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Concept of Developing, Emerging and Developed countries.

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In 1978, the World Bank, for the first time, constructed an analytical country classification system. The occasion was the launch of the World Development Report. Annexed to the report was a set of World Development Indicators (WDI), which provided the statistical underpinning for the analysis. The first economic classification in the 1978 WDI divided countries into three categories: (1) developing countries, (2) industrialized countries, and (3) capital-surplus oil-exporting countries. Developing countries were categorized as low- income (with GNI/n of US$250 or less) and middle-income (with GNI/n above US$250).

Major Characteristics of Developing Countries are:-

  1.  Lower per-capita income
  2.  Low levels of human capital
  3. High levels of poverty and under-nutrition
  4. Higher population growth rates
  5. Predominance of agriculture and low levels of industrialization
  6. Low level of urbanization but rapid rural-to-urban migration
  7. Dominance of informal sector
  8. Underdeveloped labor, financial, and other markets.

Major Characteristics of Emerging Countries are:-

  1. the small size of the economy,
  2. GNP/Capita much lower than in developed countries,
  3. a reduced opening for accepting foreign investors,
  4. a high volatility of the exchange rate which implies greater risk in trading.

Major Characteristics of Developed Countries are:-

  1. Average income per capita of the population is generally high.
  2. Education level of high average population.
  3. Life expectancy of the population average height.
  4.  Population growth rate per year is relatively small.
  5. The death rate per year is relatively small population.
  6. Life-style market economy.
  7. His wide and varied field.
  8. Economic activity in most industry sectors, as well as export commodities.
  9. The majority of the population lives in cities.
  10. Relatively high level of population health.

Muslim League and hindu communalism

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Muslim League

  • 1906 by Aga Khan, the Nawab of Dhaka, and Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk
  • It made no critique of colonialism, supported the partition of Bengal and demanded special safeguards for the Muslims in government services.
  • ML’s political activities were directed not against the foreign rulers but against the Hindus and the INC.
  • Their activities were not supported by all Muslims
    • Arhar movement was founded at this time under the leadership of Maulana Mohamed Ali, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Hasan Imam, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, and Mazhar-ul-Haq. They advocated participation in the militant nationalist movement.

Muslim Nationalists

  • The war between Ottoman Empire and Italy created a wave of sympathy for Turkey
  • During the war between Ottoman empire and Italy, India sent a medical mission headed by MA Ansari to help Turkey.
  • As the British were not sympathetic to Turkey, the pro-Caliph sentiments in India became anti-British
  • However, the militant nationalists among muslims did not accept an entirely secular approach to politics
  • The most important issue they took up was not political independence but protection of the Turkish empire.
  • This approach did not immediately clash with Indian nationalism. However, in the long run it proved harmful as it encouraged the habit of looking at political questions from a religious view point.

Hindu Communalism

  • Some Hindus accepted the colonial view of Indian history and talked about the tyrannical Muslim rule in the medieval period
  • Over language they said that Hindi was the language of Hindus and Urdu that of Muslims.
  • Punjab Hindu Sabha was founded in 1909. Its leaders attached the INC for trying to unite Indians into a single nation.
  • The first session of the All India Hindu Mahasabha was held in April 1915 under the presidentship of the Maharaja of Kasim Bazar.
  • It however remained a weak organization because the colonial government gave it few concessions and little support.

 

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AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM

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Fresh water ecosystems- The salt content of fresh bodies is very low, always less than 5 ppt  (parts per thousand). E.g lakes, ponds, pools, springs, streams, and rivers

Marine ecosystems – the water bodies containing salt concentration equal to or above that of sea water (i.e., 35 ppt or above). E.g shallow seas and open ocean   Brackish water ecosystems- these water bodies have salt content in between 5 to 35 ppt. e.g. estuaries, salt marshes, mangrove swamps and forests.

 

AQUATIC ORGANISMS

The aquatic organisms are classified on the basis Of their one of occurrence and their ability to cross these zones. can be classified on the basis of their life form or location into five groups

  1. Neuston:

These are unattached organisms which live at the air-water interface such as floating plants, etc.

Some organisms spend most of their lives on top of the air-water interface such as water striders, while others spend most of their time just beneath the air-water interface and obtain most of their food within the water.

E.g., beetles and back-swimmers.

