1 Alluvial soils - WordPress.com€¦ · 10/05/2019  · 1 Alluvial soils 2 Black (or Regur soil) 3 Red and Yellow soils 4 Laterite soils 5 Arid and desert soils 6 Saline and alkaline

1 Alluvial soils 2 Black (or Regur soil) 3 Red and Yellow soils 4 Laterite soils 5 Arid and desert soils 6 Saline and alkaline soils 7 Peaty and marshy soils 8 Forest and mountain soils

Types of Soils States where found Rich in: Lacks in: Crops grown

Alluvial

Mainly found in the plains of Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand etc.

Potash and Lime Nitrogen and Phosphorous

Large variety of rabi and kharif crops such as wheat, rice, sugarcane, cotton, jute etc.

Black (Regur soil)

Deccan plateau- Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Valleys of Krishna and Godavari.

Lime, Iron, Magnesia and Alumina, Potash

Phosphorous, Nitrogen and organic matter

Cotton, sugarcane, jowar, tobacco, wheat, rice etc.

Red

Eastern and southern part of the Deccan plateau, Orissa, Chattisgarh and southern parts of the middle Ganga plain.

Iron and Potash Nitrogen, Phosphorous and humus.

Wheat, rice, cotton, sugarcane and pulses

Laterite

Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Orissa hills.

Iron oxide and potash

Organic matter, Nitrogen, Phosphate and Calcium

Cashewnuts, tea, coffee, rubber

Arid and Desert

Western Rajashtan, north Gujarat and southern Punjab

Soluble salts, phosphate

Humus, Nitrogen

Only drought resistant and salt tolerant crops such as barley, rape, cotton, millets maize and pulses

Saline and Alkaline

Western Gujarat, deltas of eastern coast, Sunderban

Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium

Nitrogen and Calcium

Unfit for agriculture

areas of West Bengal, Punjab and Haryana

1. a gentle slope leading from the foot of mountains to a region of flat land.

What do you mean by Duars Chos and Terai? Duars are the floodplains & foothills of the eastern Himalayas in North-East India around Bhutan. Terai are belts of marshy land at foot of mountains at the foot of the Himalayas in North India. What are Chos in geography? There are large numbers of seasonal hill torrents which leave the Siwalik Range and enter the level plain. ... They are furious when rushing to the plains. They are called 'chos' in the plain where their beds are broad, braided, shallow and sandy. They are quite numerous and in some places every kilometre has a 'chos'.

Last time, we discussed basic soil facts that you need to know before you started digging around in your garden. This time, we’re going to look at different soil types and how to determine the kind of soil that’ll be host to your plants. There are 5 different soil types that gardeners and growers usually work with. All five is a combination of just three types of weathered rock particles that make up the soil: sand, silt, and clay. How these three particles are combined defines your soil’s type—how it feels to the touch, how it holds water, and how it’s managed, among other things. 1. Soil Type: Sandy Sandy soil has the largest particles among the different soil types. It’s dry and gritty to the touch, and because the particles have huge spaces between them, it can’t hold on to water. Water drains rapidly, straight through to places where the roots, particularly those of seedlings, cannot reach. Plants don’t have a chance of using the nutrients in sandy soil more efficiently as they’re swiftly carried away by the runoff. The upside to sandy soil is that it’s light to work with and warms much more quickly in the spring.

