LAND UTILISATION

Land resources are used for the following purposes:

1. Forests

2. 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) Cultural waste land (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.

SOIL AS A RESOURCE

On the basis of the factors responsible for soil formation, colour, thickness, texture, age, chemical and physical properties, the soils of India can be classified in different types.

Alluvial Soils

• Most widely spread and important soil.
• Entire northern plains
• Deposited by 3 important Himalayan river systems– the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra.
• These soils also extend in Rajasthan and Gujarat through a narrow corridor.
• Also found in the eastern coastal plains particularly in the deltas of the Mahanadi, the Godavari, the Krishna and the Kaveri rivers.
• The alluvial soil consists of various proportions of sand, silt and clay.
• In the upper reaches of the river valley i.e. near the place of the break of slope, the soils are coarse.
• Such soils are more common in piedmont plains such as Duars, Chos and Terai.
• Apart from the size of their grains or components, soils are also described 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 fine particles and is more fertile than the bangar.
• 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.
• Densely populated
• Soils in the drier areas are more alkaline and can be productive after proper treatment and irrigation.

Black Soil

• Black in colour and are also known as regur soils.
• Ideal for growing cotton and is also known as black cotton soil.
• It is believed that climatic condition along with the parent rock material is the important factors for the formation of black soil.
• This type of soil is typical of the Deccan trap (Basalt) region spread over northwest Deccan plateau and is made up of lava flows.
• Plateaus of Maharashtra, Saurashtra, Malwa, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and extend in the south east direction along the Godavari and the Krishna valleys.
• Made up of extremely fine i.e. clayey material.
• capacity to hold moisture
• In addition, they are rich in soil nutrients, such as calcium carbonate, magnesium, potash and lime.
• 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.

Red and Yellow Soils

• Develops on crystalline igneous rocks in areas of low rainfall in the eastern and southern parts of the Deccan plateau.
• Odisha, Chhattisgarh, southern parts of the middle Ganga plain and along the piedmont zone of the Western Ghats.
• These soils develop a reddish colour due to diffusion of iron in crystalline and metamorphic rocks.
• It looks yellow when it occurs in a hydrated form.

Laterite Soil

• Laterite has been derived from the Latin word ‘later’ which means brick.
• Develops in areas with high temperature and heavy rainfall.
• Result of intense leaching due to heavy rain.
• Humus content of the soil is low because most of the micro-organisms, particularly the decomposers, like bacteria, get destroyed due to high temperature.
• Suitable for cultivation with adequate doses of manures and fertilizers.
• Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and the hilly areas of Odisha and Assam.
• Very useful for growing tea and coffee.
• Red laterite soils in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala are more suitable for crops like cashew nut.

Arid Soils

• Range from red to brown in colour.
• 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.

Forest Soils

• Found in the hilly and mountainous areas where sufficient rain forests are available.
• They are loamy and silty in valley sides and coarse grained in the upper slopes.
• In the snow covered areas of Himalayas, these soils experience denudation and are acidic with low humus content.
• The soils found in the lower parts of the valleys particularly on the river terraces and alluvial fans are fertile.

Soil Erosion and Soil Conservation

• The running water cuts through the clayey soils and makes deep channels as gullies.
• The land becomes unfit for cultivation and is known as bad land.
• In the Chambal basin such lands are called ravines.
• Sometimes water flows as a sheet over large areas down a slope.
• In such cases the top soil is washed away. This is known as sheet erosion.
• Wind blows loose soil off flat or sloping land known as wind erosion.
• Soil erosion is also caused due to defective methods of farming.
• Ploughing in a wrong way i.e. up and down the slope form channels for the quick flow of water leading to soil erosion.
• Ploughing along the contour lines can decelerate the flow of water down the slopes. This is called contour ploughing.
• Terrace cultivation restricts erosion. (Western and central Himalayas)
• 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.
• Planting lines of trees to create shelter also works in a similar way. Rows of such trees are called shelter belts.
• These shelter belts have contributed significantly to the stabilisation of sand dunes and in stabilising the desert in western India.

Chapter- 2
Forest and Wildlife Resources

• India has nearly 8 per cent of the total number of species in the world (estimated to be 1.6 million).
• Some estimates suggest that at least 10 per cent of India’s recorded wild flora and 20 per cent of its mammals are on the threatened list.

Critical-

• Cheetah, pink-headed duck, mountain quail, forest spotted owlet, and plants like madhuca insignis (a wild variety of mahua) and hubbardia heptaneuron, (a species of grass).

Based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), we can classify as follows–

Normal Species:

Species whose population levels are considered to be normal for their survival, such as cattle, sal, pine, rodents, etc

Endangered Species:

• These are species which are in danger of extinction.
• The survival of such species is difficult if the negative factors that have led to a decline in their population continue to operate.
• Examples- black buck, crocodile, Indian wild ass, Indian rhino, Lion tailed macaque, sangai (brow anter deer in Manipur), etc.

Vulnerable Species:

• These are species whose population has declined to levels from where it is likely to move into the endangered category in the near future if the negative factors continue to operate.
• Examples- blue sheep, Asiatic elephant, Gangetic dolphin, etc.

