Resources and Development Practice Flashcards

Educational flashcards covering the definition and classification of resources, land use patterns in India, soil types, and conservation methods based on the lecture material.

Resource

Everything available in our environment which can be used to satisfy our needs, provided it is technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally acceptable.

Sustainable Economic Development

Development that takes place without damaging the environment and ensures development in the present does not compromise the needs of future generations.

Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit, 1992

The first International Earth Summit held in Brazil where more than 100 heads of states addressed environmental protection and socio-economic development at the global level.

Agenda 21

A declaration signed in 1992 at the UNCED aiming to achieve global sustainable development and combat environmental damage, poverty, and disease through global cooperation.

Resource Planning

The widely accepted strategy for the judicious use of resources, involving identification, evolving a planning structure, and matching development plans with national goals.

Club of Rome

An international body that advocated for resource conservation for the first time in a systematic way in 1968.

Small is Beautiful

A book written by Schumacher in 1974 that presented Gandhian philosophy regarding resource conservation.

Brundtland Commission Report, 1987

A global report that introduced the concept of 'Sustainable Development' and was later published as the book Our Common Future.

Net Sown Area

The physical extent of land on which crops are sown and harvested.

Gross Cropped Area

The total area sown more than once in an agricultural year plus the net sown area.

National Forest Policy (1952)

The policy that outlined the desired forest area in India as $33\%$ of the total geographical area to maintain ecological balance.

Waste Land

Land that includes rocky, arid, and desert areas which are not currently used for agriculture.

Land Degradation

The process where continuous use of land over a long period without appropriate conservation measures results in serious repercussions on society and the environment.

Gullies

Deep channels created by running water cutting through clayey soils, making the land unfit for cultivation.

Bad Land

Land that is unfit for cultivation due to erosion, specifically referred to as ravines in the Chambal basin.

Sheet Erosion

A type of soil erosion where water flows as a sheet over large areas down a slope, washing away the topsoil.

Contour Ploughing

Ploughing along the contour lines of a slope to decelerate the flow of water and restrict soil erosion.

Terrace Cultivation

The practice of cutting steps out of slopes to create terraces, which restricts soil erosion; common in the Western and central Himalayas.

Strip Cropping

A method of soil conservation where large fields are divided into strips, leaving grass to grow between crops to break the force of the wind.

Shelter Belts

Rows of trees planted to create shelter, which helps in the stabilization of sand dunes and deserts.

Alluvial Soil

The most widely spread and fertile soil in India, deposited by the Indus, Ganga, and Brahmaputra river systems.

Bangar

Old alluvial soil characterized by a higher concentration of kanker nodules.

Khadar

New alluvial soil that has more fine particles and is more fertile than Bangar.

Black Soil

Also known as regur or black cotton soil, it is ideal for growing cotton and is typical of the Deccan trap (Basalt) region.

Laterite Soil

Derived from the Latin word 'later' (brick), it is a soil formed under tropical and subtropical climates due to intense leaching by heavy rain.

Arid Soils

Soils ranging from red to brown in color, generally sandy in texture and saline in nature, often containing a Kankar layer in lower horizons.

Forest Soils

Soils found in hilly and mountainous areas that are loamy and silty in valley sides but coarse-grained on upper slopes.