Students can Download 1st PUC Economics Model Question Paper 1 with Answers, Karnataka 1st PUC Economics Model Question Papers with Answers helps you to revise the complete Karnataka State Board Syllabus and score more marks in your examinations.

## Karnataka 1st PUC Economics Model Question Paper 1 with Answers

Time: 3.15 Hours
Max Marks: 100

Instructions:

1. Write the question numbers legibly in the margin.
2. Answer for a question should be continuous.

Section – A

I. Choose the correct answers: ( 1 × 5 = 5 )

Question 1.
Alternative uses of resources give rise to the problem of
(a) Rights
(b) Price
(c) Choice
(d) Chance
(c) Choice.

Question 2.
O gives can be helpful in locating graphically the
(a) Mode
(b) Mean
(c) Median
(d) None of the above
(c) Median.

Question 3.
Railway transport introduced in India
(a) 1835
(b) 1776
(c) 1850
(d) 1853
(a) 1850.

Question 4.
In pre-independent India he was the first to discuss the concept of a poverty line.
(b) Gopalkrishna Gokhale
(c) Vinoba Bhave
(d) Vinoda bai

Question 5.
India is an
(a) Industrial country
(b) Scientifically developed country
(c) Agrarian Nation
(d) Service developed country
(c) Agrarian Nation

II. Fill in the blanks: ( 1 × 5 = 5 )

Question 6.
Most expensive method of interview is _________.
Personal interview method.

Question 7.
In _________ method of classification upper limit of class is include.
Inclusive method.

Question 8.
Taxes on incomes of individuals is called _________.
Direct tax.

Question 9.
Indian system of medicine includes _________ systems.
Six.

Question 10.
Forest are _________ resources.
Natural.

III. Match the following: ( 1 × 5 = 5 )

Question 11.

 1. Arithmetic Mean 1. Wholesale Price Index. 2. WPI 2. Chairperson of the Planning Commission. 3. Prime Minister 3. India and the knowledge economy. 4. World Bank 4. Milk production 5. White revolution 5. $$\bar{X}$$

1-5
2-1
3-2
4-3
5-4

IV. Answer the following questions in a word sentence: ( 1 × 5 = 5 )

Question 12.
Give the meaning of standard deviation.
Standard deviation is the positive square root of the mean of squared deviations from mean.

Question 13.
What is consumer awareness?
Consumer awareness refers to awareness about the rights of consumers.

Question 14.
Why do people work?
People work to get some earning for a living.

Question 15.
Give the meaning of infant mortality rate.
Infant mortality rate is the death of babies per thousand live births.

Question 16.
Which country has the highest life expectancy?
China has the highest life expectancy.

Section – B

V. Answer any four of the following questions in four sentence each. ( 2 × 4 = 8 )

Question 17.
Write any two qualities of good questionnaire.

1. Questionnaire should not be too long
2. Questionnaire should be precise and clear.

Question 18.
Mention the types of classification of data.
The types of classification of data are:

• Quantitative classification.
• Qualitative classification.
• Chronological classification.
• Spatial classification.

Question 19.
How can you obtain a frequency curve.
The frequency curve is obtained by drawing a smooth freehand curve passing through the points of the frequency polygon as closely as possible. It may not necessarily pass through all the points of the frequency polygon, but it passes through them as closely as possible.

Question 20.
What is weighted arithmetic mean? Give formula.
While calculating arithmetic mean, sometimes, it is essential to give weightage to various items according to their importance. For example, there are two commodities oranges and radish. You are interested in finding the average price of oranges and radish. We may give importance to the rise in price of oranges for which weights are to be given. To calculate the average of both the products we use weighted arithmetic mean.

Question 21.
Mention different techniques for measuring correlation.
There are three important techniques used to measure correlation. They are as follows:

1. Scatter diagrams
2. Karl Pearson’s coefficient of correlation
3. Spearman’s rank corrilation theorem

Question 22.
Mention the name of any four statistical tools.
The most important statistical tools are the measures of central tendency, dispersion, correlation bar diagrams, pie chart, histogram, etc.

VI. Answer any five of the following questions in four sentences each. ( 2 × 5 = 10 )

Question 23.
List out the important export goods of India before independence.
The important export goods of India before independence were raw silk, cotton, wool, sugar, indigo, jute, etc.

