Geography Test - 14

The correct answer is Brazil

Key PointsSouth America 

• Brazil is the largest producer of high-grade iron ore in the world.
• Hence the correct answer is option 2.
• Chile and Peru are leading producers of copper.
• Brazil and Bolivia are among the world’s largest producers of tin.
• South America also has large deposits of gold, silver, zinc, chromium, manganese, bauxite, mica, platinum, asbestos and diamond.
• Mineral oil is found in Venezuela, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Columbia.

The correct answer is Quarrying.

Key Points

Extraction of Minerals 

• The process of taking out minerals from rocks buried under the earth’s surface is called mining.
• Minerals that lie at shallow depths are taken out by removing the surface layer, this is known as open-cast mining.
• Deep bores, called shafts, have to be made to reach mineral deposits that lie at great depths called shaft mining.
• Petroleum and natural gas occur far below the earth’s surface.
• Deep wells are bored to take them out, this is called drilling.
• Minerals that lie near the surface are simply dugout, out by the process known as quarrying.
• Hence the correct answer is option 3.

The correct answer is Sugarcane.

Key Points

• Dryland farming
  • Major dry farming crops are millets such as Jawar, Bajra, Ragi, Oilseeds like Mustard, Rapeseed, and Pulse crops like Pigeon Pea, Gram, and Lentil.
  • Sugarcane is a water-intensive crop and thus, cannot be grown in drier areas. Hence, Option 4 is correct.
  • Almost 80% of maize and Jwar, 90 percent of Bajraand approximately 95% of pulses, and 75% of oilseeds are obtained from dryland agriculture.
  • In addition to these, 70% of cotton is produced through dryland agriculture.
  • Dryland areas also contribute significantly to wheat and rice production.
  • Thirty-three percent of wheat and 66% of rice are still rainfed.
  • More than 75% of the peasants involved in dry farming are small and marginal.
  • Therefore, improvement in dry farming would raise the economic status of farmers thus helping in poverty elimination.
  • Dryland farming holds immense significance especially in the context of fluctuating food grain production and expanding population in our country.
  • The biggest employer in our country, the cotton mills are fed by raw cotton grown mostly in dryland areas.
  • Increasing production of cotton subsequently leads to an increase in exports of cotton goods.
  • The expanding import of oilseeds is a cause of concern to the Indian nation.
  • The improvement of the production of oilseeds in these regions will save valuable foreign exchange reserves.
  • By enhancing the productivity of crops like Jowar, Bajra, and ragi which are mainly grown in dryland farming would increase the nutrient consumption levels of our nation.

The correct answer is ​​Hariyali.

Key Points

Hariyali -

• The Central and State Governments have initiated many watershed development and management programmes in the country.
• Some of these are being implemented by nongovernmental organisations also.
• Haryali is a watershed development project sponsored by the Central Government which aims at enabling the rural population to conserve water for drinking, irrigation, fisheries and afforestation.
• Hence the correct answer is option 1.
• The Project is being executed by Gram Panchayats with people’s participation.
• Neeru-Meeru (Water and You) programme (in Andhra Pradesh) and Arvary Pani Sansad (in Alwar, Rajasthan) have taken up constructions of various water-harvesting structures such as percolation tanks, dug out ponds (Johad), check dams, etc., through people’s participation.
• The guidelines, introduced first in 1995, were based on the recommendations of the Committee (1994) and were later revised in 2001.
• The Hariyali Guidelines were framed in 2003.

The correct answer is  Barren and Wastelands

Key Points

The land-use categories as maintained in the Land Revenue Records are as follows -

1. The area under Permanent Pastures and Grazing Lands 
   • ​​Most of this type of land is owned by the village ‘Panchayat’ or the Government.
   • Only a small proportion of this land is privately owned.
   • The land owned by the village panchayat comes under ‘Common Property Resources
2. Barren and Wastelands  
   • The land which may be classified as a wasteland such as barren hilly terrains, desert lands, ravines, etc. normally cannot be brought under cultivation with the available technology.
   • Hence the correct answer is option 2.
3. Culturable Waste-Land 
   •  Any land which is left fallow (uncultivated) for more than five years is included in this category.
   • It can be brought under cultivation after improving it through reclamation practices.
4.  Land put to Non-agricultural Uses  -
   • Land under settlements (rural and urban), infrastructure (roads, canals, etc.), industries, shops, etc. are included in this category.