Rare Species:

• Species with small population may move into the endangered or vulnerable category if the negative factors affecting them continue to operate.
• The examples of such species are the Himalayan brown bear, wild Asiatic buffalo, desert fox and hornbill, etc.

Reasons for decrease in Biodiversity

1. Habitat destruction
2. hunting, poaching
3. over-exploitation
4. environmental pollution
5. poisoning and forest fires
6. unequal access
7. Inequitable consumption of resources and
8. Differential sharing of responsibility for environmental well-being
9. Over-population

The Himalayan Yew in trouble

• The Himalayan Yew (Taxus wallachiana) is a medicinal plant found in various parts of Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh.
• A chemical compound called ‘taxol’ is extracted from the bark, needles, twigs and roots of this tree, and it has been successfully used to treat some cancers – the drug is now the biggest selling anti-cancer drug in the world.
• The species is under great threat due to over-exploitation.
• In the last one decade, thousands of yew trees have dried up in various parts of Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh.

Project Tiger

• 1973
• Major threats- poaching for trade, shrinking habitat, depletion of prey base species, growing human population, etc.
• The trade of tiger skins and the use of their bones in traditional medicines, especially in the Asian countries left the tiger population on the verge of extinction.
• Since India and Nepal provide habitat to about two-thirds of the surviving tiger population in the world, these two nations became prime targets for poaching and illegal trading.

Some Tiger Reserves of India-

1. Corbett National Park- Uttarakhand,
2. Sunderbans National Park -West Bengal,
3. Bandhavgarh National Park- Madhya Pradesh,
4. Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary- Rajasthan,
5. Manas Tiger Reserve- Assam
6. Periyar Tiger Reserve- Kerala

Types and Distribution of Forest and Wildlife Resources

(i) Reserved Forests:

• More than half of the total forest land has been declared reserved forests.
• Reserved forests are regarded as the most valuable as far as the conservation of forest and wildlife resources are concerned.

(ii) Protected Forests:

• Almost one-third of the total forest area is protected forest, as declared by the Forest Department.
• This forest land is protected from any further depletion.

(iii) Unclassed Forests:

• These are other forests and wastelands belonging to both government and private individuals and communities.
• Madhya Pradesh has the largest area under permanent forests, constituting 75 per cent of its total forest area.
• Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Maharashtra have large percentages of reserved forests of its total forest area whereas Bihar, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan have a bulk of it under protected forests.
• All North- eastern states and parts of Gujarat have a very high percentage of their forests as un- classed forests managed by local communities.

Sacred groves - a wealth of diverse and rare species

• The Mundas and the Santhal of Chota Nagpur region worship mahua (Bassia latifolia) and
• kadamba (Anthocaphalus cadamba) trees,
• and the tribals of Odisha and Bihar worship the tamarind (Tamarindus indica) and
• mango (Mangifera indica) trees during weddings.
• The famous Chipko movement in the Himalayas has not only successfully resisted deforestation in several areas but has also shown that community afforestation with indigenous species can be enormously successful.
• Farmers and citizen’s groups like the Beej Bachao
• Andolan in Tehri and Navdanya have shown that adequate levels of diversified crop production without the use of synthetic chemicals are possible and economically viable.

Joint Forest Management

• In India joint forest management (JFM) programme furnishes a good example for involving local communities in the management and restoration of degraded forests.
• The programme has been in formal existence since 1988 when the state of Odisha passed the first resolution for joint forest management.
• JFM depends on the formation of local (village) institutions that undertake protection activities mostly on degraded forest land managed by the forest department.
• In return, the members of these communities are entitled to intermediary benefits like non-timber forest produces and share in the timber harvested by ‘successful protection’.

Chapter 3
Water Resources

• 96.5 % of the total volume of world’s water is estimated to exist as oceans and only 2.5 % as freshwater.
• Nearly 70% of this freshwater occurs as ice sheets and glaciers in Antarctica, Greenland and the mountainous regions of the world, while a little less than 30% is stored as groundwater in the world’s aquifers.
• India receives nearly 4% of the global precipitation and ranks 133 in the world in terms of water availability per person per annum.
• Total renewable water resources of India are estimated at 1,897 sq km per annum.
• By 2025, it is predicted that large parts of India will join countries or regions having absolute water scarcity

Hydraulic Structures in Ancient India

• In the first century B.C., Sringaverapura near Allahabad had sophisticated water harvesting system channeling the flood water of the river Ganga.
• During the time of Chandragupta Maurya, dams, lakes and irrigation systems were extensively built.
• Evidences of sophisticated irrigation works have also been found in Kalinga, (Odisha), Nagarjunakonda (Andhra Pradesh), Bennur (Karnataka), Kolhapur (Maharashtra), etc.
• In the 11th Century, Bhopal Lake, one of the largest artificial lakes of its time was built.
• In the 14th Century, the tank in Hauz Khas, Delhi was constructed by Iltutmish for supplying water to Siri Fort area.
• Narmada Bachao Andolan or Save Narmada Movement is a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) that mobilized tribal people, farmers, environmentalists and human rights activists against the Sardar Sarovar Dam being built across the Narmada River in Gujarat.  
• It originally focused on the environmental issues related to trees that would be submerged under the dam water.
• Recently it has re-focused the aim to enable poor citizens, especially the ousters (displaced people) to get full rehabilitation facilities from the government.
• Tamil Nadu is the first state in India which has made roof top rainwater harvesting structure compulsory to all the houses across the state.