Question 24.
List out the features of poorest households.
Starvation and hunger are the main features of the poorest households. They do not possess any assets. They live in slums and some sleep in public places. In rural areas, they are landless labourers. Many do not get even two meals a day. They lack basic literacy and skills and have limited economic opportunities.

Question 25.
What are the two major sources of human capital in a country?
Education and health are two main sources of human capital. Education raises the standard and quality of living of people. It increases the productive capacity and productivity of the workforce by enhancing their skills. Health indirectly helps in the economic development by supplying active energetic and healthy work force for better production.

Question 26.
How many lenders exploited the rural farmers?
Moneylenders and traders exploited small and marginal farmers and landless labourers by:

• Charging very high rates of interest.
• Manipulating the accounts to keep them permanently in a debt trap.
• Trespassing the agricultural lands by misusing their illiteracy.
• Making debtors into bonded labourers.

Question 27.
Who are not included in labour force?
The women who carry out household works like cooking, fetching water and fuel wood and participating in farm labour are generally not included in labour force. This is mainly because, they are not paid wages in cash or in the form of grains mostly there is no payment for them.

Question 28.
Which are the economic infrastructures?
The economic infrastructural facilities are those which directly contribute towards economic development. The main economic infrastructures are energy, transportation, communication, banking, insurance, warehouse, etc.

Question 29.
What is non-renewable resources? Give two examples.
Non-renewable resources are those which get exhausted with extraction and use.
Example: mineral resources like petrol, coal, iron ore, etc.

Section – C

VII. Answer any three of the following questions in twelve sentence each. ( 3 × 4 = 12 )

Question 30.
Briefly explain bow statistics helps to study economics.
Statistics plays a very important role in the field of economics. It helps in study of economics in many ways:
1. It helps to understand economic problems: By using various statistical tools, effort is being made to find the causes behind the economic problems with the help of qualitative and the quantitative facts. Once the causes of a problem are identified. it is easier to formulate certain policies to tackle them.

2. It enables an economist to present economic facts in a precise and definite form: Statistics help the economists to present economic facts with accuracy. It also helps in proper comprehension of that is stated in the subject matter. When economic facts are expressed in statistical terms. they become exact. Exact facts are more convincing than vague statements. For instance, saying 350 people have died in Kashmir unrest since 2000. is more accurate than saying that a lot of people have died in the unrest.

3. Helps in condensing mass data into a few numerical measures: Statistics condenses the mass data into a few numerical measures like mean, variance, correlation, etc. These numerical measures help to summarise data. For example, it would be impossible to remember the income of all the people of a country. But we can remember average income i.e., per capita income.

4. It is used to find relationships between different economic factors: An economist may be interested in finding out what happens to the demand for a commodity when its price changes or what will be impact on inflation, when the government has more budget deficits. Such situations can be dealt, if any relationship exists between the various economic factors. Here, the nature of relationship can be studied with the help of statistical tools.

5. It helps in formulation of plans and policies: Sometimes, formulating plans and policies require the knowledge of future trends. For instance, an economic planner has to decide in 2010 how much the economy should produce in 2016-17. In other words, one must know what could be the expected level of consumption in 2016-17. So. the statistical tools to predict consumption in 2016-17 could be based on the data of consumption of past years obtained by surveys.

Question 31.
Briefly explain sampling errors.
Sampling error refers to the differences between the sample estimate and the actual value of a characteristic of the population. It is the error that occurs when you make an observation from the samples taken from the population.

Thus, the difference between the actual value of a parameter of the population and its estimate is the sampling error. It is possible to reduce the magnitude of sampling error by taking a larger sample.

For example, suppose the height of 5 students (in inches) are 50, 55, 60, 65, 70. Now, the average height will be calculated by adding all these observations and dividing the sum by 5 . then we get 60 inches. If we select a sample of two students with height of 50 and 60 inches, then average height of sample will be 50 + 60 divided by 2, we get 55 inches. Here the sampling error of the estimate will be 60 (true value) minus 55 (estimate) = 5.

Question 32.
Write a note on classification of data.
The raw data is classified in various ways depending on the purpose. Generally data can be classified as follows:

• Chronological classification: When the data is grouped according to time, it is called as chronological classification, in such a classification, data are classified either in ascending or in descending order with reference to time such as years, quarters, months weeks days, etc.
• Spatial classification: If the data are classified with reference to geographical locations such as countries, states, cities, districts, etc., it is called spatial classification.
• Qualitative classification: When the data are classified on the basis of certain attributes or qualities like literacy, religion, gender, marital status etc., then it is called qualitative classification. These attributes can be classified on the basis of either the presence or the absence of a qualitative characteristic.
• Quantitative classification: If the classification of data is done on the basis of certain characteristics like height, weight. age, income, marks of students etc., it is called as quantitative classification.

