Write a note on 'Soil as a Resource'.

Soil as a Resource in India:

(i)Soil is the most important renewable natural resource. It is the medium of plant growth and supports different types of living organisms on the earth.

(ii)The soil is a living system. It takes millions of years to form soil upto a few centimeters in depth. Relief, parent rock or bedrock, climate, vegetation and other forms of life and time are the important factors in the formation of soil.

(iii)Various forces of nature such as change in temperature, actions of running water, wind and glaciers, activities of the decomposers, etc. contribute to the formation of soil.

(iv)Chemical and organic changes which take place in the soil are equally important.

(v)Soil also consists of organic (humus) and inorganic materials.