Traditional water conservation systems around India

• Phad – It is a community-managed irrigation system in the Tapi river basin in Maharashtra. It starts with check dam built across a river and canals to carry water to agricultural blocks with outlets to ensure excess water is removed from the canals.
• Zing – It is found in Ladakh, are small tanks that collect melting glacier water. A network of guiding channels brings water from the glacier to the tank.
• Kuhls – They are surface water channels found in the mountainous regions of Himachal Pradesh. The channels carry glacial waters from rivers and streams into the fields.
• Zabo or Ruza System– It is practised in Nagaland. Rainwater that falls on forested hilltops is collected by channels that deposit the run-off water in pond-like structures created on the terraced hillsides.
• Jackwells - The Shompen tribe of the Great Nicobar Islands uses this system, in which bamboos are placed under trees to collect runoff water from leaves and carries it to jackwells which are pits encircled by bunds made from logs of hard wood.
• Pat system – It is developed in Madhya Pradesh, in which the water is diverted from hill streams into irrigation channels by diversion bunds. They are made across the stream by piling up stones and teak leaves and mud.
• Eri – It is tank system, widely used in Tamil Nadu which acts as flood-control systems, prevent soil erosion and wastage of runoff during periods of heavy rainfall, and also recharge the groundwater.
• Johads – They are small earthen check dams used to conserve and recharge ground water, mainly constructed in an area with naturally high elevation.
• Panam keni – The Kuruma tribe (a native tribe of Wayanad) uses wooden cylinders as a special type of well, which are made by soaking the stems of toddy palms and immersed in groundwater springs.
• Ahar Pynes – They are traditional floodwater harvesting systems indigenous to South Bihar. Ahars are reservoirs with embankments on three sides and Pynes are artificial rivulets led off from rivers to collect water in the ahars for irrigation in the dry months.
• Jhalara - Jhalaras are typically rectangular-shaped stepwells that have tiered steps on three or four sides in the city of Jodhpur.
• Bawari - Bawaris are unique stepwells that were once a part of the ancient networks of water storage in the cities of Rajasthan.
• Taanka - It is a cylindrical paved underground pit into which rainwater from rooftops, courtyards or artificially prepared catchments flows. It is indigenous to the Thar Desert region of Rajasthan.
• Khadin – Also called dhora, is a long earthen embankment that is built across the hill slopes of gravelly uplands. It is indigenous to Jaisalmer region and similar to the irrigation methods of Ur region (Present Iraq).
• Kund – It is a saucer-shaped catchment area that gently slopes towards the central circular underground well. It is found in the sandier tracts of western Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Chapter- 4
Agriculture

Primitive Subsistence Farming

• Primitive subsistence agriculture is practised on small patches of land with the help of primitive tools like hoe, dao and digging sticks, and family/community labour.
• This type of farming depends upon monsoon, natural fertility of the soil and suitability of other environmental conditions to the crops grown.
• It is‘slash and burn’ agriculture.
• Farmers clear a patch of land and produce cereals and other food crops to sustain their family.
• When the soil fertility decreases, the farmers shift and clear a fresh patch of land for cultivation.
• This type of shifting allows Nature to replenish the fertility of the soil through natural processes; land productivity in this type of agriculture is low as the farmer does not use fertilisers or other modern inputs.
• It is jhumming in north-eastern states like Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland; Pamlou in Manipur, Dipa in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh, and in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Jhumming:

The ‘slash and burn’ agriculture is known as

• ‘Milpa’ in Mexico and Central America,
• ‘Conuco’ in Venzuela,
• ‘Roca’ in Brazil,
• ‘Masole’ in Central Africa,
• ‘Ladang’ in Indonesia,
• ‘Ray’ in Vietnam

In India, this primitive form of cultivation is called

• ‘Bewar’ or ‘Dahiya’ in Madhya Pradesh,
• ‘Podu’ or ‘Penda’ in Andhra Pradesh,
• ‘Pama Dabi’ or ‘Koman’ or
• Bringa’ in Odisha,
• ‘Kumari’ in Western Ghats,
• ‘Valre’ or ‘Waltre’ in South-eastern Rajasthan,
• ‘Khil’ in the Himalayan belt,
• ‘Kuruwa’ in Jharkhand, and
• ‘Jhumming’ in the North-eastern region.

Intensive Subsistence Farming

• This type of farming is practised in areas of high population pressure on land.
• It is labour intensive farming, where high doses of biochemical inputs and irrigation are used for obtaining higher production.