  1. Periphyton:

These are organisms which remain attached to stems and leaves of rooted plants or substances emerging above the bottom mud such as sessile algae and their associated group of animals.

  1. Plankton

This group includes both microscopic plants like algae (phytoplankton) and

animals like crustaceans and protozoans (zooplankton) found in all aquatic

ecosysteins, except certain swift moving waters

The locomotory power of the planktons is limited so that their distribution is

controlled, largely, by currents in the aquatic ecosystems.

  1. Nekton:

This group contains animals which are  swimmers.

The nektons are relatively large and powerful as they have to overcome the water currents.

  1. Benthos:

The benthic organisms are those found living in the bottom of the water mass.

Practically every aquatic ecosystem contains well developed benthos

Factors Limiting the Productivity of Aquatic Habitats

  1. Sunlight :

Sunlight penetration rapidly diminishes as it passes down the column of water.

The depth to which light penetrates a lake determines the extent of plant distribution.

Based on light penetration and plant distribution they are classified as photic and aphotic zones

Photic zone:

It is the upper layer of the aquatic ecosystems, up to which light penetrates and within which photosynthetic activity is confined.

The depth of this zone depends on the transparency of water.

photic (or .”euphotic”) zone is the lighted and usually well-mixed portion that extends from the lake surface down to where the light level is 1% of that at the surface.

Aphotic zone:

The lower layers of the aquatic ecosystems, where light penetration and plant growth are restricted forms the aphotic zone.

Only respiration activity takes place.(photic-both respiration and photosynthesis take place )

Aphotic zone is positioned below the littoral and photic zones to bottom of the lake where light levels are too low for photosynthesis.

This deep, unlit region is also known as the profundal zone.

Dissolved oxygen:

Oxygen enters the aquatic ecosystem through the air water interface and by the photosynthetic. average concentration of dissolved oxygen as 10 parts per million by weight.

Dissolved oxygen escapes the water body through air-water interface and through respiration of organisms (fish, decomposers, zooplanktons, etc )

The amount of dissolved oxygen retained in water is also influenced by temperature.

Other limiting factors which influence on aquatic productivity are

Transparency:

Transparency affects the extent of light penetration.

Suspended particulate matters such as clay, silt, phytoplankton, etc make the water turbidity. Consequently it limits the extent of light penetration and the photosynthetic activity in a significant way.

Temperature:

The water temperature changes less rapidly than the temperature of air because water has a considerably higher specific heat than air.

Since water temperatures are less subject to change, the aquatic organisms have narrow temperature tolerance limit.

Green Revolution in India

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Green Revolution in India

  • A term coined to describe the emergence and diffusion of new seeds of cereals.
  • Norman-e-Borlaug is the Father of Green Revolution in the world, while Dr. M.S. Swami Nathan is known as the Father of Green Revolution in India.
  • The new cereals were the product of research work and concentrated plant breeding with the objective of creating High Yielding Varieties (HYVs) of use to the developing countries.
  • New varieties of wheat were first bred in Mexico in the 1950s and that of rice, like IR-8 (miracle rice) at the International Rice Research Institute, Manila, (Philippines in the 1960s).
  • The increase in the yield from the new seeds has been spectacular as during the last forty years, agricultural production, particularly of wheat and rice, has experienced a great spurt and this has been designated as the Green Revolution.
  • The Green Revolution has been used to mean two different things. Some experts of agriculture use it for referring to a broad transformation of agricultural sector in the developing countries to reduce food shortages.
  • Others use it when referring to the specific plant improvements, notably the development of HYVs.
  • Whatsoever the meaning of Green Revolution may be taken as, the adoption and diffusion of new seeds of wheat and rice has been considered as a significant achievement as it offered great optimism.
  • In fact, these varieties of seeds have revolutionised the agricultural landscape of the developing countries and the problem of food shortage has been reduced.
  • In India, hybridisation of selected crops, i.e. maize, bajra (bulrush millets), and millets began in 1960.
  • The Mexican dwarf varieties of wheat were tried out on a selected scale in 1963-64. Exotic varieties of rice such as Taichung Native I were introduced in India in 1964.
  • The diffusion of HYVs, however, became fully operational in the country in the Kharif season of 1965-66.
  • The diffusion of the new seeds was mainly in the Satluj-Ganga Plains and the Kaveri Delta.
  • Subsequently, a number of varieties of wheat and rice were developed by the Indian scientists and adopted by the Indian farmers.

