Question : 'Oil has placed in the hands of Arab nations a tremendous geopolitical weapon with which to wield power'. Comment.
(1994)
Answer : No other commodity of the present day has so close relation with the eco-political affairs of the world than petroleum and its different by-products. Conquest or control of oil - rich regions has been a major objective in the battles of Post-world War era, many of which were closely associated with the Arab nations.
The rapidly expanding production of petroleum and its overgrowing importance in the sphere of industrial world can simply be attributed to a number of factors:
(a)Petroleum occurs in large quantities.
(b)It has the widest range to domestic as well as industrial uses.
(c)It can be cheaply distributed via pipelines.
It is, indeed, petroleum which has revolutionized the entire transportation system, be it on land, water or air by providing the most convenient fuel base of the present day world. An increase in petroleum prices has a consequent cascading effect on the prices of the most of agricultural-industrial products, thereby affecting the entire economy adversely, even on a global scale in the present era of globalisation. In short, oil has penetrated deeply into every sphere of our life today and has been rightly termed as the "modern industrial giant".
However, the occurrence of oil in the world is quite uneven. Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Bahrain, U.A.E etc. command more than 50% of the proven reserves of world petroleum. These Middle-Eastern countries are the most important oil producing nations in the world and it is very likely that they will retain their supremacy in the years to come. The growing importance of mineral oil in the world has radically transformed the fortunes of the economy of the Arabnations. The regional economic development of these countries is solely dependent on oil. Even some Arab nations having only moderate deposits of oil, have also been economically benefitted through their control on transportation routes.
It is because of this dominant position of Arab nations in the precious commodity of petroleum, despite being a small region comprising only 3% of world population, that they have become an important geo-political region in the present world. Added to this is the highly uneven pattern of oil consumption- developed countries with 15% of world population consume more than 80% of world oil output. Japan imports 99% of its requirement while Europe more than 95%. Even U.S.A, the 2nd largest producer, so imports 50% of its requirement.
Realising the geopolitical significance of Arabnations, Britain's institute for Strategic Studies once commented rightly" the thread of the burgeoning power and changing tactics of the Middle East oil producing countries seemed to overshadow almost all military threats to North America, Europe and japan."
The use of oil resource as a geopolitical weapon by Arab nations was amply demonstrated during the Arab-Israel War of 1973. In retaliation for the US support to Israel during the war, the members of the OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) cut back their output by 5% and subsequently raised the prices of oil at least four times within a relatively short span of time. The price in dollars per barrel shot up from 1.5 to 7, then to 24 in 1979, 34 in 1981 before stabilising ataround 20. As a result of theprice hike and reduced supply of oil, theeconomies were hit worldwide. The worst sufferers were the developing countries who lacked enough capital to pay for increased oil imports. Thus, the Arabian countries most successfully used their oil as a weapon to fight against the aggression and vested interests of world powers.
Even after the war, it is because of the presence of oil that the Arabian countries have been able to somehow counter balance the aggressive and ambitious attitude of Israel assisted/supported by USA. The geopolitical importance of oil has brought these countries closer to USA and have their voices heard. It is the oil which putting a considerable pressure to find a peaceful solution to the West Asian Crisis involving Israel and Palestine.
However, the strategic importance of the oil fields has greatly mounted up geo-political tension in the region. Arab-Israel War and the various conflicts between the rival governments as the Iran-Iraq War of 1980, Guff War of 1991 and the recent U.S. attack on Iraq and the consequent instability bear testimony to this fact. Thus the oil has also become a source of conflict and instability in the region. The world powers, especially the USA has great stakes in this region in the context of energy security, the manifestation of which can be seen in the recent Iraq quagmire.
Question : Measures of agricultural efficiency.
(1993)
Answer : Agricultural efficiency can be defined as the ratio of output to the inputs into agricultural activities. These inputs may include the amount of manpower, or number of man-hours spent) and the cost of investment in terms of irrigation, fertilizers, seeds, pesticides, machines etc. Agricultural efficiency is reflected in productivity which is measured either in terms of yield per hectare of land or yield per person employed.