Testing what type of soil you’re working with involves moistening the soil and rolling it into a ball to check the predominating soil particle. When you roll the slightly wet sandy soil in your palms, no ball should be formed and it crumbles through your fingers easily. 2. Soil Type: Silty Silty soil has much smaller particles than sandy soil so it’s smooth to the touch. When moistened, it’s soapy slick. When you roll it between your fingers, dirt is left on your skin. Silty soil retains water longer, but it can’t hold on to as much nutrients as you’d want it to though it’s fairly fertile. Due to its moisture-retentive quality, silty soil is cold and drains poorly. Silty soil can also easily compact, so avoid trampling on it when working your garden. It can become poorly aerated, too. 3. Soil Type: Clay Clay soil has the smallest particles among the three so it has good water storage qualities. It’s sticky to the touch when wet, but smooth when dry. Due to the tiny size of its particles and its tendency to settle together, little air passes through its spaces. Because it’s also slower to drain, it has a tighter hold on plant nutrients. Clay soil is thus rich in plant food for better growth. Clay soil is cold and in the spring, takes time to warm since the water within also has to warm up. The downside is that clay soil could be very heavy to work with when it gets dry. Especially during the summer months, it could turn hard and compact, making it difficult to turn. (When clay soil is worked while it’s too wet though, it’s prone to damage). If moistened soil feels sticky, rolls up easily, and forms into a ball or sausage-like shape, then you’ve got yourself clay. 4. Soil Type: Peaty Peaty soil is dark brown or black in color, soft, easily compressed due to its high water content, and rich in organic matter. Peat soil started forming over 9,000 years ago, with the rapid melting of glaciers. This rapid melt drowned plants quickly and died in the process. Their decay was so slow underwater that it led to the accumulation of organic area in a concentrated spot. Although peat soil tends to be heavily saturated with water, once drained, it turns into a good growing medium. In the summer though, peat could be very dry and become a fire hazard. (I kid you not—peat is the precursor of coal.) The most desirable quality of peat soil, however, is in its ability to hold water in during the dry months and its capacity to protect the roots from damage during very wet months. Peat contains acidic water, but growers use it to regulate soil chemistry or pH levels as well as an agent of disease control for the soil. When wet peat soil is rolled, you won’t form a ball. It’s spongy to the touch and when squeezed, water could be forced out.

5. Soil Type: Saline Soil The soil in extremely dry regions is usually brackish because of its high salt content. Known as saline soil, it can cause damage to and stall plant growth, impede germination, and cause difficulties in irrigation. The salinity is due to the buildup of soluble salts in the rhizosphere—high salt contents prevent water uptake by plants, leading to drought stress. It’s easy enough to test if you have saline soil. You’ll probably see a white layer coating the surface of the soil, your plants are growing poorly, and they’re suffering from leaf tip burn, especially on young leaves.

The Ideal Soil Type: Loam The type of soil that gardens and gardeners love is loamy soil. It contains a balance of all three soil materials—silt, sand and clay—plus humus. It has a higher pH and calcium levels because of its previous organic matter content. Loam is dark in color and is mealy—soft, dry and crumbly—in your hands. It has a tight hold on water and plant food but it drains well, and air moves freely between soil particles down to the roots. The feel test for loam yields a smooth, partly gritty, partly sticky ball that crumbles easily. Although loamy soil is the ideal material to work with, don’t despair if you don’t have it in your

garden. That’s because soil will always favor one particles size over the two others. Then again, there are many ways to condition your soil—adding beneficial soil inoculants, covering your soil with compost, or simply spraying leaves and soil with compost tea. One Last Soil Typing Trick If you really want to know what soil type you’re working with but don’t want to get dirty, fill a smallish jar with soil sampling from your garden. Shake vigorously and let the soil settle overnight. Next day, you’ll see distinct soil layers. Sand stays at the bottom, clay at the top and silt in between. Their percentages will be your clue on your soil type. Stay tuned for our next blog posts, where we’ll discuss how to manage sandy, silty and clay soils and the ideal plants to grow in each soil type. In the meantime, try the jar trick and tell us what type of soil you’re working with and how you’re managing that soil. Soil types

Soil types Soil is a natural resource that can be categorised into different soil types, each with distinct characteristics that provide growing benefits and limitations. Identifying the type of soil you require for a project is paramount to support the healthy growth of plant life. Soil can be categorised into sand, clay, silt, peat, chalk and loam types of soil based on the dominating size of the particles within a soil. Here is a break down of the common traits f or each soil type:

Sandy soil – are light, warm, dry and tend to be acidic and low in nutrients. Sandy soils are often known as light soils due to their high proportion of sand and little clay (clay weighs more than sand). These soils have quick water drainage and are easy to work with. They are quicker to warm up in spring than clay soils but tend to dry out in summer and suffer from low nutrients that are washed away by rain. The addition of organic matter can help give plants an additional boost of nutrients by improving the nutrient and water holding capacity of the soil.