Question 33.
Find the standard deviation for the following data. 8, 9, 15, 23, 5, 11, 19, 8, 10, 12.

Question 34.
Mention the properties of correlation co-efficient.
The following are the major properties of correlation coefficient:

• Correlation ‘r’ has no unit, it is a pure number. It means units of measurement are not part of ‘r’.
• A negative value of ‘r’ indicates an inverse relation. A change in one variable is associated with change in the other variable in the opposite direction. For instance, when price of tomato increases, its demand decreases.
• If ‘r’ is positive the two variables move in the same direction. When the price of coffee rises, a substitute of tea, the demand for tea increases.
• The value of the correlation coefficient lies between minus one and plus one. (-1 ≤ r ≤ 1).
• If r = 0, the two variables are uncorrelated. There is no linear relation between them. However, other types of relations may be there.
• If r =1 or r = -1, the correlation is perfect. The relation between them is exact.
• A low value of ‘r’ indicates a weak linear relation. Its value is said to be low when it is close to zero.
• The magnitude of ‘r’ is unaffected by the change of origin and change of scale.

VIII. Answer any four of the following questions in twelve sentence each. ( 4 × 4 = 16 )

Question 35.
Explain the demographic profile of India during the colonial past.
The various details about the population of British India were first collected through a census in 1881. It revealed the unevenness in India’s population growth. Subsequently, every ten years census was conducted. Before 1921, India was in the first stage of demographic transition. The second stage of transition began after 1921.

During British rule, the overall literacy level was less than 16%. Out of this, the female literacy level was at a negligible low of about 7%. Public health facilities were either unavailable to large chunks of population or when available, were highly inadequate. Consequently, water and air-borne diseases were common and took a huge number of deaths.

The mortality rate was very high and in that particularly, the infant mortality rate was quite alarming i.e., it was 218 per thousand. The life expectancy was also very low i.e., 44 years in contrast to the present 68 years. There was also extensive poverty prevailed in India during the colonial period which contributed to the worsening demographic profile of India during British period.

Question 36.
Write a short note on land reforms in India.
Land reforms refer to changes in the ownership of land holdings. At the time of independence, the land tenure system was characterized by intermediaries like zamindars, jagirdars etc.. who were just indulged in collecting rent from the actual cultivators without contributing towards improvements on the agricultural laid. The low productivity of the agricultural sector forced India to import food from USA. At this juncture, the land reforms were introduced.

After introduction of land reforms, steps were taken to abolish intermediaries and to make the tillers the owners of land. The idea behind this move was that ownership of land would make incentives to the tillers to invest in making improvements provided sufficient capital was made available to them. Abolition of zamindari system and ceiling on land holdings were the major land reforms introduced immediately after independence.

Question 37.
Write a short note on outsourcing.
Outsourcing is a process in which a company hires regular service from external sources, usually from other countries, which was previously provided internally. It includes legal advice, computer service, advertisement, security, etc.

As a form of economic activity, outsourcing has intensified in recent years due to fast mode of communication network. Many services like voice based business processes, record keeping, accountancy, banking services, music recording, film editing, book transcription, clinical advice or even teaching are being outsourced by companies in developed countries to India.

The modem telecommunication links like internet, the text, voice and visual data in respect of these senders is digitized and transmitted throughout the world. Most of the multinational corporations and small companies are outsourcing their services to India where they can be availed at a cheaper cost. The low wage rates and availability of skilled labour in India have made it a favorite destination for global outsourcing.

Question 38.
List out the major problems of rural development.
the major problems which need fresh initiatives for development in rural India are as follows:

1. Development of human resources: The development of human resources include promotion of literacy particularly female literacy, education and skill development, providing health care by addressing both sanitation and public health.

2. Land reforms: The land reforms include ceiling on land holdings, prevention of fragmentation and subdivision of land and making the tiller as the owner of the land.

3. Infrastructure development: The development of infrastructure like provision of electricity, irrigation, banking, marketing, transportation (village roads, feeder roads to nearby highways), agricultural research centres, information, etc.