Agricultural efficiency is a function of the combined interplay of physical, socio-economic and techno-organisational factors. A high degree of variability exists in the occurrence of these factors in various parts of the world. Hence various measures of agricultural efficiency have been devised. Some prominent measures for determining agricultural efficiency are the following:
(A)The Food and Agricultural organisation (FAO) has prepared an "International Grain Equivalent Index" which assesses different crops in relative price value of wheat.
(B)Stamp and Shaffi have used the caloric value to prepare the crop equivalent. This method provides a good measure of agricultural efficiency.
(C)Jasbir Singh has prepared an index by measuring the carrying capacity of land (in terms of population component enumeration unit) as a percentage of carrying capacity of the entire region. This method is also not suitable for all the regions of the world.
(D)Kindall has devised a method expressed in terms of output per unit area. This method is simple in concept and has been applied in many studies of agricultural efficiency.
Question : Give an account of the agricultural typology of the world presented by Whittlesey and critically examine the parameters used in its delineation.
(1993)
Answer : Agricultural typology of the world presented by D.Whittlesey was based on the functioning forms of agriculture. The regional pattern in any classification of agriculture are basically determined by the interaction between two sets of variables i.e. the physical and non-physical. Hence, following combinations should be considered in this regard:
(1) The combination of natural environment which includes elements like soil, climate, terain, water, etc.
(2) Non-physical factors which includes those which humans use to exploit natural resources. These comprises institutional, bio-chemical, techno-organizational, demographic and cultural-infrastructural.
The interaction between these two factors, according to Whittlesey, produces various types on agricultural landscape functioning differently of account of various functioning forms. These forms appear to be dominant in every type of agriculture. These functioning forms are :
(I) The crop and livestock combination or the structural character of the system: The structural character of a region is mostly determined by the ecological conditions, particularly climate. On the whole, five broad combinations of crops and livestock may be recognized:
(a) More dominant livestock production in rather dry, rough or inaccessible areas. Two distinct types in this combination are (i) Nomadic herding; and (ii) Commercial livestock ranching.
(b) More emphasis on crop production with a variety of crops (intensive subsidence agriculture).
(c) Stess on the production of limited number of crops (commercial grain farming plantation agriculture).
(d) Equal importance to crops & livestock (mixed agriculture).
(e) Milch stock rearing in humid temperate latitudes.
(II) The methods and techniques used in production: Agricultural areas differ on this basis even though they may have similar crop and livestock combinations, e.g. wheat farming of Punjab-Haryana plain differs from wheat farming of the U.S.A.
(III) Input-Output Ratio: The intensive application of inputs to land and output thereof result in a sharp cleavage in agricultural systems lying in (i) the occidental world using elaborate machinery and (ii) the oriental world where the use of family labour is intensive and the output area is high but per farm labour is very low.
(IV) The destination of farm produce : It draws a clear-cut distinction between commercial and subsidence types of agriculture. If the farming is done with the intention of selling the produce, it is commercial farming and vice versa.
(V) Structure and layout of the farm buildings: These are markedly different for a dairy region or mixed farming region or a cotton growing area.
Whittlesey's study is most notable because his classification is based on the five significant functioning forms which appear to dominate in all types of agricultural landscape. The most important characteristic is that all the five forms can be statistically determined. Further Whittlesey facilitated a comparative study of the agricultural regions.
However, Whittlesey is criticised for not taking some relevant indicators like land tenancy, land ownership, size of holding etc. Another problem is that Census data is not available for all the countries of the world. Critics further argue that institutional, cultural and political factors are dynamic and so a constant appraisal is required.
Despite these arguments , Whittlesey's study has remained the basis for most small-scale studies of world agriculture. His classification can certainly serve as a framework in which further refinements can be suggested.
Whittley's agricultural typology of the world may be presented as under:
Question : Write down main agricultural types and their associated features with special reference to Whittlesey. Show these regions on the world map provided to you.
(2006)
Answer : The first scientific attempt for the demarcation of agricultural system was made by D. Whittlesey in his paper “Major Agricultural Regions of Earth” published in 1936.
Bases of Classification:
Whittlesey identified the following 13 types of agricultural system.
1. Nomadic Herding: This is practised in the dryland areas. This is the simplest form of the subsistence pastoralism largely confined to the harsh natural environment. The area is extended from Sahara to the Steppes on Mangolia. This type of economic activity is characterised by a frequent change of habitation in search of animal fodder, fruit, nuts, roots, trading opportunities. The migration may even be of “seasonal”.
2. Livestock Ranching: High level of ranching has been developing in drier regions of prairies grassland from western USA and western Canada, central Mexico, the belt from Venezuela to Argentina, the veld region of South Africa, temperate grasslands of Australia and New Zealand. Elaborate machines are used for livestock rearing here.
3. Shifting Cultivation: This is the most primitive form of crop cultivation practised mainly in hilly and forested areas of tropical regions. It is practised in highland of South America, Africa, India (North-East, Orissa, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, M.P.). Rice and maize are chief crops, while yarns, sara etc. are the root crops. The variety as well as productivity level is very low in this type of agriculture.
4. Rudimentary Tillage: This is also a very primitive form of cultivation involving no use of fertilizer, irrigation, pesticides etc. It differs from shifting cultivation on the basis of permanent fields and more intensive method of farming.
5. Intensive subsistence with rice dominance: This agriculture type is prevalent in humid regions characterised by high density of population. Excessive population pressure leads to intensive farming and very small size of holding.
6. Intensive subsistence tillage without paddy dominance: This type is prevalent in sub-humid and semi-arid regions, e.g. north of Yangtze valley in China, North-Western India. In comparison to paddy dominant areas, population pressure is lesser (but still high) and machanisation would be better.
7. Commercial Agriculture: This type of agricultural activity occurs in south-east Asia, Sri Lanka, West Africa, South and Central USA and Central America.
This is a distinctly tropical cultivation practice, where labour intensity is characteristically high. The main crops include tea, coffee, rubber, cocoa, coconut and sugarcane.
8. Mediterranean Agriculture: Mediterranean agriculture is famous for the cultivation of citrus fruits, especially viticulture. This agriculture practice takes place in European countries along with western edges of continents (central California, central Chile) and southern trip of South Africa and south-western and south-eastern Australia. Some cereal farming is also done along with dairying.
9. Commercial Grain Farming: This type of agriculture operation is undertaken in the Great Plains of North America, Uruguay, Argentina and the Eurasian Middle-East. The population density is very low. So out-put per unit of land is low, but it is very high per unit labour. Wheat is a dominant crop.
10. Commercial Livestock and crop farming: This type of agriculture is practised in temperate and dry continental climate of central European plain and to the east of Ural upto Lake Baikal. These areas are mostly influenced by the westerlies, hence rainfall is very low in summer. Major crops grown are oats, barley, rye, flax and wheat. The population density is very low, but very high per unit of labour.
11. Subsistence crop and Livestock Farming: This agriculture type is notable in northern Europe and Russia. Here crops are grown on subsistence basis. This area is influenced by westerlies.
12. Commercial Dairy Farming: This type is practised on the western shore of France, UK and Ireland, the Great Lake region and north - west in the USA, south - eastern Australia and New Zealand. The area receive rainfall throughout the year and produce good quality nourishing grass. These regions are known for good quality milk products - cheese, butter etc.
13. Specialised Horticulture: Horticulture is well-developed in the highly urbanised and industrialised region of western Europe, USA and Australia. This is also a capital intensive agriculture type whose products fetch high values from the city-dweller.
The merits of whittlesey’s classification are as follows:
It provides a classification and description of major agricultural regions of the world used in atlases, etc.
The five basic functioning forms are subjected to statistical determination.
A comparative study of the agricultural regions is possible by plotting the system of the first degree of magnitude on a single map.
The study focuses on the observable items in the agricultural landscape.
The classification serves as a framework in which further refinements can be suggested.
Question : Examine the spatial patterns of development disparity prevailing in the world?