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Clay soil – are heavy soils that benefit from high nutrients. Clay soils remain wet and cold in winter and dry out in summer. These soils are made of over 25 percent clay, and because of the spaces found between clay particles, clay soils hold a high amount of water. Because these soils drain slowly and take longer to warm up in summer, combined with drying out and cracking in summer, they can often test gardeners.

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Silt soil – are light and moisture retentive soils with a high fertility rating. As silt soils compromise of medium sized particles they are well drained and hold moisture well. As the particles are fine, they can be easily compacted and are prone to washing away with rain. By adding organic matter, the silt particles can be bound into more stable clumps.

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or each soil type: Summary Soil is formed over millions of years by weathering of rocks and minerals and also by natural agents like variation in temperature, climate, wind, glaciers and running water. The important factors that influence soil formation are Relief, Parent rock, Vegetation and other life forms and Time.

Peat soil – are high in organic matter and retain a large amount of moisture. This type of soil is very rarely found in a garden and often imported into a garden to provide an optimum soil base for planting.

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Chalk soil – can be either light or heavy but always highly alkaline due to the calcium carbonate or lime within its structure. As these soils are alkaline they will not support the growth of ericaceous plants that require acidic soils to grow. If a chalky soil shows signs of visible white lumps then they can’t be acidified and gardeners should be resigned to only choose plants that prefer an alkaline soil.

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Loam soil – are a mixture of sand, silt and clay that are combined to avoid the negative effects of each type. These soils are fertile, easy to work with and provide good drainage. Depending on their predominant composition they can be either sandy or clay loam. As the soils are a perfect balance of soil particles, they are considered to be a gardeners best friend, but still benefit from topping up with additional organic matter.

Soil is a natural, abiotic, renewable resource containing inorganic and organic matter, like humus. Soil is an essential resource that supports a majority of plant and animal life on the Earth. Based on their physical and chemical properties, age, texture, and colour, soils in India can be classified as: alluvial, black soil, red and yellow soil, laterite, arid and forest soil. The northern plains of India are made of fertile alluvial soils, extending to Gujarat and Rajasthan, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra river systems. Alluvial soils are also found in the eastern coastal plains and deltas of the Godavari, the Mahanadi, the Krishna and the Kaveri. Alluvial soil is a mixture of sand, silt and clay. The new alluvial soils called Khadar found in the Gangetic plains have small particles and a fine texture. The old alluvial soils called Bangar found near the river valleys are coarser and contain more pieces of rocks called Kanker. The fertile alluvial soils are rich in potash, phosphoric acid and lime and are ideal for growing sugarcane, wheat, rice, pulses and cereal crops. Black soil (also called regur) is found in the Deccan plateau spread over Maharashtra, Saurashtra, Malwa, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Black soil is rich in calcium carbonate, potash, magnesium, lime and good water retention properties. It is ideally suited for the cultivation of cotton. Red and yellow soils are found in southern and eastern parts of Deccan plateau, southern Gangetic plains, along the Western Ghats and some parts of Orissa and Chhattisgarh. The high iron content makes this type of soil good for cultivating various types of grams, groundnuts and castor seeds. Laterite soils are found in Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and parts of Orissa and Assam. Laterite soil is good for cultivation of tea, coffee and cashewnuts. Arid soil is found in western Rajasthan and parts of Kutch region in Gujarat that receive very little rainfall. Arid soil is low in moisture and organic content and has high salt content. Arid soil is being used for cultivation of bajra and wheat crops in some places of western Rajasthan where irrigation facility is available. Forest soils are found in the mountainous regions of the Himalayas from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh. Wheat, rice, sugarcane, and oil seeds are cultivated in forest soils of many parts in Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh. The Sukhomajri model Before P R Mishra launched the Chakriya Vikas Pranali in the mid-1970s Sukhomajri was almost a barren land. Mishra's effort to promote soil conservation was first met with hostility. "We