4. Poverty alleviation measures: Special measures for poverty alleviation and bringing progress among weaker sections of the population and giving importance to productive employment opportunities are also part of the major issues of rural economy.

Question 39.
Briefly explain the state of infrastructure in rural India.
Majority of people in India live in rural areas. In spite of so much of technological progress in the world, rural women are still using bio-fuels like agricultural waste, dried dung and fire wood to meet their energy requirement. They have to walk long distances to bring fuel, water and other basic needs.

According to the latest estimates, in rural India only 56% of households have electricity connection and 43% still use kerosene. About 90% of the rural households use bio- fuels for cooking. Tap water availability is limited to only 24 % rural households. About 76 % of the population drinks water from open sources like wells, tanks, ponds, lakes, rivers, canals etc. Access to improved sanitation in rural areas only 20 %.

Question 40.
What are the various indicators of Human Development index?
The various indicators of human development are as follows:

• Human development index: It consists of standard of living index, life expectancy at birth and educational attainment. If the HDI is high it is good indicator of human development.
• Life expectancy at birth: It is the average number of years a person is expected to live. In other words, it is the longevity of life. A high value of life expectancy better indicates a quality human development.
• Adult literacy rate: It is the average number of persons who have reading and writing skills with basic local knowledge. It is expressed in percentages. The high literacy rate shows high human development.
• GDP per capita: The gross domestic product per head is also one of the indicators of human development. The high value of GDP per capita indicates a better human development.
• Infant mortality rate: It means the death of babies per thousand live births. If the IMR is high it indicates low human development.
• Maternal mortality rate: It shows the death of mothers per 1 lakh live births. If MMR is low, it indicates a better human development.
• Population using improved sanitation: If the percentage of population using improved sanitation is more, it is a good indicator of human development.
• Population with sustainable access to improved water sources: If the percentage of population using sustainable access to improved water source is high, it is a good indicator of human development.
• People living below poverty line: If less people are living below poverty line, then it is a good indicator of human development.
• Percentage of children undernourished: If the number of undernourished children is diminishing, then it is a good indicator of human development.

Section – D

IX. Answer any two of the following questions in about twenty sentence each. ( 2 × 6 = 12 )

Question 41.
Draw a arithmetic line graph using following data value of imports export of India (in 100 crores).

For Blind Students Only

What is tabulation? What are the parts of table.
When data is represented in rows and columns, it is called tabulation. To construct a table, it is important to know the different components of a good statistical table. When all the components are put together systematically, they form a table.

Tabulation can be done using one way, two way or three way classification depending upon the number of characteristics involved. A good table should have the following parts:

• Table number: Table number is given to a table for identification purpose. If more than one table is presented, it is the table number that distinguishes one table from another. It is given at the top or at the beginning of the title of the table.
• Title: The title of the table gives about the contents of the table. It has to be very clear, brief and carefully worded, so information interpretations made from the table are clear and free from any confusion.
• Captions: These are the column headings given as designations to explain the figures of the column.
• Stubs: These are headings given to rows of the table. The designations of the rows are also called stubs or stub items and the left column is known as stub column.
• Body of the table: It is the main part and it contains the actual data. Location of any one data in the table is fixed and determined by the row and column of the table.
• Head note/Unit of measurement: The units of measurement of the figures in the table should always be stated along with the title. If figures are large. they should be rounded off and the method of rounding should be indicated.
• Source: It is a brief statement or phrase indicating the source of data presented in the table. If more than one source is there, all the sources are to be mentioned.
• Note: It is the last part of the table, It explains the specific feature of the data content of the table which is not self explanatory and has not been explained earlier.

Question 42.
Calculate average marks of the following students using:
(a) Direct method
(b) Step deviation method.

(a) Direct Method:

(b) Step Deviation Method:

Question 43.
The yield of rice per acre for 10 districts of a state is as under.

Calculate standard deviation and coefficient variation.
QD for rice: Arrange the given observations in the ascending order.
X: 12 12 12 15 18 18 22 23 29 34
Calculation of lower quartile (Q1):

Calculation of upper quartile (Q3):

The size of 8.25th item = size of 8th item + 0.25 items
(0.025 item = size of 9th item – size of 8th item)
∴Q3 = size of 8.25th item
Q3 = 23 + 0.25 (29 – 23) = 23 + 0.25 (6) = 23 + 1.5
Q3 = 24.5

X. Answer any two of the following questions in about twenty sentence each. ( 2 × 6 = 12 )

Question 44.
Explain the important areas of liberalization.
Liberalization was one of the reforms of New Economic Policy of 1991. It was introduced to put an end to the restrictions and open up various sectors of the economy. The following are the important areas of liberalization:

1. Deregulation of industrial sector: The liberalization policy removed many restrictions enforced on industrial sector. Industrial licensing was abolished for almost all but product categories like alcohol, cigarettes, hazardous chemicals, industrial explosives, electronics, aerospace and drugs and pharmaceuticals.