Additional Information

Forests 

• The area under actual forest cover is different from the area classified as forest.
• The latter is the area that the Government has identified and demarcated for forest growth

Current Fallow 

• This is the land which is left without cultivation for one or less than one agricultural year.
• Fallowing is a cultural practice adopted for giving the land rest.
• The land recoups the lost fertility through natural processes

Fallow other than Current Fallow 

• ​This is also a cultivable land which is left uncultivated for more than a year but less than five years.
• If the land is left uncultivated for more than five years, it would be categorised as a culturable wasteland.

Net Area Sown 

• The physical extent of land on which crops are sown and harvested is known as the net sown area.​

Lignite is called "Brown Diamond".

Key Points

• Lignite is known as Brown Diamond.
• Lignite is also known as brown coal, lignite is lower-grade coal and contains about 40 to 55% carbon.
• It represents the intermediate stage in the alteration of woody matter into coal. Its color varies from dark to black-brown.
• Its moisture content is high (over 35%) so that it gives out much smoke but little heat.
• It is found in Palna of Rajasthan, Neyveli of Tamil Nadu, Lakhimpur of Assam, and Karewa of Jammu and Kashmir.
• Lignite is known as ‘brown diamond’ since it is coal in brown color. 
• Lignite in Tamil Nadu
  • 90% of the reserves.
  • 57% of the production.
  • Neyveli Lignite fields of Cuddalore district.
  • These are the largest deposits of lignite in southeast Asia.
  • Neyveli mines suffer from the artesian structure [mining goes deep and deep].
  • Mining in Lignite coalfields is risky due to the SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION of lignite.
• Lignite in Gujarat and Rajasthan
  • Kachchh district and Bharuch district; poor quality.
  • Rajasthan: Palana in Bikaner district.
  • The 250 MW thermal plant at Bikaner wholly depends upon lignite as the basic fuel.

Hence, Tamil Nadu is the largest producer of lignite coal.

The correct answer is Harlem Brundtland.

Key Points

Sustainable Development 

• The term development is generally used to describe the state of particular societies and the process of changes experienced by them.
• The publication of ‘The Population Bomb’ by Ehrlich in 1968 and ‘The Limits to Growth by Meadows and others in 1972 further raised the level of fear among environmentalists in
  particular and people in general.
• This sets the scenario for the emergence of new models of development under the broad phrase ‘sustainable development.
• With the growing opinion of the world community on environmental issues, the United Nations established a World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) headed by the Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland.
• Hence the correct answer is option 2.
• The Commission gave its report (also known as Brundtland Report) entitled ‘Our Common Future’ in 1987.
• The report defines sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

The correct answer is Thermal Energy. Key Points

• Renewable energy is also known as clean energy which is obtained from natural sources and can be replenished.
• Solar energy, wind energy, hydroelectric power, biomass energy, geothermal energy, and tidal energy are examples of renewable sources of energy.
• Energy is free in nature, some are infinitely available, called sustainably, and some are called non-renewable.
• It is our duty to ensure that sustainable and non-renewable technology is used properly.
• Non-renewable electricity is a finite resource that can inevitably run out over time.
• Non-renewable energy does not regenerate itself at a reasonable pace for sustainable economic extraction within meaningful human timeframes.
• Non-renewable energy is fossil fuel energy, such as coal, crude oil, natural gas, and uranium.
• Unlike renewable energy, non-renewable energy requires human interference to make it suitable for use.
• Fossil fuels are primarily fossil.
• Fossil fuels are thought to have been produced more than 300 million years ago when the planet was very different in its landscape.
• Types of Non-renewable resources:
  • Fuels which are formed by remains of animals and plants
  • Divided into further three categories: Natural Gas, Oil, and Coal
  • Thermal Electricity uses Coal for heat production and converts that heat into electricity.
  • Nuclear fuels: The use of fission-based nuclear energy requires naturally occurring radioactive material as a reactor.
    • Uranium is the most natural fission fuel and is found in the soil at extremely low concentrations and extracted in 19 countries.
    • Nuclear power generates approximately 6 % of the world's oil and 13-14% of the world's electricity.

