Economic Geography: Resources, Agriculture and Industry
Economic geography studies how resources, farming and manufacturing are distributed and why location decisions differ. The exam tests classification, cropping seasons, location factors and Odisha examples such as steel, aluminium and port-linked industry.
Core rules and concepts
- Resources may be renewable or non-renewable, potential or actual, biotic or abiotic. A resource is not merely a substance; it becomes a resource when technology and demand make it useful.
- Agriculture is shaped by rainfall, soil, relief, market access, irrigation and landholding. Kharif crops are sown with the south-west monsoon; rabi crops depend on cool weather and irrigation; zaid is a short summer season.
- Industry location depends on raw materials, power, transport, labour, capital, market and agglomeration. Weight-losing industries process bulky raw material and tend to locate near the source; weight-gaining industries tend to locate near the market.
- Odisha has iron ore, coal, bauxite and limestone. Rourkela is associated with steel, Angul with aluminium and power, and Paradip with port-based trade and industry.
Worked example
A sugar mill uses 4 tonnes of cane to make 1 tonne of sugar. Material index = weight of raw material ÷ weight of finished product = 4. This is weight-losing, so locating near cane fields reduces transport costs and avoids cane deterioration. A bakery using 1.1 tonnes of flour per tonne of bread is weight-gaining and is better placed near consumers.
Traps that cost marks
- Reversing kharif and rabi seasons.
- Calling iron ore non-ferrous; it is a ferrous metallic mineral.
- Assuming every industry must locate at the raw-material source.
- Treating resource existence as automatic economic use.