 

Merits of the High Yielding Varieties

The High Yielding Varieties have certain advantages over the traditional varieties of cereals which are given as under:

 

  1. Shorter Life Cycle
  2. Economize on Irrigation Water
  3. Generate more Employment

Geographical Constraints in the Adoption of New Seeds

The new seeds are less resistant to droughts and floods and need an efficient management of water, chemical fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides.

The conditions required for the good harvest of new seeds have been described below:

 

  1. Irrigation
  2. Availability of Chemical Fertilisers
  3. Plant Protection Chemicals
    • The new seeds are very delicate and highly susceptible to pests and diseases.
    • The danger of pests and insects may be reduced by using plant protection chemicals.

 

  • The problems of crop disease and pests may also be tackled by timely application of insecticides and pesticides

 

  1. Capital Constraint
  1. Mechanization
  1. Marketing and Storage Facilities
  1. Extension Service
  1. Human Factor

Environmental and Ecological Implications of Green Revolution

Some of the environmental and ecological problems that emerged out of the cultivation of the High Yielding Varieties are depletion of forests, reduction in pastures, salination, water-logging, depletion of underground water-table, soil erosion, change in the soil chemistry, reduction in bio-diversity, decline in soil fertility, silting of rivers, increase in weeds, emergence of numerous new plant diseases, and health hazards.

 

An overview of these environmental and ecological problems has been given here.

  1. Salination

 The saline and alkaline affected tracts, locally known as kallar or thur in Punjab and kallar or reh in Uttar Pradesh have expanded and increased in area.The problem of salinity and alkalinity can be solved by use of manure (cow dung, compost, and green manure) and by a judicious selection of leguminous crops in the rotation

 

  1. Waterlogging

Water logging is the other major problem associated with over-irrigation.The progressive and ambitious cultivators of the irrigated areas of these districts have changed their cropping patterns and have introduced rice and wheat in place of bajra, pulses, cotton, and fodder.Repeated irrigation of these crops in the summer and winter seasons have resulted into waterlogged condition, especially along the canals.

 

  1. Soil erosion
  2. Pollution:
  3. Lowering of the Underground Water-Table:
  4. Deforestation
  5. Noise Pollution:
  6. Health Hazards:

 

Green Revolution—Achievements, Problems and Prospects

Green Revolution—Achievements

The main achievements of Green Revolution may be summarized as under:

 

  1. The production and productivity of wheat, rice, maize, and bajra has increased substantially.
  2. India has become almost self-sufficient in the matter of staple foods.
  3. The double cropped area has increased; thereby intensification of the Indian agriculture has increased.
  4. In the areas where Green Revolution is a success, the farmers have moved from subsistent to market oriented economy, especially in Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh, and the plain districts of Uttarakhand (Hardwar and Udhamsinghnagar).
  5. The adoption of High Yielding Varieties under the Green Revolution has generated more rural and urban employment.
  6. Green Revolution has increased the income of farmers and landless labourers, especially that of the big farmers and the semi-skilled rural workers. Thus Green Revolution has increased rural prosperity.
  7. Green Revolution has created jobs in the areas of biological (seed fertilisers) innovations, and repair of agricultural equipments and machinery.

 

Green Revolution—Problems and Prospects

  1. Depletion of soil owing to the continuous cultivation of soil exhaustive crops like rice and wheat.
  2. Depletion of underground water table due to over-irrigation of more moisture requiring crops like rice and wheat.
  3. Green Revolution has increased the income disparity amongst the farmers.
  4. Green Revolution led to polarization of the rural society. It has created three types of conflicts in the rural community, namely, between large and small farmers, between owner and tenant farmers, between the employers and employees on agricultural farms.
  5. Green Revolution has displaced the agricultural labourers, leading to rural unemployment. The mechanical innovations like tractors have displaced the agricultural labour. 6. Agricultural production in the Green Revolution areas is either stationary or has shown declining trend.
  6. Some valuable agricultural lands have submerged under water (water-logging) or are adversely affected by salinity and alkalinity.
  7. Green Revolution is crop specific. It could not perform well in the case pulses and oil-seeds.
  8. The traditional institution of Jijmani system has broken. Consequently, the barbers, carpenters, iron-smith, and watermen have migrated to the urban areas.
  9. The soil texture, structure, soil chemistry, and soil fertility have changed.
  10. About 60 per cent of agricultural land in the country remains unaffected by Green Revolution.
  11. Green Revolution technologies are scale neutral but not resource neutral.
  12. Punjab feeds the nation but farmers in the state, especially in the Malwa region fall prey to cancer. The take ‘Cancer Train’ to Bikaner for cheap treatment.