(2001)
Answer : In the distribution of natural resources, capital, technology, etc. a large scale disparity prevails all over the world. Consequently, an imblanced economic development has been visualised world over. The world has been divided into two camps. In one side, there are few developed nations, who have made a large scale progress in the social and economic fields. On the other hand, there are a large number of developing and underdeveloped countries who are very backward on the socio-economic fronts. Developed nations constitute only 20 per cent of the total world population but consume more than 80 per cent of the total world commercial energy. In the field of international trade, the share of developed countries are more than 80 per cent. They control the whole world in terms of industry, capital, technology and management. Per capita income in the developed countries like Japan, Switzerland, Luxamberg, etc. is more than 30,000 dollars. On the other hand, in some African nations, the per capita income lies below 100 dollars. At present, more than 50 countries of the world are facing the problem of famine and starvation. These countries support about 150 million people whose per day income is less than 1 dollar. These poor countries are facing the same problem as Western Europe was 200 years ago.
Development is a comparative phenomena and there is no perfect formula to determine the level of development. However, the World Bank has postulated 14 variables to calculate the level of development. They are :
On the basis of above mentioned variables the whole world has been grouped in three categories : (1) Low Income Group Countries (2) Medium Income Group Countries (3) High Income Group Countries. In the first group, those countries have been enumerated whose per capita income is less than 500 dollars. In this class, more than 60 per cent of the world population resides. Most of the countries of Africa, South-East Asia, Central America, Islands of South Pacific Ocean and the countries of South Asia come under this category. These nations were exploited during the era of colonialism. They are very backward in the field of capital, technology and management. Consequently, since a long time in history these nations have been the greatest importer of finished goods and largest exporter of raw materials. On the other hand, there has been some internal factors too, responsible for their underdevelopment. These factors are high population growth rate, high dependency ratio, illetracy, political instability, closed economic system, etc. The economy of these nations are of subsistance type. Here, the infant mortality rate is high and the urbanisation level is low. Though,a large share of total income is spent on food, most of the people here, are facing the problem of malnutrition and undernutrition.
In the second group, those countries come whose per capita income is between 500 and 6000 dollars. Again, these countries can be divided into two sub-classes - (i) Lower-Medium Income group countries and (2) High-Medium Income group countries. In lower-medium income group countries,the per capita income is between 500 and 2000 dollars. Eastern Europe, Asian Republics, Mediterranean regions, Brazil, Egypt, Malaysia, etc come under this category. Countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asian Republics are in the stage of socio-economic transition and in the last few years the standard of living of these countries had declined. Countries like Greece, Portugal, Yugoslavia, Albania, etc. has not properly developed due to the scarcity of natural resources. In the last few years, countries like Egypt, Brazil and Malaysia has maintained high economic growth rate and included themselves in this category.
The per capita income in High-medium Income Countries is between 2000 and 6000 dollars. Here proper capital, technology and natural resources are available. Countries like Iran, Iraq and Lybia have good economic conditions due to crude oil export, though they are not socially well developed. Countries like South Korea, Israel and Taiwan have maintanied the high economic growth rate in the last few years.
In the third group, there are nearly 25 developed countries, who are industrially strong. West European countries, Japan, Canada, USA, etc. come under this category. These nations are socially well developed too. However, their industrial development is based on imported mineral oils. In the last few decades due to low population growth rate, the proportion of work force is decreasing and the internal market size is shrinking. The economy of most of the developed countries is based on international market. But in the last few years, the increasing share of developing countries in the international market has adversely affected the developed nation’s share in international trade. Due to cheap labour, developing countries are producing cheap products.
Today the globalisation of economy has started. Multilateral trade has been boosted by WTO like organisations. But it is not enough. The future of developing and underdeveloped countries is still not clear. Due to lack of infrastructural facilities, these nations are not in position to compete with the developed countries.
Question : How far do the patterns of economic development and those of human development correspond with each other in the world? Illustrate your answer with examples.
(1999)
Answer : The ultimate aim of development is the well-being of each and every individual. Apart from economic development human development also becomes sine qua non for achieving this ultimate objective. Development as a whole is more than the purely economic and physical. The achievement of development must be seen in terms of:
Economic development is concerned with the structure of a society's economy and the predominant methods of production of goods and services. It is measured in terms of gross domestic product, per capita income, per capita consumption, etc.
