Natural resources

Natural resources are resources that exist without actions of humankind. This includes all valued characteristics such as magnetic, gravitational, electrical properties and forces etc. On earth it includes: sunlight, atmosphere, water, land (includes all minerals) along with all vegetation, crops and animal life that naturally subsists upon or within the heretofore identified characteristics and substances.

Let us study about two villages of Andhra Pradesh to make a study of an important resource and see what happens when it becomes scarce.

The case I: Situation in two villages Vanaparthy and Vaddicherla of Warangal District

A survey was conducted in two villages,Vanaparthy and Vaddicherla of Warangal District of Telangana region -the first with no-scarcity (good), and the second with scarce groundwater.Well census was carried out in the villages in order to get a complete picture of well irrigation and its status as well as availability of water. Basic information on well irrigation was collected using a small questionnaire from all the well owners in the sample villages.
The detailed information regarding various socio-economic aspects was collected using a detailed questionnaire from a sample of 25 households owning wells. Families in both the villages were asked to narrate the changes in groundwater situation during the last five years. There are no alternative sources of supply as against wells in Vaddicherla, whereas there is an existing tank that has been converted into a percolation tank, so that the water situation is much better in Vanaparthy.
Basic features of the villages Vanaparthy and Vaddicherla are almost similar in terms of occupational pattern, cropping pattern, infrastructure and social services. In both the villages small farmers are in majority.
Vanaparthy has the higher average household income. The main livelihood activity in these villages is cultivation and the primary source of irrigation is well. Household income is dependent on the status of groundwater. Vanaparthy has a higher proportion of its area under irrigation. The cropping pattern which influences average household income in these villages differs substantially.Though rain has not been consistent for a few years, farmers in these villages prefer growing paddy.

The change in area under cultivation, percentage change in number of wells and cropping pattern in 5 years as narrated by the people has been presented in table-2.
The population in the villages have also gone up in a period of 5 years by nearly 10%.

K stands for Kharif while R stands for Rabi. Negative values indicate loss/ decline, while positive ones show gain/rise.

Of late, most of the open dug wells were converted into bore wells that could reach greater depths of ground water zones and would also reduce loss of water by surface evaporation.Most of the open wells have dried up
and water tables have gone down substantially during the last 5 years. During this time, 85 percent of the wells, mostly open, have dried-up in Vaddicherla while 45 percent of the wells dried-up in Vanaparthy.

Water is usually pumped out of wells and bore wells using electricity. Farmers with small land holdings or small farmers tend to spend more money per well in terms of installation of pump sets and pipeline connections to farms(or capital expenditure) as well as running costs towards maintenance, electric charges etc. On per acre basis, both capital and running costs are the lowest in Vanaparthy (no-scarcity village) and
highest in Vaddicherla (scarcity village).

A project of the Centre for world solidarity(Secundrabad, A.P) that addresses sustainability of ground water intervened to help in recharging wells that were drying up in the villages They encouraged more water sharing among farmers. They formed groups of farmers including large and small ones who would use the same water resource. Farmers were also motivated to use irrigation techniques like drip irrigation, sprinklers etc.(collectively called as micro irrigation techniques). Construction of soak pits to tap rainwater optimally was carried out as community efforts. Soakpits helped in recharging dried up bore wells. Dykes or barriers, nearly 30 cm thick of brick-cement or stone cement barrier, extending down to the compact bedrock, with mud or clay fillings were built in underground streams to tap ground water optimally.

Water for all

Out of all the water on Earth, salt water in oceans, seas and salinegroundwater make up about 97% of it. Only 2.5–2.75% is fresh water, including 1.75–2% frozen in glaciers, ice and snow(nearly two thirds of the available freshwater), 0.7–0.8% as fresh groundwater and soil moisture, and less than 0.01% of it as surface water in lakes, swamps and rivers. Though it is a meagre portion of the whole, if used judiciously, shall last for a long time.

Case II: A Study of Kothapally Village, an example of water management effort

This tells us how people in the village through proper guidance could make optimum use of available water in the village. A survey of Kothapally village indicated that initially:
(i) dry land areas were more extensive than irrigated land
(ii) literacy was low
(iii) labour was scarce
(iv) more fertilizers/pesticides were used on small farms
(v) crop yields were low,
(vi) there was not even a single water harvesting structure in the village. Interventions to enhance productivity and income (Soil and water conservation measures)

International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics( ICRISAT) educated villagers by large and provided technical support for cost-efficient water storage and soil conservation structures. The measures were community as well as individual farmer-based. These helped to restore some resources and conserve others so that they may never be depleted. Thus sustainable management was carried out.

Community-based interventions

Fourteen water storage structures (one earthen and 13 masonry dams) with a water storage capacity of 300 to 2000 m³were constructed. 60 mini percolation pits and field bunding on 38 hectares were completed.

Twenty-eight dry open wells, near nalla or the Lakshmi canal (sourced from the Sri Rama Sagar project reservoir) were recharged by building dykes or barriers in the nalla and retaining the runoff rainwaterin it. A users group was formed for each water storage structure, and the water collected in the storage structures was exclusively used for recharging the groundwater to the dried wells.

Farmer-based interventions

Farmer-based soil and water conservation measures implemented in individual fields were broad bed furrow (BBF) landform and contour planting. These are all useful to conserve soil and water,fertilizer application and weeding operations, field bunding of 38 hectare, around boundaries in rectangular or in contours to conserve rain water. Planting Gliricidia (Madri, a leguminous plant adapted to grow in dry areas) on field bunds to strengthen them and make the soil nitrogen-rich.Farmers were encouraged to use water resource jointly and irrigate land using micro-irrigation techniques.

