Test: Resources & Development - 3 - UPSC MCQ

Khadar is a part of northern plains. It is formed by the deposition of alluvial deposits and sediments brought by the Himalayan rivers. It is suitable for agriculture and alluvial soil is found there.

Renewable resources are resources that are replenished by the environment over relatively short periods of time. This type of resource is much more desirable to use because often a resource renews so fast that it will have regenerated by the time you've used it up.

 Earth Summit was held in 1992 in Rio De Jenrio.

Physiographic distribution can be expressed in percentage of total area as follows: 30 % Mountains 27.7% Plateaus 43.2% Plains.

Black soils are mostly clay soils and form deep cracks during dry season. An accumulation of lime is generally noticed of varying depths. They are popularly known as “Black cotton soils” because of their dark brown colour and suitability for growing cotton.

Trees reduce soil erosion: Trees hold the soil together especially on streambanks and anywhere runoff is present. Areas with a larger number of rooted plants are less susceptible to erosion than areas of bare soil. When trees are planted a natural succession of plants occurs, further reducing soil erosion.

Over irrigation has a bad effect on environment and it leads to land degradation. 

It is responsible for land degradation because of the water logging which leads to the increase in the salinity and alkalinity in the soil. 

This problem is common and mostly seen in Punjab and Haryana.

Biotic resources are resources derived from the biosphere such as living things and from forest and the materials derived from them therefore flora.

We obtain our basic needs from our region or from some other parts of the world. We need air to breathe, water to drink and soil to grow crops. In the same way sunshine. forests, minerals. etc., are also useful to human beings. These gifts of Nature satisfy human wants. They are known as natural resources

The petroleum that we are utilizing were formed more than 400 million years ago. Due to the really, really long duration of formation, we cannot extract more than already formed and thus, our resources get deplete.

Resource conservation is the planned usage of natural resources to optimise their utility. Resources have to be used carefully and given time to get renewed. Balancing the need to use resources and also conserve them for the future is called sustainable development. 

At present there are eight functional SEZs located at Santa Cruz (Maharashtra), Cochin (Kerala), Kandla and Surat (Gujarat), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), Falta (West Bengal) and Noida (Uttar Pradesh) in India.

The correct answer is B as Black soils are derivatives of trapped lava. These are found mostly across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh on the Deccan plateau and the Malwa Plateau, where there is both moderate rainfall and underlying basaltic rock. This soil is best suitable for growing cotton.

The main reason for land degradation in Madhya Pradesh is deforestation. Due to urbanization and industrialization, a lot of forest area has been diverted for other uses like agriculture, river valley projects, industries and townships, roads, etc. 

Chemical fertilizers are responsible majorly for land pollution and cause less water pollution as much of the fertilizers is already used while plantation of trees. deforestation is cutting down of forests which leads majorly to land pollution water pollution is not due to deforestation whereas industrial effluents cause water pollution as well as land pollution due to chemical effluents released from it.

A nonrenewable resource is a resource of economic value that cannot be readily replaced by natural means on a level equal to its consumption. Most fossil fuels, such as oil, natural gas and coal are considered nonrenewable resources in that their use is not sustainable because their formation takes billions of years.

Biotic resources are resources derived from the biosphere such as living things and from forest and the materials derived from them. This mainly include fossil fuels like petroleum, coal gas, etc.

The old alluvial soil is known as Bangar whereas the new alluvial soil is called Khadar.
Bangar:

• It is coarse grained and dark in colour
• It is lesser fertile.

Khadar:

• It is fine grained and light in colour
• It is more fertile

The soils are generally rich in montmorillonitic and beidellitic group of clay minerals. Black soils are most suitable for the cotton crop hence it is also known as black cotton soil. Besides cotton, the soil is suitable for the cultivation of crops like wheat, groundnut, chillies, tobacco and jowar.

National forest policy of 1932 had a target of keeping 33% of land area under forest in India because that percentage is regarded as the minimum required for maintaining ecological balance in a country. The actual forest area was only 22% but the policy hoped to increase that percentage to 33%.

Arid soil means the soil which is dry. If any soil which lies in the region of high temperature and has evaporation more than rainfall it becomes dry or arid soil. E.g. Arid soil of the desert Rajasthan.

The National Resources Inventory (NRI) is a periodic assessment of the status and changing conditions of the soil, water, and related resources on private land conducted by USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

Sheet erosion is caused by the force of raindrops impacting on bare soil (Ellison 1944) and dislodging particles of earth. This force is dependent on the speed of fall (a function of the length of fall and the wind-speed) and the weight (a function of the diameter of drops).

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.

Forests cover about 31 percent of total land area of the world; the world's total forest area is just over 4 billion hectares

Sustainable development is the organizing principle for meeting human development goals while at the same time sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services upon which the economy and society depend. The desired result is a state of society where living conditions and resource use continue to meet human needs without undermining the integrity and stability of the natural system. Sustainable development can be classified as development that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations.