Geography Chapter 01: Resources and Development

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

These resources can be classified in the following ways:

1. On the basis of origin - biotic and abiotic
2. On the basis of exhaustibility - renewable and non-renewable
3. On the basis of ownership - individual, community, national and international
4. On the basis of status of development - potential, developed stock and reserves

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 regions which are rich in certain types of resources but are deficient in some other resources.

Land is a natural resource of utmost importance. It supports natural vegetation, wild life, human life, economic activities, transport and communication systems.

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 denudation of the soil cover and subsequent washing down is described as soil erosion.