some regions which can be considered self sufficient in terms of the availability of resources and there are some regions which have acute shortage of some vital resources.
- For example – The state of Rajasthan is very well endowed with solar and wind energy but lacks in water resources.
- A balanced resource planning at national, state, regional and local level is necessary.
Resource Planning in India:
- Resource Planning is a complex process which involves:
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- Identification and Inventory of resources: Across the regions of the country. It involves surveying, mapping and qualitative and quantitative estimation and measurement of the resources.
- Evolving a Planning Structure: It is endowed with appropriate technology, skill and institutional set up for implementing resource development plans.
- Matching the resource development plans with overall national development plans.
- India has been working for resources planning since first five year plan.
- Resources can contribute to development only when they are accompanied by appropriate technological development and institutional changes.
- In India, development, in general, and resource development in particular does not only involve the availability of resources, but also the technology, quality of human resources and the historical experiences of the people.
Conservation of Resources:
Then irrational consumption and over-utilisation of resources may lead to socio-economic and environmental problems. To overcome this problems resource conservation at various level is important.
Land Resources:
- Land is natural resource of utmost importance and supports natural vegetation, wild life, human life, economic activities, and transport and communication systems.
- In India 43 per cent of the land area is plain, 30 per cent Mountains and about 27 per cent of the area of the country is the plateau region.
Land Use Pattern:
It is determined by:
- Physical factors: Physical factors like topography, climate, soil types.
- Human factors: It includes population density, technological capability and culture and traditions etc.
Categories of Land use pattern:
- Forests
- Land not available for Cultivation:
- Forests
· Land not available for Cultivation:
· Forests
· Land not available for Cultivation:
Ø Barren and waste land.
Ø Land put to non-agricultural uses, e.g. buildings, roads, factories, etc.
· Other Uncultivated land (excluding fallow land):
Ø Permanent pastures and grazing land.
Ø Land under miscellaneous tree crops groves (not included in net sown area).
Ø Cultural waste land (left uncultivated for more than 5 agricultural years).
· Fallow Lands: Fallow land includes,
Ø Current fallow-(left without cultivation for one or less than one agricultural year).
Ø Other than current fallow-(left uncultivated for the past 1 to 5 agricultural years).
· Net Sown area: The area sown more than once in an agricultural year is called net sown area and it is
also known as gross cropped area.
Land Use Pattern in India:
· Variation of Net Sown Area in states: It is over 80 per cent of the total area in Punjab and Haryana and
less than 10 per cent in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur and Andaman Nicobar Islands.
· Forest Area: It is far lower than the desired 33 per cent of geographical area as outlined in the National
Forest Policy (1952).
· Waste Land: It includes rocky, arid and desert areas and land put to other non-agricultural uses
includes settlements, roads, railways, industry etc.
· Land Conservation: Continuous use of land over a long period of time without taking appropriate
measures to conserve and manage it has resulted in land degradation.