suspected it to be a ploy to snatch our land to save Chandigarh, the rich men's paradise," recalls Hari Kishan a villager who was to become the president of the HRMS for one term. For preventing soil erosion and to harvest water, the first step was to stop water in the village itself Mishra then dissuaded the villagers from uncontrolled grazing in their watershed. With the support of the villagers, Mishra built two earthern dams to hold back the monsoon rain. The villagers promised to manage the watershed. The forest department also took a daring step in allowing the people to manage the watershed. The villagers, in turn, banned grazing and levied a charge on every family collecting fodder. In return the government gave them high-yielding seeds and fertilisers. Mishra persuaded the forest department to share with the villagers the increased forest wealth resulting from social fencing or the concept of self-restraint in exploiting forest wealth. The HRMS was constituted in 1980 to carry out equal distribution of water and to strengthen the concept of social fencing which was giving good results. Today around 5,000 khair trees mature every year in the forest surrounding the village. At an average price of Rs 13000 per 100 kg of wood these trees are worth more than Rs 50 lakh in timber value alone It was Mishra who developed the concept of the Chakriya Vikas Pranali and proved its effectiveness in the Haryana village. It can be defined as a cyclic system of development. "The cyclic system of development is a demonstration and extension based on the Sukhomajri system of growth which established that the forests can be the source of all energy that soci- ety needs. The system is called cyclic as the benefits from one investment cycle becomes capital for the next and thus goes on increasing rural employment and the village fund which finally makes the village self-reliant and the environment congenial to mankind," according to Mishra. Under the system private property resources are pooled for better management. Decision on sharing pooled resources are collectively taken. Landless villagers can also join in with the people who have pooled their land in community management like providing labour, traditional knowledge, and the like. In a selected village some land owners pool their marginal degraded and wastelands and convert them into community land and water resources which are managed by village societies. Households designated as 'students' are part of the community management and decision making. A threetier formula for planting different types of plants was adopted. Vegetables and other crops are cultivated in the lower terrain, fruit fodder in the middle terrain, and timber fuel- wood, bamboo and such long-term plants occupy the third upper terrain.

But cloning the Sukhomajri model has not proved successful for the peculiar problems involved. Forest officials tend to play down the role of the "lagers in greening their environment and feel there is more hype than substance in the model, even though both the Punjab and Haryana forest departments have tried to spread the model to numerous villages in the Shivalik ranges. The first effort to try out this model was in 1980 in Nada village two kilometres from Panchkula, in Haryana. It was a highly stratified, two caste village with the Harijan hamlet situated in a degraded watershed. In the Harijan hamlet the villagers were persuaded to stop grazing in the hills and both natural regeneration and afforestation followed. The villagers even sold their goats which destroyed saplings and replaced them with cows and buffaloes which do not normally destroy saplings but stick to grass. The benefits were soon there to see. Most visible was the dramatic increase in wheat production. "Initial investment in the Harijan Nada was Rs 12 lakh in 1980-1981," says S P Mittal, head of CswRT1. The agency executing the project, the Haryana forest department controlled the expenditure. Later, the Ford Foundation agreed to provide a grant of us $18,750 to the department. Ironically that is where the seeds of failure were sown. "The project was initiated and sponsored by outsiders, we were not involved in it all," says Piara Singh, president, Harijan Nada HRMS. That indeed was the root of the problem. While the conceptual problem that peo- ple's involvement could have been worked out as the programme caught on, there were technical problems too. The dam meant to collect water was erected on loose rocky base and had no bonding with the soil there. The result was that water leaked and dam did not serve the purpose for which it was built. Yet another hindrance was the village's social division. The village itself was divided into Harijan and the higher caste Lavana section. The Harijans complied with what was required of them: to protect the 17 hectare forest. The Lavanas could not care less and defiantly continued to plunder the forest. Yet another attempt at working out the cyclic system of pooled land and water resource management was started in 1987 in five villages of Palamau district in Bihar. This work was undertaken by P R Mishra himself after his retirement. Since the system picked up in the five villages of Bhusariya, Khura, Lanka, Chapri Kaimkhi and Chapri School, it spread to 30 other villages. Kasia village under the Daltonganj block and Lahlahe Senuriya panchayat adopted the system in 1994. "The project was started in our village after we approached SHRMS in Daltonganj," says Subhodh Bhuiyan, secretary of the village samaj. SHRMS just gives the guidelines while the show is managed by the local people. "We had been watching the experiment in our neighbourhood