Human Development Report, 2001 states-is about much more than the rise or fall of national incomes. It is about creating an environment in which people can develop their full potential and lead productive, creative lives in accord with their needs and interest. It is thus about much more than economic growth, which is only a means-if a very important one-of enlarging people's choices.''
For analysing the relationship of economic development with the human development, it is pertinent to identity the pattern of economic development in the world. The pattern of economic development is highly uneven across the globe. In a broad sense there exists an economic divide of North and South across the globe, as shown by the figure given below:
A better indicator of economic development is the per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP). There are significant disparities in the per capita GDP of the developing countries and that of the developed countries. For example, the per capita GDP of Ethiopia and Somalia was only $ 94 and $ 106 respectively in 1998-99 while it was $ 26026 for U.S.A. and $40845 for Japan. Following figure depicts the spatial pattern of economic development in terms of per capita GDP:
On the basis of economic development and demographic characteristics, the world can be divided into eleven regions. Out of these, five are the developed regions and the rest six are developing regions, viz.:
Sustainable human development is development that not only generates economic growth but also distributes its benefits equitably; that empowers peoples rather than marginalizing them. The Human Development Index (HDI), developed and applied for the first time in 1990, is a device to measure a country's or region's achievements in the enhancements of human capabilities.
The HDI is a composite of three basic component of human development:
(i) Longevity- measured by life expectancy
(ii) Knowledge- measured by adult literacy (two-third weight)
(iii) Standard of living-measured by purchasing power based on real GDP per capita as adjusted for the local cost of living (PPP)
Presently HDI sets a minimum and maximum values for four variables-life expectancy (85.0 and 25.0), adult literacy (100% and 0%), mean years of schooling (15 and 0 years) and income (PPP $ 40,000 and $200), and indicates where each country stands in relation to these scales expressed as a value between 0 and 1. If a country has life-expectancy of 77.3 years then the longevity component for this country would be
Like wise, the scores for the rest of the critical component are computed and averaged in an overall index (HDI). The countries are then arranged into three categories:
i) High Human Development (HDI: 0.800 and above)
ii) Medium Human development (HDI: 0.500 to 0.799)
iii) Low Human development (HDI: Below 0.500)
The given figure here depicts spatial pattern of human development which shows wide disparity among the countries of the world:
The given figure shows that many economically developed countries have high human development. But conceptually speaking, there is no direct relationship between per capita income and human development. To be wealthy is not a guarantee that the individuals will be happy and the society will be contented. A requisite level of income may be necessary for fulfilling basic human needs but accumulating wealth is not essential for the attainment of some human choices. For example, A society does not have to be affluent to be able to afford democracy. A nation need not be wealthy to treat men and women equally.
Because of these reasons many countries in the world have a high GDP per capita but low human development indicators and vice versa. Countries at similar levels of GDP per capita may have vastly different human development indicators, depending on the use they have made of their national wealth. This has been illustrated here by analysing three Human Development Reports-of 1995, 2001 and 2003.
Human Development Index, 1995: Of the 174 countries, 98 ranked higher on the HDI than on GDP per capita (PPP $), suggesting that they have converted economic prosperity into human capabilities very effectively. The achievement is noteworthy for such low income countries as Lesotho, Madagasker, Tanzania and Vietnam.
For 73 Countries, the ranking on the HDI is lower than that on GDP per capita suggesting that they have failed to translate economic prosperity into correspondingly better lives for their people. This is particularly disappointing for some of the more affluent countries (Brunei, Darussalam, Kuwait, Mauritius) and equally so for some of the poorest countries (Angola, Iraq, Laos, Senegal and Uganda)
Human Development Report - 2001: It is better to Analyse correspondence between economic development and human development, based on Human Development Report, 2001 showing HDI and GDP per capita along with other indicators:
The above table reveals that countries like Estonia, Croatia and Lithuania have comparatively lower GDP per capita (8355, 7387 and 6656 respectively) but they are placed in the High Human Development group. Even within the high human development group, Luxembourg with 42,769 $ GPD per capita has HDI ranking of 24,574 $ and 28,433 $ respectively are ranked 2 and 1 respectively.
