3. Resources for Agriculture
• The basic resources for agriculture are sunlight, soil
and water, besides the seeds and animal breeds, and
human attempts.
• Another important input is the agro technique.
• Agricultural production is harmfully affected if any of
these factors is limited, or disturbed. Obviously,
scientific study enables technological innovations to
operate these factors to maximise production.
• Application of science and technology also involves
preventing or at least minimising wasteful use of
precious resources.
4. Types of Resources
On the Basis of the Status of Development
1. Potential Resources
2. Developed Resources
3. Stock
5. Potential Resources
• Resources which are found in a region, but
have not been utilized. For example, the
western parts of India particularly Rajasthan
and Gujarat have huge potential for the
development of wind and solar energy, but so
far these have not been developed properly.
6. Developed Resources
• Resources which are surveyed on their quality
and quantity have been determined for
utilization. The development of resources
depends on technology and level of their
possibility.
7. Stock
• Materials in the environment which have the
potential to satisfy human needs but human
beings do not have the appropriate
technology to access these, are included
among stock. For example, water is a
compound of two inflammable gases;
hydrogen and oxygen, which can be used as a
rich source of energy.
10. Contd.
• Biotic Resources: These are obtained from
biosphere and have life such as human beings,
plants and animals, fisheries, livestock etc.
• Abiotic Resources: All those things which are
composed of non-living things are called
abiotic resources. For example, rocks and
metals.
11. Types of Resources
On the Basis of Exhaustibility
1. Renewable Resources
2. Non-Renewable Resources
12. Renewable Resources
• The resources which can be renewed or
reproduced by physical, chemical or
mechanical processes are known as renewable
or replenishable resources. For example, solar
and wind energy, water, forests and wildlife,
etc.
13. Non-Renewable Resources
• These occur over a very long geological time.
Minerals and fossil fuels are examples of such
resources. These resources take millions of
years in their formation. Some of the
resources like metals are recyclable and some
like fossil fuels cannot be recycled and get
exhausted with their use.
14. Types of Resources
On the Basis of Ownership
1. Individual Resources
2. Community Owned Resources
3. National Resources
4. International Resources
5. Land resources
15. Individual Resources
• Many farmers own land which is allotted to them
by government against the payment of revenue.
• In villages there are people with land ownership
but there are many who are landless.
• Urban people own plots, houses and other
property. Plantation, grasslands, ponds, water in
wells etc. are some of the examples of resources
ownership by individuals. Make a list of resources
owned by your household.
16. Community Owned Resources
• There are resources which are accessible to
all the members of the community. Village
commons (cropping grounds, burial grounds,
village ponds, etc.) public parks, picnic spots
playgrounds in urban areas are de facto
accessible to all the people living there.
17. National Resources
• The country has legal powers to acquire even
private property for public good.
• Urban Development Authorities get empowered
by the government to acquire land.
• All the minerals, water resources, forests, wildlife,
land within the political boundaries and oceanic
area upto 12 nautical miles (22.2 km) from the
coast termed as territorial water and resources
therein belong to the nation.
18. International Resources
• There are international institutions which
regulate some 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.
19. Land resources
• We live on land, we perform our economic activities on
land and we use it in different ways.
• Land is a natural resource of utmost importance.
• 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 and 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.
21. Land utilization
Land resources are used for the following
purposes:
1. Forests
2.Land not available for cultivation
3. Other uncultivated land (excluding unplanted land)
4. Unused lands
5. Net scattered area
22. Soil as a resource
• Soil is the most important renewable natural
resource.
• It is the medium of plant growth and supports
different types of living organisms on the earth.
• The soil is a living system.
• It takes millions of years to form soil up to 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.
23. Soil Erosion
Soil erosion is a major problem worldwide and more so in India. While
all soil cannot be protected by trees and grass cover, for crop cultivation
is a basic human need, cropping practice can be scientifically managed
to reduce waste and erosion through
(a) Curve binding—making ranges out of the soil in the field;
(b) Gap plugging—reducing the speed of run-off water by placing
materials like borders and sand- bags in water channels;
(c) Planting green manure plants and trees on field bunds;
(d) Control shifting cultivation which if the land is not left fallow long
enough, leads to soil degradation of dangerous proportions.
24. Soil Recovery
Growth of population and the increasing
demand for agricultural products necessitates
recovery of land previously held as
unproductive.
Reduced soil productivity and leaving of
productive soil are serious issues arising out of
salinisation and alkalisation.
25. Water as a resource
• The water cycle, through evaporation and
precipitation, maintains hydrological systems which
form rivers and lakes and support in a variety of
aquatic ecosystems.
• Wetlands are intermediate forms between terrestrial
and aquatic ecosystems and contain species of plants
and animals that are highly moisture dependent.
• All aquatic ecosystems are used by a large number of
people for their daily needs such as drinking water,
washing, cooking, watering animals, and irrigating
fields.