village Senuriya and were very impressed," says Suresh Tiwari, president of the village samaj. Interestingly no forest land is involved in the Kasia experiment. All land involved in the scheme belong to individuals under an agreement by which 30 per cent of the capital return will be given to the land owners. Kasia village benefited immensely from this project and the results were almost immediate since vegetables and fruit were soon available in plenty. Unemployed villagers soon found employment in the plantation project. "Before this project started we used to go to other villages or to Daltonganj for work. Now at least some of us get work here," says Premani Devi, a villager. While the changes that have come about in Sukhomajri and other villages in Haryana, Punjab and Bihar are extraordi- nary by all costs, it is clear they will survive only if the government has a healthy attitude towards them. Sukhomajri Model Village In the early 1980s, the people of Sukhomajri village in Shivalik range of the Himalaya in Haryana's Ambala district earned nation-wide acclaim for the way in which they had utilised their forests and water to their benefit. An estimated 5,000 khair trees had matured in the 400 ha Sukhomajri forest. At an average price of Rs 1,000 per quintal of heartwood, these trees could reap more than Rs 50 lakh in timber alone. One quintal of khair heartwood yields upto 6 kg of katha - an extract used in medicine, pan and natural dyes - that sells at Rs 500 per kg, adding upto Rs 1 crore to the nation's kitty. About 5,000 trees would mature in the forest every year. It was the result of a joint forest management programme introduced in 1976 that Sukhomajri prospered. For the rest of the country, Sukhomajri became a model of community participatory management. The project began in the mid-1970s out of concern for the silting-up Sukhna lake near Chandigarh, which had lost nearly 70 per cent of its water storage. P R Mishra chose Sukhomajri, which is in the lake's catchment area, and constructed four check dams and planted trees. Initially, Mishra's attempts at regenerating the local environment failed because the villagers had little regard for Chandigarh's water concerns. A change in attitude occurred after 1977 when four tanks built successively created an increased storage capacity and increased crop yield rates from 6.83 quintals per ha in 1977 to 14.32 in 1986. "Water acted as the catalyst in the transformation. In return for water, the villagers were ready to protect the watershed," says Mishra. The income that began to come from cutting bhabbar grass and harvesting mungri or forage grass started to change the face of the village. Prosperity became a by-word. The 80 households in the village replaced their thatch-and-mud

