(i) Why is soil a valuable resource for India?

(ii) Why is black soil considered a productive soil?

Give two characteristic features of the soil found most suitable for growing cotton and sugarcane in Maharashtra.

Give a geographical reason for each of the following:

(i) Deltaic alluvium is more fertile than the coastal alluvium.

(ii) Black soil is largely found in the Deccan Trap region.

(iii) Black soil is often referred to as Cotton soil or Regur soil.

Pawan and Akash have been friends since childhood. Both of them are farmers in a village near Prayagraj. They often compare their inputs so as to increase their yields. Pawan, whose farm is along the Ganges, gets better yields with lower inputs of fertilizer and irrigation than Akash whose fields are twenty kilometres away. Identify their soils. [Hint: Sub-categories of a major soil type.] Which one of them is superior to the other? Why?