CDS Geography · Indian Geography — Economy, Resources and Transport
Resources and Land Use
How resources are classified, the nine categories India uses to record its land, and how irrigation and soil conservation suit the ground they are used on.
Why this matters
Eight CDS questions from 2018 to 2024. Three ask about the land-use categories, two about how resources are classified, and three about irrigation and soil conservation. Most come straight from the NCERT chapters on resources and land use.
Concept 1 of 3: Classifying resources
The same resource can be sorted in four different ways, depending on the question you ask about it. Where does it come from? Can it run out? Who owns it? Is it in use yet? Each question gives its own pair or set of classes, and CDS checks that you match the class to the right question.
Definition
The four bases of classification (NCERT Class 10, Resources and Development):
- By origin: biotic (from living things: forests, fish, livestock, people) and abiotic (from non-living things: rocks, metals, water, air).
- By exhaustibility: renewable (renewed by natural processes: solar and wind energy, water, forests) and non-renewable (formed over millions of years: coal, petroleum, minerals).
- By ownership: individual, community, national and international.
- By status of development: potential (found but not yet used), developed (surveyed and in use), stock (usable, but we lack the technology) and reserves (a part of the stock we can use with today's technology).
| Basis of classification | Classes |
|---|---|
| Origin | Biotic and abioticQ CDS 2023 (II): classification by origin gives biotic and abiotic. |
| Exhaustibility | Renewable and non-renewable |
| Ownership | Individual, community, national and international |
| Status of development | Potential, developed, stock and reserves |
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2023 · CDS (II) 2023 — General Knowledge · Q28Easy
Example 1 · Indian Geography — Economy, Resources and Transport · Resources and Land Use
How can resources be classified on the basis of their origin ?
Origin is not renewability
Classification by origin gives biotic and abiotic. Renewable and non-renewable is classification by exhaustibility, and potential and reserves is by status of development. An option from the wrong basis is the usual distractor.
Concept 2 of 3: The nine land-use categories
Every piece of land in a village's revenue records is put in one of nine boxes. Some boxes are about what the land is (forest, barren hill), some about what it is used for (roads, pasture), and four are about farming: how long a field has been left unsown decides which box it goes in.
Definition
The land-use record in India (NCERT Class 12, India: People and Economy):
- There are nine categories. Marginal land is not one of them: it describes poor quality, not a use.
- Fallow land is graded by how long it has been left unsown: current fallow is one agricultural year or less, fallow other than current fallow is more than one year but less than five, and culturable wasteland is more than five years.
- Trends since Independence: the area under forest, under non-agricultural uses, under current fallow and the net sown area have increased. Land put to non-agricultural uses (houses, roads, industry) grew at the fastest rate.
- Barren and wasteland, culturable wasteland, permanent pastures and land under tree crops have declined.
| Category | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Forests | Land classified as forest by the government |
| Land put to non-agricultural uses | Settlements, roads, railways, industry and canals |
| Barren and wasteland | Land that cannot be farmed with the technology we have: barren hills, deserts, ravines |
| Permanent pastures and grazing land | Mostly village common land owned by the panchayat or the government |
| Miscellaneous tree crops and groves | Orchards and groves not counted in the net sown area |
| Culturable wasteland | Farmable land left unsown for more than five yearsQ CDS 2024 (I): culturable wasteland is land left fallow for more than five years. |
| Current fallow | Left unsown for one agricultural year or less |
| Fallow other than current fallow | Left unsown for more than one year but less than five |
| Net sown area | Land actually sown and harvested |
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2024 · CDS (I) 2024 — General Knowledge · Q89Hard
Example 2 · Indian Geography — Economy, Resources and Transport · Resources and Land Use
What is culturable wasteland?
Five years, not four
Culturable wasteland is farmable land left unsown for more than five years. One to five years is fallow other than current fallow, and up to one year is current fallow.
Marginal land is not a category
Forest, pasture, and barren and wasteland are all land-use categories. Marginal land is a description of poor land, not one of the nine categories.
Forest area has gone up
A statement that the area under forest has fallen sharply in recent years is false for the land-use record: it has risen slowly since Independence.
Concept 3 of 3: Irrigation and soil conservation
Each way of watering crops suits a certain kind of ground. A tank needs hard rock that stops rain from soaking in. A well needs soft ground that holds water underneath. On a hill slope the problem is the opposite: water runs off too fast and takes the soil with it, so farmers plough and build banks across the slope.
Definition
- Tank irrigation is common on the peninsular plateau (Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu), where hard, impervious rock keeps rainwater on the surface and there is little groundwater.