dwellings with brick-and-cement houses and about 40 of them owned television sets. With growing prosperity, Sukhomajri villagers were becoming increasingly conscious of economic self-reliance in the creation of community assets. They stopped auctioning bhabbar grass, which their Hill Resource Management Society (HRMS), set up in 1980, leased from the forest department, to contractors. Just about five years after the setting up of the HRMS in 1980, the annual household income increased to Rs 3,000. Sukhomajri was one of the few villages to be taxed on income from natural regeneration. A 1989 amendment in the Income Tax Act brought registered societies such as HRMS within its purview. HRMS was liable to pay 15 per cent income tax, but it took the initiative to have such societies exempted the same year. However, the society continued to pay 10 per cent sales tax on bhabbar, which was imposed in 1993 with retrospective effect from 1991. They also had to pay a toll on bhabbar taken to the paper mills in Himachal Pradesh at the rate of Rs 100 per carriage. However, bhabbar turned out to be a point of conflict in later years. In 1995, the forest department arbitrarily divided the 400 ha hill tract between Sukhomajri and Dhamala, a neigbouring village, disrupting a unique resource management programme. Till the forest department intervened, the two villages used to share forest produce on the basis of social fencing (self-restraint in produce use). They shared grazing rights in the same forest area. Thus, the two villages began to compete for fodder. The division of the forest also threatened social co-existence. Dhamala village, consisiting of upper caste Jats, were given a portion more saturated with bhabbar, the division placing them in a position to reap most of the bhabbar bonanza. Sukhomajri villagers, consisting of lower caste Gujjars, were no longer allowed to collect fodder from the Dhamala section. This led to tensions and a worsening conflict. Multiple choice questions (i) Which one of the following type of resource is iron ore? (a) Renewable (b) Biotic (c) Flow (d) Non-renewable ► (d) Non-renewable (ii) Under which of the following type of resource can tidal energy be put? (a) Replenishable (b) Human-made (c) Abiotic (d) Non-recyclable ► (a) Replenishable

(iii) Which one of the following is the main cause of land degradation in Punjab? (a) Intensive cultivation (b) Deforestation (c) Over irrigation (d) Overgrazing ► (c) Over irrigation (iv) In which one of the following states is terrace cultivation practised? (a) Punjab (b) Plains of Uttar Pradesh (c) Haryana (d) Uttarakhand ► (d) Uttarakhand (v) In which of the following states is black soil found? (a) Jammu and Kashmir (b) Gujarat (c) Rajasthan (d) Jharkhand ► (b) Gujarat Page No: 13 2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words. (i) Name three states having black soil and the crop which is mainly grown in it. (ii) What type of soil is found in the river deltas of the eastern coast? Give three main features of this type of soil. (iii) What steps can be taken to control soil erosion in the hilly areas? (iv) What are the biotic and abiotic resources? Give some examples. Answer (i) Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are states having black soil.Cotton is mainly grown in black soil. (ii) Alluvial Soil is found in the river deltas of the eastern coast. Three features of alluvial soil:→ Alluvial soils are very fertile.→ They are ideal for growing sugarcane, wheat and paddy. → The regions of alluvial soils are intensively cultivated and densely populated. (iii) In hilly areas, soil erosion can be controlled by ploughing across contour-lines, making use of terrace farming techniques and using strips of grasses to check soil erosion by wind and water. (iv) Biotic Resources: The resources which are obtained from the biosphere and have life are called Biotic Resources. For example, animals and plants including human beings.Abiotic Resources: The resources which are composed of non- living things are called Abiotic Resources. For example, water, minerals, metals, wind, solar energy etc. 3. Answer the following questions in about 120 words. (i) Explain land use pattern in India and why has the land under forest not increased much since 1960-61?

(ii) How have technical and economic development led to more consumption of resources? Answer : (i) Land resources in India are primarily divided into agricultural land, forest land, land meant for pasture and grazing, and waste land. Waste land includes rocky, arid and desert areas, and land used for other non-agricultural purposes such as housing, roads and industry. According to the recent data, about 54% of the total land area is cultivable or fallow, 22.5% is covered by forests, and 3.45% is used for grazing. The rest is waste land, with traces of miscellaneous cultivation. The land under forest has not increased since 1960–61 because in the post-independence era demand for more land to expand agriculture, mainly after Green Revolution, developmental works and infrastructural facilities, led to clearance of forests areas. Industrialisation and urbanisation also decreased the forest area. Thus, land under forest has increased by only about 4% since 1960-61. (ii) Technical and economic development have led to more consumption of resources on account of various factors such as: → Technological development provides sophisticated equipments. As a result, production increases ultimately leading to consumption of more resources.→ Technological development also leads to economic development. When the economic condition of a country rises, the needs of people also rise. It again results into more consumption of resources.→ Economic development provides favourable environment for the development of latest technologies. It helps to make or convert various materials found around us into resources. Finally, it results into the consumption of new available resources too. Question-1 Write a short note on classiification of resources. Solution: The 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. Question-2Give the difference between renewable resources and non-renewable resources with examples. Solution:The resources which can be renewed or reproduced by physical, chemical or mechanical processes are known as renewable or replenishable resources. While Non-renewable resources are resources that take millions of years in their formation. Question-3Give the two factors that determine soil fertility. Solution: 1)Soil fertility depends on is composition. Sandy soil is not suitable for agriculture as they do not retain water which the plant roots need for survival. The ideal soils contain a mixture of sand and clay.

