Geography - Earth, Environment & Resources • Topic 4 of 4

Resources & Agriculture

A resource is anything that has utility and value and can be used to satisfy human needs. Resources are classified in several ways. By origin they are natural resources (obtained from nature, like water, soil, minerals, forests) and human-made resources (created using natural materials, like machines and roads); human beings themselves are human resources, valuable for their knowledge and skills. By their ability to be renewed, resources are renewable (those that can be replenished by nature in a short time, such as solar energy, wind, water and forests) and non-renewable (those that take millions of years to form and get exhausted with use, such as coal, petroleum and natural gas - the fossil fuels). Resources are not unlimited, so their wise use is essential. Conservation means using resources carefully and giving them time to renew, so that they are available for future generations - this idea is at the heart of sustainable development, meaning development that meets present needs without harming the ability of future generations to meet their own. Agriculture, or farming, is the practice of cultivating crops and rearing livestock. It has several types: subsistence agriculture, where farmers grow just enough for their own family's needs; commercial agriculture, where crops are grown for sale in the market; intensive farming on small plots with high labour; and shifting cultivation and plantation agriculture. Crops are grouped by season - in India, kharif crops (such as rice, maize, cotton) are sown with the monsoon in June-July and harvested in autumn, while rabi crops (such as wheat, gram, mustard) are sown in winter and harvested in spring. Major food crops include rice (needing high temperature, humidity and rainfall), wheat (needing moderate temperature and rainfall), millets, maize and pulses.

✅ Solved examples

1. Coal, petroleum and natural gas are classified as which type of resource, and why?
Non-renewable resources. They take millions of years to form (they are fossil fuels) and get exhausted with use, so their stock cannot be replenished within a human timescale.
2. Define conservation of resources and link it to sustainable development.
Conservation means using resources carefully and giving them time to renew so they last for future generations. This supports sustainable development - meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
3. In India, rice, cotton and maize sown at the start of the monsoon (June-July) and harvested in autumn are known as:
Kharif crops. The other main group is rabi crops (wheat, gram, mustard), sown in winter and harvested in spring.
4. What kind of agriculture is practised when a farmer grows crops mainly to feed his own family rather than to sell?
Subsistence agriculture. In contrast, commercial agriculture grows crops on a large scale for sale in the market.

✏️ Practice — try these, take hints as needed

1. Solar energy, wind and flowing water are examples of which type of resource?
Nature can replenish them quickly.
Opposite of non-renewable.
Renewable resources
2. The knowledge, skills and ability of people that make other resources useful are called:
People themselves are the resource.
Education and health improve them.
Human resources
3. Wheat, gram and mustard sown in winter and harvested in spring in India are called:
Not kharif.
The winter cropping season.
Rabi crops
4. Which crop requires high temperature, high humidity and heavy rainfall and is a staple food in much of India and Asia?
Grown in flooded fields.
A kharif crop.
Rice

📝 Topic test — 8 questions

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