Natural resources are material and
constituent formed within environment or any matter or energy that are
resulting from environment, used by living things that humans use for food,
fuel, clothing and shelter. These comprise of water, soil, minerals,
vegetation, animals, air and sunlight. People require resources to survive and
succeed. Everything which happens naturally on earth are natural resources that
is minerals, land, water, soil, wind that can be used in many ways by human
being.
The total cultivable area in India is
19,45,355 km² (56.78% of its total land area), which is shrinking due to
population pressures and rapid urbanisation. India's major mineral resources
include Coal (4th largest reserves in the world), Iron ore, Manganese ore (7th
largest reserve in the world as in 2013), Mica, Bauxite (5th largest reserve in
the world as in 2013), Chromite, Natural gas, Diamonds, Limestone and Thorium.
The major resource region in India include
1) Western Himalayan Region
This region consists of three distinct sub
zones of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh hills. Lands of
the region have steep slopes in undulating terrain. Soils are generally silty
loams and these are prone to erosion hazards.
2)
Eastern Himalayan Region
Sikkim and Darjeeling hills, Arunachal
Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Assam and Jalpaiguri
and cooch bihar districts of West Bengal fall under this region, with high
rainfall and high forest cover. Shifting cultivation is practiced in nearly one
third of the cultivated area and this has caused denudation and degradation of
soils with the resultant heavy runoff, massive soil erosion and floods in the
lower reaches and basins.
3)
Lower Gangetic Plain Region
This region consists of West Bengal. Soils
are mostly alluvial and flood prone.
4)
Middle Gangetic Plain Region
This region consists of 12 districts of
eastern Uttar Pradesh and 27 districts of Bihar plains. This region has a
geographical area of 16 million hectares and rainfall is high. About 39% of
gross cropped area is irrigated and cropping intensity is 142%.
5)
Upper Gangetic Plain Region
This zone consists of 32 districts of Uttar
Pradesh. Irrigation is through canals and tube wells. A good potential for
exploitation of ground water exists.
6)
Trans Gangetic Plain Region
This zone consists of Punjab, Haryana, Union
territories of Delhi and Chandigarh and Sriganganagar district of Rajasthan.
The major characteristics of this area are highest net sown area, highest
irrigated area, high cropping intensity and high ground water utilization.
7)
Eastern Plateau and Hills Region
This zone consists of eastern parts of Madhya
Pradesh, southern part of West Bengal and most of inland Orissa. The soils are
shallow and medium in depth and the topography is undulating. Irrigation is
through tanks and tube wells.
8)
Central Plateau and Hills Region
This region consists of most parts of Madhya
Pradesh and south eastern Rajasthan. This region has undulating topography with
sandy soils.
9)
Western Plateau and Hills Region
This zone comprises the major part of
Maharashtra, parts of Madhya Pradesh and one district of Rajasthan. The average
annual rainfall of the zone is 904 mm. The net sown area is 65% and forests
occupy 11%. The irrigated area is only 12.4% with canals being the main source.
10)
Southern Plateau and Hills Region
This zone comprises 35 districts of Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamilnadu, which are typically semi-arid zones. Dry land
farming is adopted in 81% of the area.
11)
East Coast Plains and Hills Region
This zone comprises of east coast of
Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa. Soils are mainly alluvial and coastal
sands. Irrigation is through canals and tanks.
12)
West Coast Plains and Ghats Region
This zone comprises west coast of Tamilnadu,
Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa with a variety of crop patterns,
rainfall and soil types.
This zone consists of 19 districts of
Gujarat. This zone is arid with low rainfall in most parts and only 32.5% of
the area is irrigated largely through wells and tube wells.
14)
Western Dry Region
This zone comprises 9 districts of Rajasthan
and is characterized by hot, sandy desert, erratic rainfall, high evaporation
and scanty vegetation. The ground water is deep and often brackish. Drought is
the common feature of the region.
15)
Islands Region
This zone covers the island territories of
Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadeep, which are typically equatorial with rainfall
of 3000 mm spread over 8-9 months. It is largely a forest zone with undulating
lands. Depending
on the variation in ecological characteristics of one region from the other,
they have different types of vegetation, which suits best to their ecological conditions.
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