The only industries which are not reserved for the public sector are defence equipments, atomic energy generation and railway transport. Many goods produced by the small scale industries have now been de-reserved.

2. Financial sector reforms: The financial sector consists of financial institutions like commercial banks, investment banks, stock exchange operations and foreign exchange market.

The financial sector in India is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India. The RBI decides the amount of money that the banks can keep with themselves, fixes interest rates, nature of lending to various sectors, etc.

The major objective of financial sector reforms is to reduce the role of RBI from regulator to facilitator of financial sector. That means, the financial sector may be allowed to take decisions on many matters independent of RBI.

The financial sector reform policies led to the establishment of private sector banks both Indian and foreign. Foreign investment limit in banks was raised to around 50%. The banks which fulfill certain conditions have been given freedom to set up new branches without the approval of the RBI. Foreign institutional investors (FIT) like merchant bankers, mutual funds and pension funds are now allowed to invest in Indian financial markets.

3. Tax reforms: These are the reforms which are concerned with government’s taxation and public expenditure policies which are collectively known as its fiscal policy. There are two types of taxes, direct and indirect.

Since 1991, there has been a continuous reduction in the taxes on individual incomes as it was felt that high rates of income tax were an important reason for tax evasion. It is now widely accepted that moderate rates of income tax encourage savings and voluntary disclosure of income.

The rate of corporation tax (tax on income of companies) which was very high earlier has been gradually reduced. A new tax called Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been introduced from 1.7.2017 to bring uniformity in indirect taxes.
In order to encourage better compliance on the part of tax payers, many procedures have been simplified and the rates also substantially lowered.

4. Foreign exchange reforms: During 1991, the Government took an immediate measure to resolve the balance of payments crisis, the rupee was devalued against foreign currencies. This led to an increase in the inflow of foreign exchange. It also set the tone to free the determination of rupee value in the foreign exchange market from government control. At present, the market forces i.e., demand and supply, determine the exchange rates.

5. Trade and investment policy reforms: A new trade and investment policy under liberalization strategy was made to increase international competitiveness of industrial production and a foreign investments and technology into the economy. The aim was also to promote the efficiency of the local industries and the adoption of modem technologies.

To protect Indian industries, the government was following quantitative restrictions on imports which encouraged tight control over imports. At the same time, tariffs were very high. These policies reduced efficiency and competitiveness which led to a slower growth of manufacturing sector.

The main objectives of Trade and Investment Policy were:

• To remove quantitative restrictions on imports.
• To reduce quantitative restrictions in exports.
• Reducing tariff rates.
• Removal of licensing system.

Import licensing was abolished except in case of hazardous and environmentally sensitive industries. Quantitative restrictions on imports of manufactured consumer goods and agricultural products were also fully removed. Export duties have been removed to increase the competitive position of Indian goods in the international markets. A process of disinvestment was also initiated by selling of part of equity shares of public sector enterprises to the public.

Question 45.
Explain the role of education in the economic development of a nation.
The education plays a predominant role in economic development of India in the following way:

1. It modernizes the attitude and behaviour of the people: Education brings favourable changes in the attitude and behaviour of people. It gives inputs like what is right and what is wrong and contributes for taking sound and judgments.

2. Promotes science and technology: Education always provides the knowledge about latest technology to people who know reading and writing. It explains the new methods of production through innovations in various sectors of the economy. They providing scope for latest techniques of production, it develops agriculture, industry, transport. power, etc.

3. Increases mobility of labours: Education helps the labourers to search for more re warding employment opportunities all over the world. It helps to chooses a suitable career according to one’s educational qualifications. It makes them to move from country to country or state to state as and when required.

4. Creates national and developmental consciousness: Education creates civic, national and developmental consciousness among the literates. It provides information about the past events in History and tells about the freedom struggle of great national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagath Singh, Subhas Chandra Bose and others. It makes people to develop a sense of patriotism and helps them to adopt strategies of progress in life.