26. Irrigation Projects
• There was a time when the multipurpose river valley
projects were addressed as the indications of prosperity.
However, their success has been overvalued. Serious
problems have arisen.
• Heavy siltation of the reservoirs of major dams reduces
storage capacity, and they become incapable of absorbing
heavy floods. Disastrous fallout is the degradation of the
soil in the command areas of irrigation projects due to
water- logging and soil salinity.
• Canal irrigation, again, has contributed to land degradation.
Groundwater table rises due to accession of applied water
to groundwater through deep percolation form unlined
field channels, distributaries and main canals, and
restrictive drainage due to construction activities.
27. Better Use of Water
• Minor irrigation schemes, besides being an
instant and reliable source of water, also help
to control water logging and salinization in
canal command.
• States have taken up ‘on-farm development’
works in all the command areas and are
introducing warabandhi / intermittent water
delivery methods to reduce water application
even while increasing farm production.
28. Water for Agriculture and Power
Generation
• India’s increasing demand for water for
intensive irrigated agriculture, for generating
electricity, and for consumption in urban and
industrial centers, has been met by creating
large dams.
29. Sustainable water management
1. Building several small reservoirs instead of few
mega projects.
2. Develop small catchment dams and protect
wetlands.
3. Soil management, micro catchment
development and afforestation permits
recharging of underground aquifers thus
reducing the need for large dams.
4. Treating and recycling municipal waste water for
agricultural use.
5. Preventing leakages from dams and canals.
30. Contd.
6. Preventing loss in Municipal pipes.
7. Effective rain water harvesting in urban environments.
8. Water conservation measures in agriculture such as
using drip irrigation.
9. Pricing water at its real value makes people use it more
responsibly and efficiently and reduces water wasting.
10. In deforested areas where land has been degraded,
soil management by bunding along the hill slopes and
making ‘nala’ plugs, can help retain moisture and make it
possible to re-vegetate in the degraded areas.
31. Seeds
• There was a time when you could get certain vegetables in
certain seasons only. Not now: these days you get cabbages
and cauliflowers practically the whole year through.
• By genetic manipulations, scientists have brought about
change in the genetic architecture of plants (such as dwarf
and bushy) and in the development rhythms of plants (for
example when the plant flowers) so that they are no longer
“season bound” but “period fixed”.
• These new varieties can be fitted in rotation with other
crops, or the simultaneous cultivation of crops can increase
production and productivity.
32. Contd.
• Scientists create ideotypes, or plants with
ideal frame and desirable characteristics,
chosen after scanning the wide variations in
the available germplasm.
• By including several of the desirable
characters in one variety they create a hybrid
which may be not only high-yielding but also
pest- and disease-resistant, and of short
duration.
33. Agro techniques
• Besides seeds, soil and water, agro-techniques
are also an important factor in maximising yield
of crops.
Cropping Systems
• Land being limited, it becomes necessary to grow
two or more crops a year on the same piece of
land to produce enough to meet our needs.
• In a transmit cropping system, a crop is sown
before the harvesting of the preceding crop—
this saves water, for the last irrigation for one
crop is the pre-sowing irrigation for the other.
34. Contd.
• In mixed cropping, compatible crops are sown
in parallel rows with the main crop. Chickpea
and mustard can be sown with wheat;
pigeonpea, cowpea, mungbean, groundnut,
and soyabean can be alternated with
sorghum, maize, sugarcane, and cotton.
35. Contd.
Fertilizer Use
Certain elements are essential for plants. The criteria for essentiality are
1. the element must be directly involved in the nutrition of a plant;
2. the life cycle of a plant cannot be complete without the element;
3. the element cannot be replaced by any other element.
A fertilizer is a compound containing one or more nutrient elements needed
for plant growth.
Manure is a natural substance obtained by the decomposition of animal
excreta or plant residues.
Fertilizers providing only one nutrient element mainly are called single
fertilizers: potassium (K) fertilizers, nitrogen (N) fertilizers, and phosphorous
(P) fertilizers. Fertilizers providing any two of K, N and P are called mixed
fertilizers.
A fertilizer supplying all the three elements belongs to the NPK type and is
said to be a complete fertilizer.
36. Contd.
Balanced Use of Fertilizers
Free and consequent price rise resulted in
reduced consumption of phosphatic and potassic
fertilisers.
With the enhancement of the rates of concession
and removal of some other constraints,
consumption of phosphatic and potassic
fertilisers has increased significantly.
Application of balanced fertilizer is sensible than
uncritical use.
37. Conclusion
• Crop production depends on the availability of
cultivable land and it is influenced by yields,
macroeconomic uncertainty and patterns of
consumption.
• Agriculture is the main source of income for major part
of our country’s population.
• India's population is growing faster at 1.8 per cent per
annum and it is a huge task to fulfill the requirement of
food for the nation.
• The country produces uncountable crops ranging from
medicinal to cereal crops under its diverse agro-
climatic zones.