Farmers obtained 250 kg more pigeon pea and 50 kg more maize per hectare using broad bed furrows and micro-irrigation techniques. Drip irrigation (a type of micro irrigation) can reduce water consumption by 70% but unfortunately, only 2% of cultivable land around the world is irrigated in this manner.

Wasteland development and tree plantation

Saplings of useful species were planted along the roads, field bunds and nalas. Contour trenches at 10 m intervals with a 0.3 m height of bund were laid out. Custard apple plantation along with other useful species in trenches and Gliricidia saplings on bunds was undertaken by the farmers. 2500 fruit trees and teak plants were planted.  

According to a survey conducted in the year 2004 Total amount of water availablein Andhra Pradesh - 3814 thousand million cubic feet (TMC)
Total amount utilised - 2300 TMC of which
Irrigation - 2268 TMC
Domestic use - 21 TMC
Industries - 10 TMC
Power generation - 1 TMC
Amount required for utilisation by 2025 is 3989TMC of which 3,814TMC is for irrigation, 122TMC for domestic use, 51TMC for industries and 2TMCis for power generation

Source of irrigation water in Andhra Pradesh

We have seen that major consumption of water is in the farming sector. In spite of some major rivers like Godavari and Krishna, the major source of irrigation is groundwater

It is comforting to think water is a renewable resource but we must know what limitless exploitation of a resource can lead to. According to United Nations Development Programme, “Water resource in an area, where annual water supply drops below 1700 m3 per person, is becoming scarce.” The food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations has predicted that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or
regions with absolute water scarcity.

Natural resources around us

The Earth’s natural resources include air, water, soil, minerals, fuels, plants, and animals. Conservation is the practice of caring for these resources so all living things can benefit from them now and in the future.
All the things we need to survive, such as food, water, air, and shelter, come from natural resources. Some of these resources can be replaced after they are used and are called renewable resources. Other resources, such as fossil fuels, cannot be replaced at all. Once they are used up, they are gone forever. This is because it takes a long time for their formation while their consumption occurs very quickly. These are nonrenewable
resources.
People often waste natural resources. Animals are overhunted. Forests are cleared, exposing land to wind and water damage. Fertile soil is exhausted and lost to erosion because of poor farming practices. Fuel supplies are depleted. Water and air are polluted.
If resources are carelessly managed, many will be used up. If used wisely and efficiently, however, renewable resources will last much longer. Through conservation, people can reduce waste and manage natural
resources wisely. Water use restrictions are in place in many regions of the world. In Australia, in response to chronic shortage resulting from drought, restrictions are imposed on activities like, watering lawns by using sprinkler systems, washing vehicles, using hose pipes to clean paved areas, and refilling swimming pools.
The population of human beings has grown enormously in the past two centuries. Billions of people use up resources quickly as they eat food, build houses, produce goods and burn fuel for transportation and electricity.
The continuation of life as we know depends on the careful use of natural resources.
The need to conserve resources often conflicts with other needs. For some people, a forest area may be a good place to put a farm. A timber company may want to harvest the area’s trees for construction materials.
A business company may want to build a factory or shopping mall on the land. All these needs are valid for us, but sometimes the plants and animals that live in the area are forgotten. The benefits of development need to be weighed against the harm to animals that may be forced to find new habitats,the depletion of resources we may want in the future (such as water or timber), or damage to resources we use today.

Development and conservation can coexist in harmony. When we use the environment in ways that ensure we have resources for the future, it is called sustainable development. There are many different resources we need to manage and conserve and main order to live sustainably.

Forest: an important renewable resource

Every continent except Antarctica has forests. Which are rich habitat for plants and animals. Forests serve as a lung for the world and a bed of nutrients for new life to prosper. They provide us innumerable products and in an urge to extract them we indiscriminately destroy them. People clear forests to use the wood, or to make way for farming or development. Each year, the Earth loses about 36 million acres of forest to deforestation an area about half the size of our state. Deforestation destroys wildlife habitats and increases soil erosion. It
also releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. Deforestation accounts for 15 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Deforestation also harms the people who rely on forests for their survival, hunting, and gathering, harvesting forest products, or using the timber for firewood.
Sustainable forestry practices are critical for ensuring resources well into the future. Perhaps the Bishnoi's of Rajasthan could tell us how. As we recall brave Amrita Devi and her daughters, followed by villagers who
clung to trees in the forest surrounding their village and laid down their lives to save them, we are faced with a realization about how great a movement towards conservation can be. They were protesting against the Kings’ order to collect wood for the construction of his palace and defending the pledge of peaceful coexistence taken by them as a Bishnoi. It is a set of 29 rules to conserve natures’ resources that every Bishnoi vows to protect.

Some sustainable forestry methods include using low-impact logging practices, harvesting with natural regeneration in mind, and avoiding certain logging techniques, such as removing all the high-value trees or all the largest trees from a forest.
Trees can also be conserved if consumers recycle. People in China and Mexico, for example, reuse much of their wastepaper, including writing paper, wrapping paper, and cardboard. If half the world’s paper were recycled, much of the worldwide demand for new paper would be fulfilled, saving many of the Earth’s trees. We can also replace some wood products with alternatives like bamboo, which is actually a type of grass.