 

World War I and Indian Nationalism-

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  • Increasing number of Indians from Punjab were emigrating to North America.
  • The British government thought that these emigrants would be affected by the idea of liberty. Hence, they tried to restrict emigration.
  • Tarak Nath Das, an Indian student in Canada, started a paper called Free Hindustan.
  • The Hindi Association was setup in Portland in May 1913.
  • Under the leadership of Lala Har Dayal, a weekly paper, The Ghadar was started and a headquarters called Yugantar Ashram was set up in San Fransisco.
  • On November 1, 1913, the first issue of Ghadar was published in Urdu and on December 9, the Gurumukhi edition.
  • In 1914, three events influenced the course of the Ghadar movement:
    • The arrest and escape of Har Dayal
    • The Komagata Maru incident
    • Outbreak of the first world war
  • Gharadites came to India and made several attempts to instill the Indian population to revolt. However, this was of no avail.
  • The Ghadar movement was very secular in nature.
  • Ghadar militants were distinguished by their secular, egalitarian, democratic and non-chauvinistic internationalist outlook.
  • The major weakness of the Ghadar leaders was that they completely under-estimated the extent and amount of preparation at every level – organizational, ideological, strategic, tactical, financial – that was necessary before an attempt at an armed revolt could be organized.
  • It also failed to generate an effective and sustained leadership that was capable of integrating the various aspects of the movement.
  • Another weakness was its almost non-existent organizational structure.
  • Some important leaders: Baba Gurmukh Singh, Kartar Singh Saraba, Sohan Singh Bhakna, Rahmat Ali Shah, Bhai Parmanand and Mohammad Barkatullah.
  • Inspired by the Ghadar Party, 700 soldiers at Singapore revolted under the leadership of Jamadar Chisti Khan and Subedar Dundey Khan. The rebellion was crushed.
  • Other revolutionaries: Jatin Mukharjee, Rash Bihari Bose, Raja Mahendra Pratab, Lala Hardayal, Abdul Rahim, Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi, Champakaraman Pillai, Sardar Singh Rana and Madame Cama

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Major Monuments of Ancient Period

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1. Udaygiri Caves During Chandragupta’s reign at Vidisha, M.P.
2. Angorwatt Temples Suryavarman Ii
3. Vikramashila University Pala King Dharampala
4. Kailash Temple (Ellora) Rashtrakuta king Krishna I
5. Dilwara Temple Tejapala
6. Rathas of Mamallapuram Mahendravarman I (Pallava King)
7. Khajuraho temples Chandelas
8. Martanda temple (Kashmir) Lalitaditya Muktapida
9. Gommateswara  (Son of Rishabnath) Chamundaraya, Minister of the Ganga King, Rajamalla
(Sravanbelagola, Karnataka)
10. Hoysalesvara Temple (at Halebid) Ketamalla, a minister of KingVishnuvardhana (Karnataka)

Regional imbalances and income inequalitiies in India: Steps taken by the Government to reduce it.

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Regional imbalances and income inequalitiies in India: Steps taken by the Government to reduce it.

Regional imbalance is the disparity in economic and social development of two regions. One region/city/area is stronger than another region/city/area. Regions develop when investments are made to set up industries, service sectors, educational institutions, health care facilities etc.

Income inequality is the unequal distribution of household or individual income across the various participants in an economy. Income inequality is often presented as the percentage of income to a percentage of population.

The problem of regional disparities is a global phenomenon and, for India, up to a great extent, an inheritance from the colonial past. For example, in India, the historical factors have guided the development of the port towns of Bombay, Madras, Calcutta and these three cities have in turn worked as nuclei for the development of Maharashtra and Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu and West Bengal respectively which are at present the most industrially advanced states in India. On the other hand, the areas having natural advantages in the form of mineral resources, such as Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan have lagged far behind in the process of economic development.

The most important indicator of regional imbalance and disparity among the different states of India is the difference in per capita state income figures. It is revealed from data in 2000-01, that the national average per capita income in India was Rs. 10,254. The states whose per capita income figures were higher than this national average include Punjab, Goa, Haryana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Among these nine states, Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra and Gujarat have attained a high degree of agricultural as well as industrial development. Although West Bengal and Karnataka attained per capita income higher than the all India average in 1094-95 but it started trailing behind the all India average in recent years due to its poor rate of economic growth.

Various steps taken by Government to reduce it are:

1.Land Reforms and Redistribution of Ceiling Surplus Land:

In India, income inequalities are mostly resulted from the concentration of agricultural land in the hands of a few big landlords. The Zamindary system prevailing in our country has created a system of absentee landlords in the farm sector who appropriated a major portion of the agricultural produce by exploiting the farmers.

After independence, various legislative measures were introduced for abolishing the system of absentee landlords and other intermediaries and imposing ceiling on land holdings.

 

  1. Resource Transfer and Backwardness:

While making necessary award, the Finance Commission in India has been giving due weightage to backwardness of a state as an important criteria for resource transfer from the centre to the states.

Declaration of Backward states and special category states by the government to reduce the regional imbalances.

Under the present system of federal fiscal transfer, the transfer of resources from the Centre to States includes central assistance for State Plans, Non plan transfer as per the recommendations of the Finance Commission, ad-hoc transfer, allocation of fund for centrally sponsored schemes, allocation of both short-term and long-term credit from financial institutions etc.

The share of backward states along with special category states in the Plan outlay as well as in central assistance has been increasing steadily since the First Plan. Accordingly, the share of these states in the total plan outlay had increased from 46 per cent in the First Plan to 51 per cent in the Third Plan and then to 54 per cent in the Fifth Plan.

3. Special Area Development Programmes:

In order to develop hilly areas, tribal areas, drought- prone areas, specific plan schemes have been designed with full central assistance. Besides, other schemes of rural development formulated for the improvement of specific groups such as marginal farmers and agricultural laborers were implemented in the backward regions.

An area based approach of ‘Tribal Sub-Plans’ (TSPs) is now being implemented for the development of scheduled tribes located in the backward rural areas.

In this manner, different special schemes for particular target group located in the backward areas are being included for block level planning for attaining integrated rural development and considerable employment opportunities. All these programmes include SFDA, MFAL, Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP), Crash Scheme for Rural Employment (CSRE) etc.

 

4. Incentives for Promoting Investment in Backward Regions:

In order to fight the problem of industrial backwardness of some backward regions and also to promote private investment in backward regions, various fiscal and other incentives have been provided by both the Centre, the States and other financial institution under public sector.

 5.Social Security Measures:

Social security measures for the workers are considered as an important step towards reduction of income inequalities. India has adopted some social security provisions for the workers engaged in the organized sector. Workmen’s Compensation Act for providing compensation in case of any injury to industrial workers, Maternity Benefit Act for women workers and Employees

Provident Fund Act for providing the benefit of provident fund to the workers and other employees engaged in organized industries.

6. Employment Programme and Wage Policies:

With the growing menace of unemployment problem in India, the Government of India has introduced some special employment programmes since the Fourth Plan onwards in order to provide some relief and scope for gainful employment to unemployed. These programmes include Crash Scheme for Rural Unemployment, the Drought Prone Areas Programme, Food for Work Programme, self-employment schemes for engineers, employment scheme for educated unemployment etc.

All these programmes were short lived and ad-hoc in nature. During the Sixth Plan period, the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) was initiated in 1978-79 and after that National Rural Employment Programme (NREP), Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP) were also introduced.

More radical socio­economic reforms seem to be in the offing in India. These are some of the measures that can be adopted to reduce inequalities. But inequalities can be reduced, they cannot be eliminated altogether. In fact, absolute equality is unattainable.

 

Additional Information

Recommendations

  1. A composite criteria for identifying backward areas (with the Block as a unit) based on indicators of human development including poverty, literacy and infant mortality rates, along with indices of social and economic infrastructure, should be developed by the Planning Commission for the 12th Five Year Plan.
  2. Union and State Governments should adopt a formula for Block-wise devolution of funds targeted at more backward areas.
  3. Governance needs to be particularly strengthened in more backward areas within a State. The role of ‘special purpose vehicles’ such as backward area development boards and authorities in reducing intra-State disparities needs to be reviewed. It is advisable to strengthen local governments and make them responsible and accountable.
  4. A system of rewarding States (including developed States) achieving significant reduction in intra-State disparities should be introduced.
  5. Additional funds need to be provided to build core infrastructure at the inter-district level in less developed States and backward regions in such States. The quantum of assistance should be made proportionate to the number of people living in such areas.
  6. The approach to all such funding should be outcome driven. The strategy should be to define acceptable minimum norms of human and infrastructure development that every block in the country should attain and funding should be driven by the consideration to achieve the norms so defined.

Components of Ecosystem

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The components of the ecosystem is categorised into abiotic of non-living and biotic of living components. Both the components of ecosystem and environment are same.

 

  1. Abiotic Components

the inorganic and non-living parts of the world.  consists of soil, water, air, and light energy etc.  involves a ,large number of chemicals like oxygen, nitrogen-, etc. and physical processes including volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, forest fires, climates, and weather conditions.

Abiotic factors are the most important determinants of where and how well an organism exists in its environment. Although these factors interact with each other, one single factor can-limit the range of an organism.

 

  1. a) Energy

Energy from the sun is essential for maintenance of life. Energy determines the distribution of organisms in  the environment.

  1. b) Rainfall
  2. c) Temperature :-Temperature is a critical factor of the environment which greatly influences survival of organisms. Organisms can tolerate only a certain range of temperature and humidity.
  3. d) Atmosphere :It is made up of 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen , 0.038% carbon dioxide and other inert gases  (0.93% Argon, Neon etc).
  4. e) Substratum :Land is covered by soil and a wide variety of microbes, protozoa, fungi and small animals (invertebrates) thrive in it
  5. f) Materials:

(i) Organic compound

Such as proteins, carbohydrates,  lipids,  humic  substances are formed from inorganic compound on decomposition.

(ii) Inorganic compound

Such as carbon,   carbon dioxide, water, sulphur, nitrates, phosphates, and ions of various metals are essential for organisms to survive.

  1. g) Latitude and altitude

Latitude has a strong influence on an area’s temperature, resulting in change of climates such as polar, tropical, and temperate. These climates determine different natural biomes. From sea level to highest peaks, wild life is influenced by altitude. As the altitude increases, the air becomes colder and drier, affecting wild life accordingly.( wild life decrease as altitude increase)

 

  1. Biotic Components :Biotic components include living organisms comprising plants, animals and microbes and are classified according to their functional attributes into producers and consumers.

Primary producers – Autotrophs (self-nourishing) Primary producers are basically green plants (and certain bacteria and algae). They synthesise carbohydrate from simple inorganic raw materials like carbon dioxide and water in the presence of sunlight by the process of photosynthesis for themselves, and supply indirectly to other non- producers.

In terrestrial ecosystem, producers are basically herbaceous and woody plants, while in aquatic ecosystem producers are various species of microscopic algae.

 

  1. b) Consumers — Heterotrophs or phagotrophs (other nourishing)

 

Consumers are incapable of producing their own food (photosynthesis).

They depend on organic food derived from plants, animals or both.

Consumers can be divided into two broad  groups

 

(i) Macro consumers- They feed on plants or animals or both and are categorised on the basis of their food sources.

Herbivores are primary consumers which feed mainly on plants e.g. cow, rabbit.

Secondary consumers feed on primary consumers e.g. wolves.

Carnivores which feed on secondary consumers are called tertiary consumers e.g. lions which can eat wolves.

Omnivores are organisms which consume both plants and animals e.g. man.

 

(ii) Micro consumers – Saprotrophs (decomposers or osmotrophs)

 

They are bacteria and fungi which obtain energy and nutrients by decomposing dead organic substances (detritus) of plant and animal origin.

The products of decomposition such as inorganic nutrients which are released in the ecosystem are reused by producers and thus recycled.

Earthworm and certain soil organisms (such as nematodes, and arthropods) are detritus feeders and help in the decomposition of organic matter and are called detrivores.

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