2) The humus content determines soil fertility. Organic farm yard manures improve the humus content. Question-4 What is the classification of alluvial soil on the basis of their age? Mention their characteristics. Solution: Apart from the size of their grains or components, soils are also classified on the basis of their age. According to their age, alluvial soils can be classified as old alluvial ( Bangar ) and new alluvial ( Khadar ). The bangar soil has higher concentration of kanker nodules than the Khadar. It has more .ne particles and is more fertile than the bangar. Question-5Give a short note on reserves. Solution: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. These can be used for meeting future requirements. River water can be used for generating hydroelectric power but presently, it is being utilized only to a limited extent. Thus, the water in the dams, forests etc. is a reserve which can be used in the future. Question-6Major problem faced due to the indiscriminate use of resources by Man- Discuss. Solution:Human beings used the resources indiscriminately and this has led to the following problems.1) Depletion of resources for satisfying the greed of few individuals.2) Accumulation of resources in few hands, which, in turn, 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. Question-7Write a paragraph on resource planning. Solution:Resource planning is a complex process, which involves:(i) Identi.cation and inventory of resources across the regions of the country. This involves surveying, mapping and qualitative and quantitative estimation and measurement of the resources.(ii) Evolving a planning structure endowed with appropriate technology, skill and institutional set up for implementing resource development plans.(iii) Matching the resource development plans with overall national development plans. Question-8What was the views of Gandhiji on resource conservation? Solution:Gandhiji voiced his concern about resource conservation in the following words: “There is enough for everybody’s need and not for any body’s greed.” He placed the greedy and sel.sh individuals and exploitative nature of modern technology as the root cause for resource depletion at the global level. He was against mass production and wanted to replace it with the production by the masses.

Question-9Name the types of land resource. Solution:Land resources are made up of:1. Forests2. Land not available for cultivation:(a) Barren and waste land(b) Land put to non-agricultural uses, e.g. buildings, roads, factories, etc.3. Other uncultivated land (excluding fallow land):(a) Permanent pastures and grazing land, b) Land under miscellaneous tree crops groves (not included in net sown area),(c) Cultivable wasteland (left uncultivated for more than 5 agricultural years).4. Fallow lands(a) Current fallow (left without cultivation for one or less than one agricultural year),(b) Other than current fallow- (left uncultivated for the past 1 to 5 agricultural years).5. Net sown area-Area sown more than once in an agricultural year plus net sown area is known as gross cropped area . Question-10 What are the factors that determine the use of land? Solution: 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. Question-11What has significantly contributed to land degradation? Solution: Some human activities such as deforestation, over grazing, mining and quarrying too have contributed significantly in land degradation. Mining sites are abandoned after excavation work is complete leaving deep scars and traces of over-burdening. In states like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa deforestation due to mining have caused severe land degradation. In states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra overgrazing is one of the main reasons for land degradation. 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 and alkalinity in the soil. 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. In recent years, industrial ecuents as waste have become a major source of land and water pollution in many parts of the country. Question-12 How can the problem of deforestation be solved? Solution: There are many ways to solve the problems of land degradation. 1.Afforestation and proper management of grazing can help to some extent.2.Planting of shelter belts of plants, control on over grazing, stabilization of sand dunes by growing thorny bushes 3. In industrial and suburban areas, proper management of waste lands, control of mining activities, proper discharge and disposal of industrial ecuents and wastes after treatment. Question-13Soil is the most important renewable natural resource. Explain.

