LAND RESOURCES

KHATIJA KAINATH. T
 LAND AS A RESOURCE

 Land is the fundamental resource as it

provides shelter and food to man.
 In India the total geographical land area is 329
million hectares i.e.,13% of the total area of
the world.
 In terms of size India ranks SEVENTH among
the countries of the world.
 The utilization of land in India is not to its
optimum potential.
LAND DEGRADATION

 Land degradation refers to

 Deterioration of soil
 Loss of productive capacity of soil
 Loss of fertility of the soil

 it is estimated that India losses annually 6000

MILLION TONS of top soil.
 National Commission for Agriculture has
estimated that the total area subjected to
land degradation is 175million hectares.
 Out of this,
 150 million hectares by water and wind
erosion
 6 million hectares by water logging
 8 million hectares by salinity.
MAN INDUCED LAND SLIDES

 The movement of earthy material from

higher region to lower region due to gravity is
called mass movement.
 If it is through a definite plane then it is land
slide.
landslides can cause,
o In areas repeatedly rocked by earthquake
o Heavy and prolonged rainfall
LANDSLIDE DISASTER DUE TO
HUMAN ACTIVITIES
 Removal of vegetation in the sloppy areas

 Underground mining activities

 Vehicular transport in the unstable sloppy

regions

 Building of huge dams

SOIL EROSION

 Soil erosion is the washing or blowing away of

the top layer of the soil.
 It washes away the nutrients in soil such as
nitrogen, phosphate and potassium are lost
resulting in infertility of the soil.
 In India in 1971 alone 6000 million tons of soil
was lost.
CAUSES OF SOIL EROSION

 RAINFALL- raindrops directly strike the soil

surface and detach the soil particles.
 WIND- transportation of soil and sand
particle by wind by wind is best seen in
deserts and along the seashore.
 BIOTIC FACTORS- grazing by cattle, cutting
down of trees, agricultural activities,
construction of buildings and laying of roads.
DESERTIFICATION

 Desertification is a process by which fertile

land becomes desert.
Causes for the origin of manmade deserts,
 Removal of trees
 Modern methods of agriculture instead of
more traditional
 Over exploitation of fertile soil particularly in
areas of low rainfall by cultivating cash crops.
SOIL CONSERVATION

 The aim of soil conservation is to increase

food production without soil loss.

 National Wasteland Development Board was

set up by the Central Government in 1995 to
bring 5 million hectares of wasteland/year.