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia and Oman have GDP per capita of $ 10,815 and $ 13,356 respectively but they are place in the group of middle human development with HDI value of 0.754 and 0.747 respectively. The countries like Thailand, Fizi, Lebanon, Surinam, Colombia, Venezuela, Macedonia, Libya, Romania, Bulgaria, Belize, Panama, Latvia, etc, with much less GDP per capita than Soudi Arabia and Oman are placed ahead of these two countries.
Human Development Report, 2003: Human Development Report, 2003, released on 8th July, 2003 has further highlighted the disparity between income level and level of human development. There are countries such a Cuba, Vietnam and even war ravaged Sri Lanka which have achieved much more in human development than other at the same level of income. There is a second group of countries such as Saudi Arabia and South Africa, which have done poorly in human development despite high income.
As per HDR, 2003, India's rank of 127 was 12 rungs lower than its position of 115 according to per capita income. In other words, the country did much less to improve its basic standards of education and health than was possible with its per capita income. Thus the link between economic prosperity and human development is neither automatic nor obvious.Question : Explain the term resource management. Discuss its relevance in the context of global resource scarcity and the future of mankind.
(1998)
Answer : A resource is something material or abstract that can be used to satisfy some human want or deficiency, i.e., by definition the existenceof a resource depends on its value to humans. Resources are therefore a cultural concept, and those things considered to be resources by one society may not be considered so by others who lack the knowledge or desire to use them.
On the basis of rate of replenishment, resources are usually subdivided into Non-renewable and Renewable resources. The rate of formation of non-renewable resources is so slow that it can not be used without depleting the stock while renewable resources are replenished at a rate meaningful to people.
However certain stockable renewable resources such as crops, fishes or even water which is so precious for the existence of life may be depleted, perhaps irreversibly by heavy use (e.g. over cropping, overfishing etc.) or misuse. Resource management therefore becomes a Key concept for the “Sustainable Existence and Development” of life forms including humans.
Resource management is a conscious process of decision making whereby natural and cultural resources are allocated over time and spaces to optimize the attainment of stated objectives of a society, within the frame work of its technology, political and social institutions and legal and administrative arrangements. An important objective is the conservation of resources impling close and integrated relationship between the ecological basis, and the socio-economic system. It is contrasted with resource development, which is the actual exploitation of resource to meet human needs.
There are two vital components of resource management:
1.Depletion Policy: It is a Govt. Policy concerned with establishing guidelines as to how fast society should be using up its resources, particularly exhaustible or non-renewable ones. Attempts to formulate depletion rate - i.e. rate of use which is better than all others, neither to fast nor to slow- can be determined for the extraction and consumption of such resources. There are however difficulties in identifying such rates in practice, because the technically optional rate may differ from the broader, economically optional rate of use which in turn, will differ from a narrowly commercial or profit- maximising rate, and because of the difficulty of ensuring equity between generations.
2.Sustained Yield: It is a resource management policy designed to produce a constant volume of output, in perpetuity, from a renewable resource, such as ocean fisheries or forest.
Maximum Sustainable Yield: It is the maximum yield that can be obtained from renewable resource in any given period of it is to maintain the same future productivity Maximum sustainable yield is a biological concept and the yield is determined by reducing the size of stock, eg. a fish population, from its natural equilibrium population to a point where maximum net growth in population is achieved.
A stock of this size can be considered in equilibrium as long as the annual catch/harvest equals the net growth.
The concept of resource management has immense relevance in view of the rapid strides made in the science and technology and the resultant high rate of consumption pattern of resources. Such high rate of consumption pattern is vindicated by the fact that the total amount of different minerals which has been exploited in the world from the start of civilization to present. equals the amount of minerals exploited only in U.S.A. during the period 1914-52. If the standered of living of the whole world is raised to the level that exist in USA then the amount of current consumption of goods will be increased six times. Such a consumption pattern is not sustainable in the long run, as pointed out in the report published by club of Rome, popularly known as limits to growth.
According to Whitaker I. Russel, three revolutions are responsible for the current high rate of the exploitation of natural resources.
1.Population explosion
2.Techno-industrial revolution
3.High materialistic life style and philosophy.