5. Contributes to skilled and trained workers: Education generates skilled and trained labour force needed for the development of the country. Education includes both general and technical education. The general education includes Bachelor of Arts. Bachelor of Commerce.

Bachelor in Business Administration: at the degree level and technical education includes Bachelor in Engineering in different streams like mechanical, civil, electronic, electrical, computer. etc. All these contribute for the supply of skilled labour for the overall development of the country.

6. Act as source of knowledge: Education is a house of knowledge for all purposes. Anything to know we need to be literate. It helps people to take decisions on the basis of their knowledge gained in different stages while getting education.

7. Develops moral values: As education provides number of stories and incidents people’s lives, people can definitely develop moral values. These moral values are included in their daily life. Some of the moral values are not to sell adulterated products, in case of seller and in case of buyer, not to create inconvenience for others in their routine life and so on.

8. Creates awareness about culture and politics: Education always provides complete information about cultural heritage of any nation. It explains how they are constructed with the investment of money and human capital. It helps them to preserve the historical monuments, inscriptions and other valuable items. It also provides day-to-day information about politics when the person is literate.

Question 46.
What are the types of unemployment in India?
The kinds of un-employment are as follows:

1. Disguised unemployment.
2. Seasonal unemployment.
3. Open unemployment.
4. Under employment.
5. Technical employment.
6. Frictional employment.

1. Disguised unemployment: It is the of unemployment, where we can come across excess number of workers engaged in the some work hut actually less number of workers required. For instance, suppose a fainer has four acres of land and he actually needs only two workers and half to carry out various operations on his farm in a year, but if he employs five workers and his family members such as his wife and children, this situation is called disguised unemployment.

2. Seasonal unemployment: It is the type of unemployment, where the rural people get employment only during a particular season. We have noticed that many people migrate to urban areas, pick up a job and stay there for some time, but come back to their home villages as soon as the rainy season begins.

This is because work in agriculture is seasonal: there are not many employment opportunities in a village for all the months in a year. When there is no work to do on farms, people go to urban areas and look for temporary jobs. This is one of the instances of seasonal unemployment.

Section – E

XI. Answer any two of the following project oriented questions. ( 2 × 5 = 10 )

Question 47.
Record the daily expenditure quantities bought and prices paid per unit of the daily purchases, such as rice, toordal, onion and milk of your family for two weeks. How has the price change affected your family.’
The following table shows the list of items with quantities purchased by a family:

Now we need to calculate CPI by calculating price relative with the help of formulae.

Calculation of Living Index or Consumer Prise Index is calculated as follows:
$$\mathrm{CPI}=\frac{\Sigma \mathrm{WP}}{\Sigma \mathrm{W}}=\frac{1600}{15}=106.66$$
CPI = 106.66
Comment: It shows that there is an increase in price by 6.66%, which has a little effect on standard of living.

Question 48.
Suppose you are a resident of a village, suggest a few measures to tackle the problem of poverty.
If we support in implementing the following programmes successfully, we can easily eradicate the poverty:

• Swamajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY)
• Swamajayanthi Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY)
• Pradhana Manthri Rozgar Yojana (PMRY)
• National Food for Work Programme (NFWP)
• Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)
• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MGNREGP)
• Public Distribution System (PDS)
• Integrated Child Development Scheme (LCDS)
• Mid-day Meals Scheme
• Indira Awas Yojana
• Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana.

Question 49.
Prepare a list of causes of land degradation in India.
Land in India suffers from varying degrees and types of degradation. These are increasing mainly due to the factors mentioned below:

• Deforestation, i.e. reckless cutting down of trees resulting in loss of vegetation.
• Indiscriminate and over exploitation of forest products such as fuel wood and over grazing.
• Conversion of forest lands into agricultural lands.
• Forest fire and faulty methods of cultivation.
• Excessive application of pesticides and insecticides. .
• Disproportionate and excessive use of chemical fertilizers in Indian agriculture.
• The irrigation systems in India are not properly planned and managed.
• Over exploitation of ground water for various competing utilities like human settlement, industrialization, etc.
• No proper introduction of crop rotation techniques and organic farming.
• Illiteracy and ignorance of rural population in respect of causes and effects of land degradation.

Land is indispensable for human settlement. If proper care ¡s not taken for the conservation of land and water, there shall be severe scarcity of water and natural resources in future which may lead to conflict among the countries.