Additional Information 

• The difference between renewable and non-renewable sources of energy.

The correct answer is Tillage.

Key Points

• Tillage is a farming system that promotes maintenance of a permanent soil cover, minimum soil disturbance and diversification of plant species.
• Tillage is an agricultural land preparation through mechanical agitation which includes digging, stirring and overturning.
• Zero tillage is the process where the crop seed will be sown through drillers without prior land preparation and disturbing the soil where previous crop stubbles are present.
• Zero tillage not only reduce the cost of cultivation it also reduces the soil erosion, crop duration and irrigation requirement and weed effect which is better than tillage.

Additional Information

• Watershed based management system
  • The word watershed introduce in 1920 was used for the water parting boundaries.
  • Watershed is a land area that drains or contributes runoff to a common outlet.
  • All lands on earth are part of one watershed or another.
• Resource conserving technologies
  • Resource conserving technologies refers to those practices or technologies that enhance resources or input use efficiency such as new varieties that use nitrogen more efficiently, zero or reduced tillage practices that save water, etc, which may be considered as RTCs.
• Water Harvesting through tanks
  • The practise of rainwater harvesting is gaining its sustainability with more and more people contributing to the cause, along with the government intervention at the Central, State and local level.
  • Water tanks are used to store collected rainwater, transferred via pipes.
  • It is important to understand the characteristics of the suitable type of water tank for your rainwater harvesting system.

The correct answer is the Indira Gandhi canal.

Key Points

• Indira Gandhi canal:
  • This Canal is India's longest canal and the world's biggest irrigation project. Hence, Option 2 is correct.
  • Indira Gandhi Canal is 649 km long and consists of the Rajasthan feeder canal and Rajasthan main canal and runs 167 km in Punjab and Haryana and 492 km in Rajasthan.
  • It is a huge canal in northwestern India that carries water from the Harike Barrage on the Sutlej River to the Thar Desert of Rajasthan.

Additional Information

• Upper Bari Doab canal :
  • Originates at Madhopur, near Pathankot.
  • It was the first canal to be excavated for irrigation purposes in Punjab; at that time, however, it was simply known as the Bari Doab Canal system.
  • The prefix Upper was only added when a second canal was dug, known as the Lower Bari Doab Canal. Emperor Shah Jahan dug this 130-mile-long canal to carry water from the River Ravi to his garden in Lahore.
• Yamuna canal:
  • Satluj Yamuna Link Canal or SYL, as it is popularly called, is a 214 kilometer (133 mi) long canal under construction in India to connect the rivers Sutlej and Yamuna.
  • The plan did, however, face challenges and was referred to the Supreme Court of India.
  • River water sharing between the states of Punjab and Haryana is established.
• Sirhind canal:
  • The Sirhind Canal is a large irrigation canal in Punjab state, India that carries water from the Sutlej River.
  • It is one of the Indus river system's oldest and largest irrigation works and was inaugurated in 1882 CE.
  • The canal, which was built between 1958 and 1961, is 149.53 km long in the Punjab districts of Ferozepur, Muktsar, and Faridkot.
  • To be agriculturally viable, Rajasthan requires extensive irrigation.
  • The state receives a great deal of water from the Punjab Rivers, from the Western Yamuna Canal in Haryana and the Agra Canal in Uttar Pradesh, and from the Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh projects of Sabarmati and Narmada Sagar.

Important Points

• A canal:
  • It is a man-made waterway that enables the movement of boats and ships from one body of water to another.
  • Canals are also used for irrigation and other human uses to convey water.
  • Canals can be divided into two categories, waterways used for navigation or transport, and water ducts used for irrigation and consumption of drinking water and other general uses.
  • The canal is also known as navigation when it parallels the river and separates part of its waters and drainage basin and leverages its resources by constructing dams and locks to raise and lengthen its slow water levels while remaining in its valley.