Land Resources – Class 10 Geography

Overview: People live on land and perform most economic activities on it. Land supports natural vegetation, wildlife, agriculture, settlements and industries. But land is limited, so its conservation is essential.

1) Why Is Land Important?

  • Supports human life, natural vegetation, and wildlife.
  • Base for agriculture, industries, transport, housing and recreation.
  • Earth does not have infinite land → judicious and sustainable use is necessary.

2) Relief Features of India & Their Uses

India’s land shows varied relief. Broad distribution and typical uses:

Relief FeatureApprox. ShareTypical Uses
Plains43%Agriculture, industry, dense settlements
Mountains30%Tourism, hydel power, ecological functions
Plateaus27%Minerals, fossil fuels, forests
IslandsSmall shareTourism, fisheries, strategic locations

Note: These figures indicate broad distribution of land under major relief categories in India.

3) Land Utilisation Categories

Major uses of land in India include:

  • 🌳 Forests
  • 🏠 Area under non-agricultural uses (buildings, roads, factories)
  • 🌾 Agricultural land (net sown area, gross cropped area)
  • 🐄 Permanent pastures and grazing land
  • 🏜️ Barren and unculturable land
  • 🟫 Fallow land (see types below)

Fallow & Culturable Waste – Definitions

  • Culturable waste land: Land left uncultivated for more than five agricultural years.
  • Current fallow: Land left without cultivation for one year or less.
  • Other than current fallow: Land left uncultivated for the past one to five years.

4) Factors Affecting Land Use

  • Physical factors: Soil type, topography, climate.
  • Human factors: Population density, culture, customs, technology, traditions.

5) Land Use Pattern – Then & Now

General Land Use: 1960–61 vs 2014–15

  • Forest cover and area under non-agricultural uses have generally increased with development.
  • Permanent pastures have declined in many regions.
  • Fallow categories vary with monsoon, irrigation and market conditions.
  • Net sown area remained high in agriculturally advanced regions; multi-cropping increased gross cropped area.

Geographical Area: India has 3.28 million sq km. Land-use statistics are available for about 93% of the area; the remaining ~7% includes some inaccessible parts of the North-East and areas under external occupation (beyond administrative reach).

6) Net Sown Area & Gross Cropped Area

  • Net sown area (NSA): Land sown with crops and harvested during a year.
  • Gross cropped area (GCA): NSA plus the area sown more than once in the same year.
  • State variation: NSA is >80% in Punjab & Haryana; around ~10% in Arunachal Pradesh & Manipur (terrain, forest cover, climate limit cultivable area).

7) Forest Policy & Actual Forest Cover

  • National Forest Policy (1952): Target of 33% forest cover for ecological balance.
  • ISFR (Indian State of Forest Report): Latest reported forest cover around 21.71% of India’s geographical area.

ISFR – Quick Facts

  • Published by the Forest Survey of India (FSI).
  • Biennial publication (every two years).

8) Land Degradation – Causes & States

Meaning: Decline in land quality due to misuse/overuse, reducing productivity and ecological health.

Major Causes

  • 🌲 Deforestation
  • 🐄 Overgrazing
  • 🔥 Shifting cultivation
  • 🏭 Industrial waste and improper effluent discharge
  • 💦 Over-irrigation (salinity/alkalinity in soils)
  • ⛏️ Mining and abandoned mine sites

State-wise Illustrations

  • Maharashtra & Gujarat: Overgrazing
  • Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand & Madhya Pradesh: Mining and deforestation
  • Punjab, Haryana & Uttar Pradesh: Over-irrigation → salinity/alkalinity
  • Odisha & Mizoram: Shifting cultivation

9) Measures to Conserve Land

  • 🌳 Afforestation and social forestry
  • 🐄 Controlled/managed grazing
  • 🌵 Stabilising sand dunes with grasses, shrubs, thorny bushes
  • 🏭 Scientific waste management & controlled industrial effluents
  • 🧑‍🌾 Soil-water conservation: contour bunding/ploughing, terracing, check dams
  • 🗂️ Land-use planning based on carrying capacity and ecology

10) Exam Pointers (Quick Recall)

  • Relief share: Plains 43%, Mountains 30%, Plateaus 27% (Islands small).
  • Definitions: Net sown area, Gross cropped area, culturable waste, current fallow, other fallow.
  • NFP 1952: Target 33% forest cover; ISFR: ~21.71% forest cover; ISFR by FSI, biennial.
  • Degradation causes + state examples and solutions.

11) Practice (Self-Check)

  1. List four major uses of land in India.
  2. Differentiate between Net sown area and Gross cropped area with examples.
  3. Why is the 33% forest cover target important for India?
  4. Give two causes of land degradation in (a) Punjab/Haryana (b) Odisha/Mizoram.
  5. Mention any three measures to conserve land resources.