Solution: It is the medium of plant growth and supports different types of living organisms on the earth. The soil is a living system. It takesmillions of years to form soil upto a few cm in depth. Relief, parent rock or bed rock, climate, vegetation and other forms of life and time are important factors in the formation of soil. 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. Chemical and organic changes, which take place in the soil, are equally important. Soil also consists of organic (humus) and inorganic materials. Question-14Give a brief note on the productivity of alluvial soil. Solution: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. The black soils are made up of extremely .ne i.e. clayey material. They are well known for their capacity to hold moisture. In addition, they are rich in soil nutrients, such as calcium carbonate, magnesium, potash and lime. These soils are generally poor in phosphoric contents. They develop deep cracks during hot weather, which helps in the proper aeration of the soil. These soils are sticky when wet and difficult to work on unless tilled immediately after the first shower or during the pre-monsoon period. Question-16 Give a brief note on arid soil. Solution: Arid soils range from red to brown in colour. They are generally sandy in texture and saline in nature. In some areas the salt content is very high and common salt is obtained by evaporating the water. Due to the dry climate, high temperature, evaporation is faster and the soil lacks humus and moisture. 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. After proper irrigation these soils become cultivable as has been in the case of western Rajasthan. Question-17Mention any two methods for reducing fallow land. Solution:The two methods for reducing fallow Land are :1. Use fertilizers2. Crop rotation or multiple cropping. Question-18What are the two disturbing features of land – use pattern? Solution:The two distributing features of land-use pattern are:1.Forests2.Barren wastelands. Question-19Give two characteristics of alluvial soil.

Solution:Two main characteristics of alluvial soil are:1. Alluvial soil is the most widespread soil in India.2. It is made by deposits brought down by the rivers year after year and are very fertile,They are very suitable for cultivation. Question-20What was the root cause for resources depletion at the global level, according to Gandhiji? Solution:(i) Greedy and sel.sh nature of the individual.(ii) Exploitation nature of modern technology. Question-21What are the problems faced due to mismanagement of resources? Solution:(i) Over utilization of resources leads to their depletion.(ii) Over utilization of the resources leads to environment degradation. Question-22What is conservation of resources? Solution:It is defined as the management of the resources by humans. It aims at satisfying the needs of the present generations as well as the aspirations of the future generations. Question-23 What is resource planning? Solution: It is a widely accepted strategy for the judicious use of resources, eg Dalhousie has vast forest resources but lacks in infrastructural facilities. Hence planning is required in developing the resources. Question-24Give the importance of human beings as an essential component of resource? Solution: Man transforms material available in our environment into resources uses them. Thus, Man is considered as an important component of the Resource. eg. Wood is a material when it is utilized it become a piece of furniture, which is a resource. Question-25 Define Resource. Solution: Everything available in our environment, which can be used to satisfy our needs, provided it is technologically accessible, economically fexible and culturally acceptable, can be termed as resource. Question-26Where is black soil found? (A) Jammu and Kashmir (B) Rajasthan (C) Gujarat (D) Jharkhand Solution:(C) Gujarat. Question-27Where is gully erosion is commonly found? (A) Kutch basin (B) Saurasthra basin (C) Chambal basin (D) Southern Plateau

Solution:(C) Chambal basin. Question-28In which of the following states, is the net sown area under irrigation lowest? (a) Haryana, Punjab (b) Bengal, Bihar, Assam (C) Himachal, Assam, Maharashtra, Karnataka (D) Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Gujarat Solution:(C) Himachal, Assam, Maharashtra, Karnataka. Question-29Where is laterite soil found? A) Jammu and Kashmir (B) Rajasthan (C) Kerala (D) Jharkhand Solution:(B) Rajasthan. Question-30Where is land is degraded caused due to excessive cultivation? (A) Madhya Pradesh (B) Rajasthan (C) Punjab