Commercial Farming

• Use of higher doses of modern inputs, e.g. high yielding variety (HYV) seeds, chemical fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides in order to obtain higher productivity.
• The degree of commercialisation of agriculture varies from one region to another.
• For example, rice is a commercial crop in Haryana and Punjab, but in Odisha, it is a subsistence crop.
• Plantation is also a type of commercial farming.
• In this type of farming, a single crop is grown on a large area.
• Plantations cover large tracts of land, using capital intensive inputs, with the help of migrant labourers.
• In India, tea, coffee, rubber, sugarcane, banana, etc.. are important plantation crops.
• Tea in Assam and North Bengal coffee in Karnataka are some of the important plantation crops grown in these states.
• The Government of India embarked upon introducing agricultural reforms to improve Indian agriculture in the 1960s and 1970s.
• The Green Revolution based on the use of package technology and the White Revolution (Operation Flood) were some of the strategies initiated to improve the lot of Indian agriculture.
• But, this too led to the concentration of development in few selected areas.
• Therefore, in the 1980s and 1990s, a comprehensive land development programme was initiated, which included both institutional and technical reforms.
• Provision for crop insurance against drought, flood, cyclone, fire and disease, establishment of Grameen banks, cooperative societies and banks for providing loan facilities to the farmers at lower rates of interest were some important steps in this direction.
• Kissan Credit Card (KCC), Personal Accident Insurance Scheme (PAIS) are some other schemes introduced by the Government of India for the benefit of the farmers.
• Moreover, special weather bulletins and agricultural programmes for farmers were introduced on the radio and television.
• The government also announces minimum support price, remunerative and procurement prices for important crops to check the exploitation of farmers by speculators and middlemen

Bhoodan – Gramdan

• Mahatma Gandhi declared Vinoba Bhave as his spiritual heir.
• He also participated in Satyagraha as one of the foremost satyagrahis.
• He was one of the votaries of Gandhi’s concept of gram swarajya.
• After Gandhiji’s martyrdom, Vinoba Bhave undertook padyatra to spread Gandhiji’s message covered almost the entire country.
• Once, when he was delivering a lecture at Pochampalli in Andhra Pradesh, some poor landless villagers demanded some land for their economic well-being.
• Vinoba Bhave could not promise it to them immediately but assured them to talk to the Government of India regarding provision of land for them if they undertook cooperative farming
• Suddenly, Shri Ram Chandra Reddy stood up and offered 80 acres of land to be distributed among 80 land-less villagers.
• This act was known as ‘Bhoodan’.
• Later he travelled and introduced his ideas widely all over India.
• Some zamindars, owners of many villages offered to distribute some villages among the landless. It was known as Gramdan.

CROPPING PATTERN

India has three cropping seasons — Rabi, kharif and Zaid.

Major Crops

Rice-

• Staple food crop
• Second largest producer of rice in the world after China
• Kharif crop
• Requires high temperature, (above 25°C) and
• High humidity with annual rainfall above 100 cm
• In the areas of less rainfall, it grows with the help of irrigation.
• Rice is grown in the plains of north and north-eastern India, coastal areas and the deltaic regions.
• Development of dense network of canal irrigation and tube wells have made it possible to grow rice in areas of less rainfall such as Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan.

Wheat-

• Second most important cereal crop.
• Main food crop, in north and north-western part of the country.
• Rabi crop
• Requires a cool growing season and a bright sunshine at the time of ripening.
• Rainfall- 50 to 75 cm

There are two important wheat-growing zones in the country –

• Ganga-Satluj plains in the northwest and
• Black soil region of the Deccan
• Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and parts of Madhya Pradesh

Millets-

• Jowar, bajra and ragi
• Though these are known as coarse grains, they have very high nutritional value.
• For example, ragi is very rich in iron, calcium, other micro nutrients and roughage.
• Jowar is the third most important food crop with respect to area and production.
• It is a rain-fed crop mostly grown in the moist areas which hardly needs irrigation.
• Major Jowar producing States- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in 2011-12
• Bajragrows well on sandy soils and shallow black soil
• Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Haryana in 2011-12.
• Ragi is a crop of dry regions and grows well on red, black, sandy, loamy and shallow black soils.
• Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh

Maize-

• Food and fodder
• Kharif crop
• Requires temperature between 21°C to 27°C
• Grows well in old alluvial soil
• Bihar maize is grown in Rabi season also.
• Use of modern inputs such as HYV seeds, fertilisers and irrigation have contributed to the increasing production of maize.
• Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh

Pulses-

• India is the largest producer as well as the consumer of pulses in the world.
• Major pulses in India- tur (arhar), urad, moong, masur, peas and gram.
• Pulses need less moisture and survive even in dry conditions.
• Being leguminous crops, all these crops except arhar help in restoring soil fertility by fixing nitrogen from the air
• Therefore, these are mostly grown in rotation with other crops.
• Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Karnataka

Food Crops other than Grains

Sugarcane:

• Tropical as well as a subtropical crop
• It grows well in hot and humid climate
• Temperature - 21°C to 27°C
• Annual rainfall- between 75cm. and 100cm
• Irrigation is required in the regions of low rainfall.
• It can be grown on a variety of soils and needs manual labour from sowing to harvesting.
• India is the second largest producer of sugarcane only after Brazil.
• It is the main source of sugar, gur (jaggary), khandsari and molasses.
• Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Punjab and Haryana

FOOD SECURITY

1. Buffer stock and
2. Public distribution system (PDS)

Food Corporation of India (FCI) is responsible for procuring and stocking food- grains, whereas distribution is ensured by public distribution system (PDS).

