Land resources of Pakistan, Classification, Uses of Land Resources, Must read and Leave comment

1. 1 | L a n d R e s o u r c e s i n P a k i s t a n a n d G l o b a l P e r s p e c t i v e
What is a Land resource?
Land resources can be taken to mean the resources available from the land. the agricultural land,
the underground water, the various minerals like coal, bauxite, gold and other raw materials. In a
wider sense, land resource can also mean the land available for exploitation, like non agricultural
lands for buildings, developing townships etc.
Land is most simply defined as “the Solid portion of the Earth’s surface”.
It is a significant natural resource which plays an important role in the development of human society.
Land resource of Pakistan:
The country’s geographical area is 79.61 million hectares (mha), excluding the Northern Areas
of Pakistan. Out of this, only 72 percent area has been reported indicating a major limitation that
28 percent area is not yet surveyed for land use classification. Out of the reported area, around
8.1 (mha) are available for future agriculture and other uses, if water is made available. If rest of
the area (28 percent) is also surveyed then one can have better picture of country’s land
resources.
Land resource classification of Pakistan:
Land Resources Classification of Pakistan
AREA
TYPE OF LAND USE (mha) (%)
Geographical Area 79.61 100.00
Total Reported Area 57.07 71.7
Forest Area 4.02 5.1
Area Not Available for Cultivation 22.88 28.7
Culturable Waste 8.12 10.2
Area Cultivated for Agriculture 22.05 27.7
Uses of land:
 Food production
 Houses, raw material resources
 Industrial purpose
 Residential purpose
 Commercial purpose
 Waste disposal
 Energy purpose
Uses of Land Resources:

2. 2 | L a n d R e s o u r c e s i n P a k i s t a n a n d G l o b a l P e r s p e c t i v e
 Land is used for Agriculture
 Land contains huge amount of Minerals
 It is also contains water in the form of underground water.
 Most of the animals have their habitat on land
 Land provides all the resources required to fulfils the basic needs of human civilization such as
food, cloth and shelter.
Global Perspective:
Our freshwater ancestors have confronted many of the same environmental constraints that we
face today. Either they adapted, physiologically perhaps through innovation, or they relocated,
invading new lands and mining fresh resources when the soil and water became too salty.
Global environmental changes (i.e. desertification and biodiversity loss), it is important to
understand how evolutionary processes and, more importantly, human activities contribute to the
earth’s diminished capacity for sustaining essential vegetative cover.
Biosalinity is a dynamic state often described in terms of geochemical (soil and water) and
biological (plants) responses to increasing salinization in our environment. If population growth
persists unabated and our natural resources continue to be degraded at an alarming rate,
biosalinity will eventually become a significant constraint limiting our ability to meet the future
demand for basic necessities, such as food, water, fuel, and shelter.
Biosaline agriculture is defined ‘‘crop production on saline soils where, in most cases,
seawater or brackish/saline groundwater is the only sources of irrigation water’’.
It is most concerned with the development and propagation of sustainable vegetative alternatives
for salt-affected lands that are deemed unsuitable for conventional farming, including:
 More effective soil/water management and improved crop salt-tolerance
 The domestication of halophytes for commercial and/or environmental cultivation.
Halophytes (salt-tolerant plants) are now being considered as an attractive option for future cash
crops, offering a number of distinct conservative and restorative advantages.
In Pakistan:
Pakistan is experiencing the most acute crisis with up to 10 million hectares affected in the
relatively small country; some observers estimate that between 5-10 hectares are lost to salinity
and water logging every hour, mainly on the coasts and irrigated farms of the Indus River basin.