Natural resources

Natural Resources:

A resource is a source or supply from which benefit is produced. This entry lists a country's mineral, petroleum, hydropower, and other resources of commercial importance. From a human perspective a natural resource is anything obtained from the environment to satisfy human needs and wants.

Any form of energy which can be used by humans. Those things that people come in contact with that may be used to perform any useful function. Objects, materials, creatures, or energy found in nature that can be put to use by humans

Natural resources occur naturally within environment that exists undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form.

Natural resources are backbone of state and it also builds country strong economy and strength. There are two types of natural resources given below:

      I.            Abiotic resources

  II.            Biotic resources

Abiotic Natural resources:

Abiotic resources are derived from the non-living world or non organic matter (e.g., land, water, and air).

·     LAND:

Pakistan is blessed with tropic of cancer land which makes it agricultural land. About 28% of Pakistan’s total land area is under cultivation. Cultivation of crops makes or generates economy for the state.  Pakistan boasts one of the largest irrigation systems in the world.

According to Wikipedia, “the most important crops are cotton, wheat, rice, sugarcane, maize, sorghum, millets, pulses, oil seeds, barley, fruits and vegetables, which together account for more than 75% of the value of total crop output.”

·     COTTON: 

Cotton is an important cash crop for Pakistan known as “white gold”. It accounts for 8.2 percent of the value added in agriculture and about 3.2 percent to GDP; around two thirds of the country’s export earnings are from the cotton made-up and textiles which adds over $2.5 billion to the national economy; while hundreds of ginning factories and textile mills in the country heavily depends upon cotton.

   WHEAT:

In Pakistan, wheat is grown in different cropping systems, such as; cotton - wheat, rice - wheat, sugarcane - wheat, maize - wheat, fallow - wheat. Of these, Cotton-Wheat and Rice-Wheat systems together account about 60% of the total wheat area whereas rain-fed wheat covers more than 1.50 m ha area.

It contributes 14.4 percent to the value added in agriculture and 3.0 percent to GDP. Over the past three decades, increased agricultural productivity occurred largely due to the deployment of high-yielding cultivars and increased fertilizer use. With the introduction of semi-dwarf wheat cultivars, wheat productivity has been increased in all the major cropping systems representing the diverse and varying agro-ecological conditions.

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·       RICE:

Rice production in Pakistan holds an extremely important position in agriculture and the national economy. Pakistan is the world's fourth largest producer of rice, after China, India and Indonesia. Each year, it produces an average of 6 million tones and together with the rest of the Indian subcontinent; the country is responsible for supplying 30% of the world's paddy rice output.

Rice industry is an important source of employment and income for rural people. It contributes in the country’s foreign exchange exchequer. Rice crop is of great economic importance for Pakistan, as it is second staple food after wheat, and is second to cotton as foreign exchange earner.

Topography Land

It is placed at proximity to oil rich Persian Gulf states

In North of Pakistan has an road access to six central republics

If a Muslim block is formed in Asia in future, then Pakistan will be a leading state among them. Pakistan is linked with China through road. In past, owing to its importance its has been invade many times from outside

Ø      WATER:

Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H₂O.

Water is basic need of life. Human beings, animals and plants cannot live without water. Consumption pattern of water by agricultural is 69%, domestic use is of 8% and industrial use is 23%.

The Ministry of Water and Power is a federal government agency in Pakistan. The ministry is headed by the Minister for Water and Power. Syed Naveed Qamar is the current Minister for Water and Power of Pakistan.

The country still has the world's largest contiguous irrigation system. In 1999-2000, the total irrigated area in Pakistan was 181,000 km².

Water is also essential for power generation in Pakistan; since about 29% is genre The river system of Indus and its tributaries provides Pakistan some of the most fertile land in the Indian subcontinent through hydropower.

After the partition of the Indian sub-continent, Kotri, Taunsa and Guddu Barrages were completed in Pakistan on the Indus River between 1955 and 1962 to provide controlled irrigation to areas previously served by inundation canals. Also, three additional inter-river link canals were built prior to the initiation of Indus Basin Project.

However, immediately before the signing of the Water Accord 1991, water distribution was being made on the basis of adhoc arrangements decided by the Federal Government every year on season-to-season basis ie Kharif and Rabi since 1970.

 INTER-PROVINCIAL WATER DISTRIBUTION ACCORD 1991:
 On March 16th, 1991, an agreement was signed unanimously by the then Chief Ministers of all the four provinces for sharing of water, including periods of shortages and surpluses. The agreement is known as the Water Accord 1991.

Ø      AIR:

Air is very important for the existence of life because all living beings respire through air. The air is composed of nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide etc. The oxygen in the air is essential for our life whereas other gases are necessary for animal and plant life.

Air pollution has also become a major problem in most cities. There are no controls on vehicular emissions, which account for 90 percent of pollutants. The National Conservation Strategy Report claims that the average Pakistani vehicle emits twenty-five times as much carbon monoxide, twenty times as many hydrocarbons, and more than three and one-half times as much nitrous oxide in grams per kilometer as the average vehicle in the United States.

Another major source of pollution, not mentioned in the National Conservation Strategy Report, is noise. The hyper-urbanization experienced by Pakistan since the 1960s has resulted in loose controls for heavy equipment operation in densely populated areas, as well as in crowded streets filled with buses, trucks, automobiles, and motorcycles, which often honk at each other and at the horse-drawn tongas (used for transporting people) and the horse-drawn rehras (used for transporting goods).