The resource management is also relevant in view of global resource scarcity. The copper is expected to deplete in 33 years, lead in 18 yrs, zinc in 20 years, Tin in 45 years, and other important minerals such as iron in 161 yrs; according to one estimate. The situation is more acute in the field of energy resources. The mineral oil on which the economy of the whole world is dependent, is expected to last only 25-30 years. Though the new technologies are coming up they are not sufficient presently to provide alternate source of energy for the current consumption pattern. Up to the time when such technologies will be evolved, the current stock of non-renewable resources need to be conserved and managed properly.
The human activity has already deplated a great amount of natural resources such as forest, water etc. large scale deforestation is still going on in different parts of the world, which is creating many ecological and environmental problems, such as air pollution, water pollution, zone depletion and the threat of global warming. Hence in the context of the future of mankind and the sustainable developments of the society, the natural and cultural resources need to be preserved for the future generations with the wholehearted effort. The relevance of resource management can be ignored at our own peril.
Question : Examine the impact of advanced agricultural technology on the environment. Support your answer with examples.
(1998)
Answer : Middle of the 19th century was the watershed in the development of agricultural technology. Invention of engine had a revolutionary impact on agriculture which led to marked improvement in the agricultural techniques. Now advanced agricultural technology is employed especially in the western countries where complete mechanisation of agriculture has taken place.
Such advanced agricultural technology includes:
i)Efficient and adequate irrigation facilities.
ii)Chemical fertilizers
iii)Agricultural mechanisation such as tractors, harvesters etc.,
iv)High yielding variety of Seeds (HYV)
v)Insecticides and Pesticides
These advanced framing techniques have brought revolutionary changes in the cropping pattern and farm productivity. It has provided food to the rapidly growing population and raw materials to the agro-based industries.
But the advanced agricultural technology carries some ecological implications also. Widespread use of modern farming inputs has resulted into many environmental problems. The major ones among these environmental problems are:
These environmental problems are being examined in detail which are as follows:
1. Salinization and Alkalisation: High yielding variety of Seeds require increased availability of water which necessitates irrigating the farms several times. Use of increased irrigation facility especially in the arid and semiarid region results in the capillary action of water and the soil is salinized and alkalinized. More and More use of irrigation which is often not required in that quantity has led to salinity and alkalinity of soil in many parts of the world, for example in western semiarid regions of U.S.A.
Introduction of Green Revolution in India (especially in the North-western part) has resulted in similar kind of problem. Saline soils are known as Reh in U.P. and Kallar in Punjab. According to one estimate, 50% of agriculturableland of Punjab is facing some sort of salinity or alkalinity.
2.Water logging: Water logging is another problem caused by irrational use of pasture land and marginal lands for growing water intensive crops such as rice. Waterlogging, apart from making the land unsuitable for farming, also leads to other ecological problems. Water logging and salinization is a serious problem in Indira Gandhi Canal region of India.
3.Soil Erosion: With the use of advanced technology, three to four crops are obtained from within a single agricultural year. Ploughing the field so many times coupled with absence of trees result in soil erosion and of top soil especially in arid, semi-rid region of uneven topography. Intensive ploughing done with the tractors and power tillers leaves the soil loose, thus making it vulnerable to soil erosion. According to one estimate, about 6000 million tonnes soil is eroded every year in India.
4.Pollution: As stated earlier, HYV seed technology is water intensive technology requiring assured supply of adequate water along with heavy doses of chemical fertilisers. These chemical fertilisers are adding toxicity in the soil. Moreoverthe heavy use of insecticides and pesticides are polluting the soil from where these pollutants reach the nearby streams and rivers through sum-offs, there by resulting into water pollution.
Apart from that the natural fertility of soil gets reduced by the change in soil particle structure through puddling and deep ploughing by tractors and also by the loss of micro-organisms in the soil. The law of diminishing returns seems to be setting in the various parts of the world including Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and some other areas of India.