- Well and tubewell irrigation needs soft, porous ground with plenty of groundwater, as in the alluvial plains. Wells and tubewells water the largest share of India's irrigated land.
- So a map of tanks and a map of wells are negatively related: the ground that suits one does not suit the other.
- Canal irrigation is common where rivers flow all year, as in the northern plains and the coastal deltas.
- Contour ploughing (ploughing along the contour lines of a slope) and contour bunding (banks of earth across a slope) slow running water on hill slopes and save the soil. Terrace farming does the same on steeper hills.
| Method | Where it suits, and why |
|---|---|
| Tank irrigation | Peninsular plateau: hard rock holds rain on the surface |
| Wells and tubewells | Alluvial plains: soft ground holds plenty of groundwater |
| Canals | Northern plains and deltas, fed by rivers that flow all year |
| Contour ploughing and bunding | Hill slopes, such as those of Himachal Pradesh, where water runs off fastQ CDS 2021 (II): of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, contour bunding belongs to hilly Himachal Pradesh. |
| Damanganga Reservoir Project | Canals from the Damanganga river that irrigate Dadra and Nagar HaveliQ CDS 2019 (I): the project with about 115 km of minor canals is in Dadra and Nagar Haveli. |
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
CDS · 2019 · CDS (I) 2019 — General Knowledge · Q77Moderate
Example 3 · Indian Geography — Economy, Resources and Transport · Resources and Land Use
If one plots the tank irrigation in India and superimposes it with map of well irrigation, one may find that the two are negatively related. Which of the following statements explain the phenomenon?
1. Tank irrigation predates well irrigation.
2. Tank irrigation is in the areas with impervious surface layers.
3. Well irrigation requires sufficient groundwater reserves.
4. Other forms of irrigation are not available.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Tanks and wells are opposites
Tanks suit hard, impervious rock with little groundwater; wells need porous ground with plenty of groundwater. That is why the two are negatively related on a map. Which came first in history has nothing to do with it.
Contour farming needs a slope
Contour ploughing and bunding are for hill slopes. On the flat plains of Punjab and Haryana, or in the Rajasthan desert, there is no slope to plough across.
Summary — formulas & gotchas at a glance
A revision cheat-sheet for the formulas and gotchas above. Click any concept name to jump back to its full explanation.
Reference tables (3)
Classifying resources4 rows
| Basis of classification | Classes |
|---|---|
| Origin | Biotic and abioticQ CDS 2023 (II): classification by origin gives biotic and abiotic. |
| Exhaustibility | Renewable and non-renewable |
| Ownership | Individual, community, national and international |
| Status of development | Potential, developed, stock and reserves |
The nine land-use categories9 rows
| Category | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Forests | Land classified as forest by the government |
| Land put to non-agricultural uses | Settlements, roads, railways, industry and canals |
| Barren and wasteland | Land that cannot be farmed with the technology we have: barren hills, deserts, ravines |
| Permanent pastures and grazing land | Mostly village common land owned by the panchayat or the government |
| Miscellaneous tree crops and groves | Orchards and groves not counted in the net sown area |
| Culturable wasteland | Farmable land left unsown for more than five yearsQ CDS 2024 (I): culturable wasteland is land left fallow for more than five years. |
| Current fallow | Left unsown for one agricultural year or less |
| Fallow other than current fallow | Left unsown for more than one year but less than five |
| Net sown area | Land actually sown and harvested |
Irrigation and soil conservation5 rows
| Method | Where it suits, and why |
|---|---|
| Tank irrigation | Peninsular plateau: hard rock holds rain on the surface |
| Wells and tubewells | Alluvial plains: soft ground holds plenty of groundwater |
| Canals | Northern plains and deltas, fed by rivers that flow all year |
| Contour ploughing and bunding | Hill slopes, such as those of Himachal Pradesh, where water runs off fastQ CDS 2021 (II): of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, contour bunding belongs to hilly Himachal Pradesh. |
| Damanganga Reservoir Project | Canals from the Damanganga river that irrigate Dadra and Nagar HaveliQ CDS 2019 (I): the project with about 115 km of minor canals is in Dadra and Nagar Haveli. |
Watch out for (6)
- Origin is not renewability→ Classifying resources
- Five years, not four→ The nine land-use categories
- Marginal land is not a category→ The nine land-use categories
- Forest area has gone up→ The nine land-use categories
- Tanks and wells are opposites→ Irrigation and soil conservation
- Contour farming needs a slope→ Irrigation and soil conservation
Test yourself on Indian Geography — Economy, Resources and Transport
20 past CDS questions from this chapter, timed at 20 minutes and marked the way the exam marks it. You see your score and every answer the moment you finish. Free to start.