The FCI procures food- grains from the farmers at the government announced minimum support price (MSP).

Chapter- 5
Minerals and Energy Resources

Rocks are combinations of homogenous substances called minerals.

Minerals generally occur in these forms:

(i) In igneous and metamorphic rocks minerals may occur in the cracks, crevices, faults or joints.

• The smaller occurrences are called veins and the larger are called lodes.
• In most cases, they are formed when minerals in liquid/ molten and gaseous forms are forced upward through cavities towards the earth’s surface.
• They cool and solidify as they rise.
• Major metallic minerals like tin, copper, zinc and lead etc. are obtained from veins and lodes.

(ii) In sedimentary rocks a number of minerals occur in beds or layers. They have been formed as a result of deposition, accumulation and concentration in horizontal strata.

• Coal and some forms of iron ore have been concentrated as a result of long periods under great heat and pressure.
• Another group of sedimentary minerals include gypsum, potash salt and sodium salt.
• These are formed as a result of evaporation especially in arid regions.

(iii) Another mode of formation- decomposition of surface rocks, and the removal of soluble constituents, leaving a residual mass of weathered material containing ores.

• Bauxite is formed this way

(iv) Certain minerals may occur as alluvial deposits in sands of valley floors and the base of hills.

• These deposits are called ‘placer deposits’ and generally contain minerals, which are not corroded by water.
• Gold, silver, tin and platinum are most important among such minerals.

(v) The ocean waters contain vast quantities of minerals, but most of these are too widely diffused to be of economic significance.

• However, common salt, magnesium and bromine are largely derived from ocean waters.
• The ocean beds, too, are rich in manganese nodules.

Ferrous Minerals

Iron Ore-

• Hematite ore is the most important industrial iron ore in terms of the quantity used, but has a slightly lower iron content than magnetite.

The major iron ore belts in India are:

Odisha-Jharkhand belt

• In Odisha high grade hematite ore is found in Badampahar mines in the Mayurbhanj and Kendujhar districts.
• In the adjoining Singbhum district of Jharkhand haematite iron ore is mined in Gua and Noamundi.
• Durg-Bastar-Chandrapur belt lies in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. Very high grade hematites are found in the famous Bailadila range of hills in the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh.
• It has the best physical properties needed for steel making.
• Iron ore from these mines is exported to Japan and South Korea via Vishakhapatnam port.
• Ballari-Chitradurga-Chikkamagaluru- Tumakuru belt in Karnataka has large reserves of iron ore.
• The Kudremukh mines located in the Western Ghats of Karnataka are a 100 per cent export unit.
• Kudremukh deposits- largest in the world.
• The ore is transported as slurry through a pipeline to a port near Mangaluru.
• Maharashtra-Goa belt includes the state of Goa and Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra.
• Though, the ores are not of very high quality, yet they are efficiently exploited.
• Iron ore is exported through Marmagao port.

Manganese

• Used in the manufacturing of steel and Ferro-manganese alloy.
• Nearly 10 kg of manganese is required to manufacture one tonne of steel.
• Used in manufacturing bleaching powder, insecticides and paints.
• Odisha is the largest producer
• It accounted for one-third of the country’s total production in 2000-01.

Non-Ferrous Minerals

Copper

• India is critically deficient in the reserve and production of copper.
• Being malleable, ductile and a good conductor, copper are mainly used in electrical cables, electronics and chemical industries.
• The Balaghat mines in Madhya Pradesh, Khetri mines in Rajasthan and Singhbhum district of Jharkhand are leading producers of copper.

Bauxite

• Though, several ores contain aluminium, it is from bauxite, a clay-like substance that alumina and later aluminium is obtained.
• Deposits are formed by the decomposition of a wide variety of rocks rich in aluminium silicates.
• Aluminium is an important metal because it combines the strength of metals such as iron, with extreme lightness and
• Amarkantak plateau, Maikal hills and the plateau region of Bilaspur-Katni.
• Odisha largest producer
• Panchpatmali deposits in Koraput district

Non-Metallic Minerals

• Mica is a mineral made up of a series of plates or leaves.
• It splits easily into thin sheets.
• These sheets can be so thin that a thousand can be layered into a mica sheet of a few centimetres high.
• Mica can be clear, black, green, red yellow or brown.
• Due to its excellent di-electric strength, low power loss factor, insulating properties and resistance to high voltage, mica is one of the most indispensable minerals used in electric and electronic industries.
• Mica deposits are found in the northern edge of the Chota Nagpur plateau.
• Koderma Gaya – Hazaribagh belt of Jharkhand is the leading producer.
• In Rajasthan, the major mica producing area is around Ajmer.
• Nellore mica belt of Andhra Pradesh