5.Lowering of Underground Water Table: Nature of tubewell irrigation suits more to the advanced agricultural technology since it provides water supply at the desired location, that too at the free will of individual farmer in whatever quantity he wants. There have been tendencies of unwarranted heavy close of tube well irrigation resulting into lowering of the ground water table. There have been reports of lowering of water table by four to six feet in the North-Western part of India. But the tube wells are being drilled more deeply to harness even this lowered down underground water, thereby depleting the ground water to an alarming level.
6.Health Hazards: Increased moisture availability and heavy dose of fertilisers result into proliferation of lower level organisms (bacteria etc.) and many plant diseases. Toxic chemicals used as insecticides and pesticides reach the human body through contaminated food grains and vegetables. Increased moisture availability on the farms for the whole year is causing widespread occurrence of Malaria in Punjab, Hariyana, Uttar Pradesh even in Rajasthan.
Question : Globalisation of trade and industry.
(1997)
Answer : Globalisation means integrating the economy of the country with the world economy. Under this process, goods and services along with capital labour and resources can move freely from one nation to another. The thrust of globalisation has been to increase the domestic and external competition through extensive application of market mechanism and facilitating forging of dynamic relationship with the foreign investors and suppliers of technology. What is striking in the current episode of globalisation is not only the rapid pace but also the enormous impact on market integration, efficiency and industrial organisation.
According to standard theory, international trade leads to allocation of resources that is consistent with comparative advantage. This results in specialisation which enhances productivity. However, emerging economies like that of India China, etc. will reap the benefit of globalisation only if they reach the full potential of their resource availability. That is why, trade agreements make exceptions by allowing longer time to developing economies in terms of reductions in tariff and non-tariff barriers.
Capital flows across countries have played an important role in enhancing the production base. Capital mobility enables the total savings of the world to be distributed among countries. The inflow of foreign capital has played a significant role in the development of East Asian countries. A major concern, however, is the potential for its sudden withdrawal. Nevertheless, even in the recent East Asian crisis, FDI was a stable element. The possibility of sharp outflows through portfolio route, as happened here and in the Mexican case is a danger to guard against.
As for income distribution, it is very difficult to trace the changes in the distribution of income within countries directly to globalisation. Trade liberalisation need not necessarily come in the way of adopting poverty reduction policies.
What is needed in the context of globalisation of trade and industry is to evolve an appropriate framework to wrest maximum benefit out of it. In view of WTO regime, this framework should include
(a)making enxplicit the list of demands that developing countries would like to make on the multilateral trade system.
(b)measures that rich countries should be required to undertake to enable developing countries to gain more from trade.
(c)steps that developing countries should take to realise the full potential from globalisation.
These steps must include the essential development of infrastructural facilities.
One example of mutual benefit of globalisation of trade and industry is the rise of India as a frontline country in the area of skilled manpower in the I.T. industry. There is lack of skilled manpower in the developed countries, so both the groups can be benefitted from the greater freedom of movement of skilled manpower.
Hence to take benefit of globalisation, the developing countries must voice their concern unitedly and in cooperation among themselves modify the international trading arrangements to take care of the special seeds of such countries.
Question : Dryland farming.
(1995)
Answer : Farming done without the facility of irrigation in the regions of inadequate rainfall is called dryland farming. The characteristics of dry land farming are as follows:
(1) Dryland farming is practised in those regions where moisture deficiency occurs due to low amount of rainfall. Besides low rainfall, these regions face uncertainty of rainfall.
(2) Dryland farming is characterised by lack of assured irrigation. Hence it is also known as rainfed agriculture.
(3) Mainly subsistence farming is practised in dryland farming. It is characterised by low productivity, uncertain yields and low incomes.
However, dryland agriculture holds great significance in view of nutritional value of crops. The crops grown here include nutritional by vital crops like pulses, oilseeds, groundnut, jute, staple food like jowar, bajra and other millets. Moreover, in view of limitations of improvement in irrigation in developing countries such as India, the only option left is to improve the dryland farming.
Productivity level is generally low in dry land farming areas of developing countries. Considering the importance of dryland farming, following three objectives can be fulfilled by adopting a coherent strategy:
(i) Food security,
(ii) Removal of inter-regional, inter-sectoral and nutritional deficiencies,
(iii) Rural employment,
Following techniques and practices can be adopted for improving dryland farming:
