Eco Class 9 Ch-1 Story of Village Palampur

M.L. Khanna DAV Public School

Sector-VI, Dwarka

Economics Class-9

Ch-1 Story of Village Palampur

Ques.1. What are the main activities in village Palampur?

Ans. Farming is the main activity in Palampur. The other production activities, referred to as non-farm activities include small manufacturing, dairy, transport, shop-keeping, etc. are also carried out but on a limited scale.

Ques.2. Name the village and town which are nearest to Palampur village.

Ans. Palampur is well-connected with neighbouring villages and towns. Raiganj, a big village, is 3 kms from Palampur. An all weather road connects the village to Raiganj and further on to the nearest small town of Shahpur.

Ques.3. Mention the transport facilities available in village Palampur.

Ans. Many kinds of transport facilities are found to connect Palampur with nearby village and town like bullock carts, wooden cart drawn by buffalo, and motor vehicles like motorcycles, jeeps, tractors and trucks.

Ques.4. Briefly discuss the composition and characteristics of population in Palampur.

Ans. 1. The village Palampur has about 450 families belonging to several different castes.

2. The 80 upper caste families own the majority of land in the village. Their houses, some of them quite large, are made of brick with cement plastering.

3. The SCs (dalits) comprise one third of the population and live in one corner of the village and in much smaller houses some of which are made of mud and straw.

Ques.5. Give a brief account on the facilities available in village Palampur.

Ans. 1. Availability of Electricity: In village Palampur, most of the houses have electric connections. Electricity powers all the tubewells in the fields and is used in various types of small business.

2. Education Facilities: Palampur has two primary schools and one high school.

3. Health Facilities: There is a Primary Health Centre (PHC) run by the government and one private dispensary where the sick people are treated.

4. Transportation: Many kinds of transport facilities are found here to connect Palampur with nearby village and town like bullock carts, wooden cart drawn by buffalo, and motor vehicles like motorcycles, jeeps, tractors and trucks.

5. Well-developed roads: An all weather road connects Palampur village to Raiganj and further on to the nearest small town of Shahpur.

Ques.6. What are the four factors which are required for production of different goods and services?

Ans. Following four factors are required for the production of goods and services:

1. Land as a factor of production includes land along with all other natural resources such as water, forests, minerals which we acquire from the nature.

2. Labour, i.e. people who work to produce goods and services. Some production activities require highly educated workers to perform the necessary tasks. Other activities require workers who can do manual work. Each worker is providing the labour necessary for production.

3. Physical Capital, i.e. the variety of inputs required at every stage during production like tools and machines which range from very simple tools such as a farmer’s plough to sophisticated machines such as generators, turbines, computers, etc. Physical Capital is generally referred to as Capital and can further be divided into two categories:

            (i) Fixed Capital, i.e. tools, machines, buildings which can be used in production over many years.

            (ii) Working Capital, that includes raw material (such as the yarn used by the weaver and the clay used by the potter) and money in hand (to make payments and buy other necessary items). These are used up in one or fewer uses.

4. Entrepreneur, i.e. the owner who has the organisational skills, who is able to put together land, labour and physical capital to produce output, and capable to take up the risk of the business. This these days is called human capital.

Ques.7. Explain how fixed land is proving to be a limitation for the people living in village Palampur.

Or

Why is it crucial to use different techniques in farming to grow more on the same farmland in village Palampur?

Ans. Farming is the main production activity in Palampur. 75 per cent of the people who are working are dependent on farming for their livelihood. They could be farmers or farm labourers. The wellbeing of these people is closely related to production on the farms.

            But there is a constraint in raising farm production as land area under cultivation is practically fixed. Since 1960 in Palampur, there has been no expansion in land area under cultivation. By then, some of the wastelands in the village had been converted to cultivable land. There exists no further scope to increase farm production by bringing new land under cultivation. Therefore, it is essential to employ such methods and techniques, like multiple cropping and use of modern means of farming, through which more output can be generated on the same farming area.

Ques.8. What are the different ways through which more can be produced on the same farmland?

Ans. The different ways to use larger areas of land more effectively are as follows:

1. Availability of better irrigation facilities: Use of better irrigation facilities like tube-wells, canals, pump-sets etc. help to increase farm production manifold. The first few tube-wells were installed by the government in village Palampur. Later farmers started setting up private tube-wells. As a result, by mid-1970s, the entire cultivated area of 200 hectares was irrigated there.

2. Multiple Cropping: When more than one crop is grown on a piece of land during the year, it is known as multiple cropping. It is the most common way to increase production on a given piece of land.  In Palampur, during rainy season (kharif) farmers grow jowar and bajra which are used as cattle feed followed by cultivation of potato between October and December. In winter season (rabi), wheat is grown. A part of the land area is also devoted to sugarcane which is harvested once every year.

3. Use of HYV seeds: The use of high yielding variety (HYV) seeds in the farm production leads to substantial increase in crop production. It resulted Green Revolution in India and the consequent considerable increase in farm production as well as productivity.

4. Installation of modern farm machines: Modern farming machines also help to increase the yield per hectare. The farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Western UP were the first to start using modern farm machinery like tractors and threshers, which made ploughing and harvesting faster. They were rewarded with high yields of wheat, increasing from 1300 kg per hectare to 3200 kg per hectare with HYV seeds.

5. Use of other modern inputs, like chemical fertilisers which result extensive rise in the soil fertility, insecticides and pesticides which help to protect the crops from damage due to pests and insects etc. also increase farm production by multiple amount.

Ques.9. Explain how farmers were able to grow three different crops in a year in village Palampur.

Ans. In Palampur, during rainy season (kharif) farmers grow jowar and bajra which are used as cattle feed followed by cultivation of potato between October and December. In winter season (rabi), wheat is grown, a part of which farmers keep for family’s consumption and surplus wheat is sold in Raiganj Market. A part of the land area is also devoted to sugarcane which is harvested once every year which is sold to the traders in Shahpur.

            The main reason why farmers are able to grow three different crops in a year in Palampur is due to the well-developed system of irrigation. Earlier Persian wheels were used by farmers to draw water from the wells and irrigate small fields. Electricity came early to Palampur. Its major impact was to transform the system of irrigation.

Ques.10. When did Green Revolution introduce in India? Briefly discuss its features and advantages.

Ans. Green Revolution:

Before the introduction of Green Revolution, till mid1960s, the seeds used in cultivation were traditional ones with relatively low yields. Traditional seeds needed less irrigation. Farmers used cow-dung and other natural manure as fertilizers. All these were readily available with the farmers who did not have to buy them.

            The Green Revolution in the late 1960s introduced the Indian farmer to cultivation of wheat and rice using high yielding varieties (HYVs) of seeds. Compared to the traditional seeds, the HYV seeds promised to produce much greater amounts of grain on a single plant. As a result, the same piece of land would now produce far larger quantities of food grains than was possible earlier. HYV seeds were used along with chemical fertilizers, pesticides & insecticides, modern machines and well-developed irrigation system.

Results of Green Revolution:

1. Substantial increase in crop production, especially for wheat and rice.

2. Considerable increase in crop productivity (production per hectare of land).

3. India started curbing its food imports from other countries as Green Revolution made India self-sufficient in food grain production.

4. India began to even export the food grains to other countries which helped in improving India’s income.

5. Increasing income of farmers also resulted in reduction in level of inequalities among the farming population in the country.

Ques.11. Green Revolution affected natural resources adversely. Justify.

Ans. Land being a natural resource, it is necessary to be very careful in its use. Scientific reports indicate that the modern farming methods under Green Revolution have overused the natural resource base in following manner:

1. Loss of Soil Fertility: Green Revolution is associated with the loss of soil fertility due to increased use of chemical fertilizers. Chemical fertilizers kill bacteria and other microorganisms in the soil. This means some time after their use, the soil will be less fertile than ever before.

2. Overuse of Ground Water: Continuous use of groundwater for tubewell irrigation reduced the water-table below the ground.

3. Pollution of Ground Water: Excessive use of chemical fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides polluted the ground water. Chemical fertilizers may not be retained in the soil for long. They may escape from the soil and pollute groundwater, rivers and lakes.

            Therefore, we must take care of the environment to ensure future development of agriculture as environmental resources like soil fertility and groundwater are built up over many years. Once destroyed it is very difficult to restore them.

Ques.12. In which state, the consumption of chemical fertilizers is highest? What are its adverse effects?

Ans. The consumption of chemical fertilizers in Punjab is highest in the country. The continuous use of chemical fertilizers has led to degradation of soil health in punjab. Punjab farmers are now forced to use more and more chemical fertilizers and other inputs to achieve the same production level. This means cost of cultivation is rising very fast.

Ques.13. What were the limitations of Green Revolution?

Ans. The limitations of Green Revolution were as follows:

1. Only two crops: The benefits of Green Revolution were limited to mainly two crops – wheat and rice, not all the crops.

2. Few states benefitted: The gains from Green Revolution were enjoyed by only few states like Punjab, Haryana and Western UP, not all the states.

3. Only rich farmers gained: Those were only rich farmers who majorly got the benefits of Green Revolution, not the poor farmers. This is because the inputs of technique under Green Revolution like HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides & insecticides along with modern farm machines were expensive that only rich farmers could afford. This led to rising inequalities among rich and poor farmers.

Ques.14. The distribution of land is highly unequal among the farmers in village Palampur. How?

Ans. Land is an important factor for farming. Unfortunately, not all the people engaged in agriculture have sufficient land for cultivation. Let us have a quick review of how land is distributed in Palampur.

1. About one third of the 450 families are landless in Palampur, i.e. 150 families have no land for cultivation. Most of them are dalits.

2. Of the remaining families who own land, 240 cultivate small plots less than 2 hectares in size. Cultivation of such plots doesn’t bring adequate income to the farmers’ families. They have to look for additional work during part of the year.

3. There are 60 families of medium and large farmers who cultivate more than 2 hectares of land.

4. A few of the large farmers have land extending over 10 hectares or more.

            Therefore, it can be observed that the distribution of land is highly unequal in village Palampur which divides the entire farming population into different categories like large farmers, medium farmers, small farmers and also, landless farmers who do not own any land and provide labour to cultivate the land of large and medium farmers.

Ques.15. Green Revolution proved to be a curse for small and landless farmers. How?

Ans. Small and landless farmers provide labour to cultivate the farmland of large and medium farmers. This way, small and landless farmers get work to earn for their family. But after the introduction of modern means of farming, advanced machines, tools and equipments such as thrashers, tractors, and harvesters etc., the demand for farm labour decreased because now much of the work is done easily by machines employing less number of labourers.

            Hence, there is large supply of labour for farm production by small and landless in contrast to the lower demand. These farmers, therefore, are now ready to work at wages lower than the minimum wage rate.

Ques.16. Explain how different farmers arrange capital for farming.

Ans. Modern farming methods like use of HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers, insecticides & pesticides, modern machines, tools and equipments along with developed irrigation system require a great deal of capital. Let us discuss how farmers arrange capital for this.

1. Small farmers: Most small farmers have to borrow money to arrange for the capital. They borrow from large farmers or the village moneylenders or the traders who supply various inputs for cultivation. The rate of interest on such loans is very high. They are put to great distress to repay the loan.

2. Medium & large farmers: In contrast to the small farmers, the medium and large farmers have their own savings from farming. This is because they have bigger land than small farmers. So, they can grow higher yield, sell that in the market and earn high profits. They are thus able to arrange for the capital needed on their own.

Ques.17. What do you understand by surplus farm production or marketable farm surplus?

Ans. Marketable farm surplus: The farmers use the food grains produced from the farmland for fulfilling the consumption needs of the family first. After satisfying their self-consumption, whatever surplus food grains are left, farmers take them to the market to sell there in order to earn profits.

            This surplus is known as marketable farm surplus or surplus farm production. If the farmer’s main aim behind farming is to grow crops for self-consumption, he is doing subsistence farming. On the other hand, if farmer targets to produce higher output for sale in market to earn high profits, the more likely he is to pursue commercial farming.

Ques.18. Discuss the different non-farm activities in which farmers can get engaged to add-on to the family income during the times of less work availability.

Ans. The following non-farm activities can be performed by the farmers:

1. Dairy Farming: Dairy is a common non-farm activity. In Palampur, people feed their buffalos on various kinds of grass and the jowar and bajra that grow during the rainy season. Farmers sell the milk in the nearby large village, Raiganj. Two traders from Shahpur town have set up collection cum chilling centres at Raiganj from where the milk is transported to far away towns and cities.

2. Small Scale Manufacturing: Production at small scale is another non-farm activity that provides source of income to the farmers during the times of less work. Unlike the manufacturing that takes place in big factories in towns and cities, manufacturing in Palampur involves very simple production methods. For example, buying the sugarcane from other farmers, crushing it through electric run machine at home or in fields by a farmer, processing it into jaggery and selling to the traders to make small profit is a good small scale manufacturing activity.

3. Shopkeeping: Exchanging the goods already produced by others i.e. trading is also an effective way to supplement family income during the off-season or when less work is available in farming. For example, the traders of Palampur are shopkeepers who buy various goods from wholesale markets in the cities and sell them in the village. There are small general stores in the village selling a wide range of items like rice, wheat, biscuits, soap, etc.

4. Transportation: The people can also buy any of the means of transportation to provide transport facilities in order to earn higher income. For example, there is variety of vehicles on the road connecting Palampur to Raiganj. Rickshawalas, tongawalas, jeep, tractor, truck drivers and people driving the traditional bullock cart and bogey are people in the transport services. They ferry people and goods from one place to another, and in return get paid for it. The number of people involved in transport has grown over the last several years.

(Note: Students can mention and explain any other non-farm activity also.)