Rock Minerals

Limestone

• Found in association with rocks composed of calcium carbonates or calcium and magnesium carbonates.
• It is found in sedimentary rocks of most geological formations.
• Limestone is the basic raw material for the cement industry and essential for smelting iron ore in the blast furnace

Energy Resources

Coal-

• Lignite is a low grade brown coal, which is soft with high moisture content.
• The principal lignite reserves are in Neyveli in Tamil Nadu and are used for generation of electricity.
• Coal that has been buried deep and subjected to increased temperatures is bituminous coal.
• Metallurgical coal is high grade bituminous coal which has a special value for smelting iron in blast furnaces.
• Anthracite is the highest quality hard coal

Coal Deposits-

• Damodar valley (West Bengal-Jharkhand).
• Jharia, Raniganj, Bokaro
• The Godavari, Mahanadi, Son and Wardha valleys
• Tertiary coals occur in the north eastern states of Meghalaya, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.

Petroleum

• Petroleum or mineral oil is the next major energy source in India after coal.
• Provides fuel for heat and lighting, lubricants for machinery and raw materials for a number of manufacturing industries.
• Petroleum refineries act as a “nodal industry” for synthetic textile, fertiliser and numerous chemical industries.
• Most of the petroleum occurrences in India are associated with anticlines and fault traps in the rock formations of the tertiary age.
• In regions of folding, anticlines or domes, it occurs where oil is trapped in the crest of the up- fold.
• The oil bearing layer is a porous limestone or sandstone through which oil may flow.
• The oil is prevented from rising or sinking by intervening non-porous layers.
• Petroleum is also found in fault traps between porous and non-porous rocks.
• Gas, being lighter usually occurs above the oil.
• About 63 per cent of India’s petroleum production is from Mumbai High, 18 per cent from Gujarat and 16 per cent from Assam.
• From the map locate the 3 major off shore fields of western India.
• Ankeleshwar is the most important field of Gujarat.
• Assam, Digboi, Naharkatiya and Moran-Hugrijan

Natural Gas

• Important clean energy resource found in association with or without petroleum.
• It is used as a source of energy as well as an industrial raw material in the petrochemical industry.
• Large reserves of natural gas have been discovered in the Krishna- Godavari basin.
• Along the west coast the reserves of the Mumbai High and allied fields are supplemented by finds in the Gulf of Cambay.
• Andaman and Nicobar islands are also important areas having large reserves of natural gas.
• The 1700 km long Hazira-Vijaipur - Jagdishpur cross country gas pipeline links Mumbai High and Bassien with the fertilizer, power and industrial complexes in western and northern India.
• Use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG ) for vehicles to replace liquid fuels is gaining wide popularity in the country.

Power Plants

Non-Conventional Sources of Energy

• Growing consumption of energy has resulted in the country becoming increasingly dependent on fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas.
• Rising prices of oil and gas and their potential shortages have raised uncertainties about the security of energy supply in future, which in turn has serious repercussions on the growth of the national economy.
• Moreover, increasing use of fossil fuels also causes serious environmental problems.
• Hence, there is a pressing need to use renewable energy sources like solar energy, wind, tide, biomass and energy from waste material.
• These are called nonconventional energy sources.

Nuclear or Atomic Energy

• It is obtained by altering the structure of atoms.
• When such an alteration is made, much energy is released in the form of heat and this is used to generate electric power.
• Uranium and Thorium- Jharkhand and the Aravalli ranges of Rajasthan are used for generating atomic or nuclear power.
• The Monazite sands of Kerala is also rich in Thorium.

Solar Energy

• India is a tropical country.
• It has enormous possibilities of tapping solar energy.
• Photovoltaic technology converts sunlight directly into electricity.
• Some big solar power plants are being established in different parts of India which will minimise the dependence of rural households on firewood and dung cakes, which in turn will contribute to environmental conservation and adequate supply of manure in agriculture.

Wind power

• The largest wind farm cluster is located in Tamil Nadu from Nagarcoil to Madurai.
• Apart from these, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Kerala, Maharashtra and Lakshadweep have important wind farms.
• Nagarcoil and Jaisalmer

Biogas

• Shrubs, farm waste, animal and human waste are used to produce biogas for domestic consumption in rural areas.
• Decomposition of organic matter yields gas, which has higher thermal efficiency in comparison to kerosene, dung cake and charcoal.
• Biogas plants are set up at municipal, cooperative and individual levels.
• The plants using cattle dung are known as ‘Gobar gas plants’ in rural India.
• These provide twin benefits to the farmer in the form of energy and improved quality of manure.

Tidal Energy

• Oceanic tides can be used to generate electricity.
• Floodgate dams are built across inlets.
• During high tide water flows into the inlet and gets trapped when the gate is closed.
• After the tide falls outside the flood gate, the water retained by the floodgate flows back to the sea via a pipe that carries it through a power-generating turbine.
• In India the Gulf of Khambhat, the Gulf of Kuchchh in Gujarat on the western coast and Gangetic delta in Sunderban regions of West Bengal provide ideal conditions for utilising tidal energy.

Geo Thermal Energy

• Geo thermal energy refers to the heat and electricity produced by using the heat from the interior of the Earth.
• Geothermal energy exists because, the Earth grows progressively hotter with increasing depth.
• Where the geothermal gradient is high, high temperatures are found at shallow depths.
• Groundwater in such areas absorbs heat from the rocks and becomes hot.
• It is so hot that when it rises to the earth’s surface, it turns into steam.
• This steam is used to drive turbines and generate electricity.
• There are several hundred hot springs in India, which could be used to generate electricity.
• Two experimental projects have been set up in India to harness geothermal energy.
• One is located in the Parvati valley near Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh and the other is located in the Puga Valley, Ladakh.

Chapter- 6
Manufacturing Industries

Classification of Industries

On the basis of source of raw materials used:

1. Agro based: cotton, woollen, jute, silk textile, rubber and sugar, tea, coffee, edible oil.
2. Mineral based: iron and steel, cement, aluminium, machine tools, petrochemicals

According to their main role:

• Basic or key industries which supply their products or raw materials to manufacture other goods e.g. iron and steel and copper smelting, aluminium smelting.
• Consumer industries that produce goods for direct use by consumers – sugar, toothpaste, paper, sewing machines, fans etc.

Agro Based Industries

1. Textile Industry
2. Cotton Textiles

Textile Industry-

• Contributes significantly to industrial production (14 per cent), employment generation (35 million persons directly – the second largest after agriculture) and foreign exchange earnings (about 24.6%).
• It contributes 4 % towards GDP.
• It is the only industry in the country, which is self-reliant and complete in the value chain i.e., from raw material to the highest value added products.

Cotton Textiles-

• In ancient India, cotton textiles were produced with hand spinning and handloom weaving techniques. After the 18th century, power-looms came into use.
• Our traditional industries suffered a setback during the colonial period because they could not compete with the mill-made cloth from England.
• The first successful textile mill was established in Mumbai in 1854.
• The two world wars were fought in Europe, India was a British colony.
• There was a demand for cloth in U.K. hence; they gave a boost to the development of the cotton textile industry.

Iron and Steel Plants

Information Technology and Electronics Industry

• Covers a wide range of products from transistor sets to television, telephones, cellular telecom, pagers, telephone exchange, radars, computers and many other types of equipment required by the telecommunication industry.
• Bangalore has emerged as the electronic capital of India.
• Other important centres for electronic goods are Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow and Coimbatore.
• However, the major industry concentration is at Bangalore, Noida, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune.

Chapter- 7
Lifelines of National Economy

Roadways

India has one of the largest road networks in the world

The growing importance of road transport vis-à-vis rail transport is rooted in the following reasons;

(a) Construction cost of roads is much lower than that of railway lines,

(b) Roads can traverse comparatively more dissected and undulating topography,

(c) Roads can negotiate higher gradients of slopes and as such can traverse mountains such as the Himalayas,

(d) Road transport is economical in transportation of few persons and relatively smaller amount of goods over short distances,

(e) It also provides door-to-door service, thus the cost of loading and unloading is much lower,

(f) Road transport is also used as a feeder to other modes of transport such as they provide a link between railway stations, air and sea ports

• In India, roads are classified in the following six classes according to their capacity.
• Golden Quadrilateral Super Highways: The government has launched a major road development project linking Delhi-Kolkata- Chennai-Mumbai and Delhi by six-lane Super Highways.
• The North-South corridors linking Srinagar (Jammu & Kashmir) and Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu), and East-West Corridor connecting Silcher (Assam) and Porbander (Gujarat) are part of this project.
• The major objective of these Super Highways is to reduce the time and distance between the mega cities of India.
• These highway projects are being implemented by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI)
• National Highways: National Highways link extreme parts of the country.
• These are the primary road systems and are laid and maintained by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD).
• A number of major National Highways run in North-South and East-West directions. The historical Sher- Shah Suri Marg is called National Highway No.1, between Delhi and Amritsar.
• State Highways: Roads linking a state capital with different district headquarters are known as State Highways.
• These roads are constructed and maintained by the State Public Works Department (PWD) in State and Union Territories.
• District Roads: These roads connect the district headquarters with other places of the district.
• These roads are maintained by the Zila Parishad.
• Other Roads: Rural roads, which link rural areas and villages with towns, are classified under this category.
• These roads received special impetus under the Pradhan MantriGrameen Sadak Yojana.
• Under this scheme special provisions are made so that every village in the country is linked to a major town in the country by an all season motorable road
• Border Roads: Apart from these, Border Roads Organisation a Government of India undertaking constructs and maintains roads in the bordering areas of the country.
• This organisation was established in 1960 for the development of the roads of strategic importance in the northern and north- eastern border areas.
• These roads have improved accessibility in areas of difficult terrain and have helped in the economic development of these areas.

Railways

• Railways are the principal mode of transportation for freight and passengers in India.
• Railways also make it possible to conduct multifarious activities like business, sightseeing, and pilgrimage along with transportation of goods over longer distances.
• Apart from an important means of transport the Indian Railways have been a great integrating force for more than 150 years.
• The Indian Railways is the largest public sector undertaking in the country.
• The first train steamed off from Mumbai to Thane in 1853, covering a distance of 34 km.

Pipelines

• Pipeline transport network is a new arrival on the transportation map of India.
• In the past, these were used to transport water to cities and industries
• Now, these are used for transporting crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas from oil and natural gas fields to refineries, fertilizer factories and big thermal power plants.
• Solids can also be transported through a pipeline when converted into slurry.
• The far inland locations of refineries like Barauni, Mathura, Panipat and gas based fertilizer plants could be thought of only because of pipelines.
• Initial cost of laying pipelines is high but subsequent running costs are minimal.
• It rules out trans-shipment losses or delays.

Waterways

• Since time immemorial, India was one of the seafaring countries.
• Its seamen sailed far and near, thus, carrying and spreading Indian commerce and culture.
• Waterways are the cheapest means of transport.
• They are most suitable for carrying heavy and bulky goods.
• It is a fuel-efficient and environment friendly mode of transport.

The following waterways have been declared as the National Waterway by the Government

1. The Ganga River between Allahabad and Haldia (1620 km)-N.W. No.1
2. The Brahmaputra river between Sadiya and Dhubri (891 km)- N.W. No. 2
3. The West-Coast Canal in Kerala (Kottapurma-Kollam, Udyogamandal and Champakkara canals-205 km) – N.W. No.3
4. Specified stretches of Godavari and Krishna rivers along with Kakinada Puducherry stretch of canals (1078 km) – N.W. No.4
5. Specified stretches of river Brahmani along with Matai River, delta channels of Mahanadi and Brahmani rivers and East Coast Canal (588 km) – N.W. No.5

Major Sea Ports

• With a long coastline of 7,516.6 km, India is dotted with 12 major and 187, notified non- majors (minor/intermediate) ports.
• These major ports handle 95 per cent of India’s foreign trade.
• Kandla in Kachchh was the first port developed soon after Independence to ease the volume of trade on the Mumbai port, in the wake of loss of Karachi port to Pakistan after the Partition.
• Kandla is a tidal port.
• It caters to the convenient handling of exports and imports of highly productive granary and industrial belt stretching across the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
• Mumbai is the biggest port with a spacious natural and well-sheltered harbour.
• The Jawaharlal Nehru port was planned with a view to decongest the Mumbai port and serve as a hub port for this region.
• Marmagao port (Goa) is the premier iron ore exporting port of the country. This port accounts for about fifty per cent of India’s iron ore export.
• New Mangalore port, located in Karnataka caters to the export of iron ore concentrates from Kudremukh mines.
• Kochchi is the extreme south-western port, located at the entrance of a lagoon with a natural harbour.
• Moving along the east coast, you would see the extreme south-eastern port of Tuticorin, in Tamil Nadu.
• This port has a natural harbour and rich hinterland. Thus, it has a flourishing trade handling of a large variety of cargoes to even our neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka, Maldives, etc. and the coastal regions of India.
• Chennai is one of the oldest artificial ports of the country. It is ranked next to Mumbai in terms of the volume of trade and cargo.
• Vishakhapatnam is the deepest landlocked and well-protected port. This port was, originally, conceived as an outlet for iron ore exports.
• Paradip port located in Odisha specialises in the export of iron ore.
• Kolkata is an inland riverine port. This port serves a very large and rich hinterland of Ganga- Brahmaputra basin. Being a tidal port, it requires constant dredging of Hoogly.
• Haldia port was developed as a subsidiary port, in order to relieve growing pressure on the Kolkata port.

Airways

• The air travel, today, is the fastest, most comfortable and prestigious mode of transport.
• It can cover very difficult terrains like high mountains, dreary deserts, dense forests and also long oceanic stretches with great ease.
• The air transport was nationalised in 1953.
• On the operational side, Indian Airlines, Alliance Air (subsidiary of Indian Airlines), private scheduled airlines and non- scheduled operators provide domestic air services.
• Air India provides international air services. Pawanhans Helicopters Ltd. Provides helicopter services to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation in its off-shore operations, to inaccessible areas and difficult terrains like the north-eastern states and the interior parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
• Indian Airlines operations also extend to the neighbouring countries of South and south-east Asia and the Middle East.

Communication

• Ever since humans appeared on the earth, they have used different means of communication.
• But, the pace of change has been rapid in modern times.
• Long distance communication is far easier without physical movement of the communicator or receiver.
• Personal communication and mass communication including television, radio, press, films, etc. are the major means of communication in the country.
• The Indian postal network is the largest in the world.
• It handles parcels as well as personal written communications.
• Cards and envelopes are considered first–class mail and are airlifted between stations covering both land and air.
• The second–class mail includes book packets, registered newspapers and periodicals. They are carried by surface mail, covering land and water transport.
• To facilitate quick delivery of mails in large towns and cities, six mail channels have been introduced recently.
• They are called Rajdhani Channel, Metro Channel, Green Channel, Business Channel, Bulk Mail Channel and Periodical Channel
• India has one of the largest telecom networks in Asia.
• Mass communication provides entertainment and creates awareness among people about various national programmes and policies.