Class9 Economics Unit01 NCERT TextBook English Edition

8/2/2019 Class9 Economics Unit01 NCERT TextBook English Edition

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The Story of Village Palampur 1

Overview

The purpose of the story is to introducesome basic concepts relating to productionand this we do through a story of ahypothetical village called Palampur.

Farming is the main activity inPalampur, whereas several other

activities such as small scalemanufacturing, dairy, transport, etc. arecarried out on a limited scale. Theseproduction activities need various typesof resources natural resources, man-made items, human effort, money, etc. As

we read through the story of Palampur,we will learn how various resourcescombine to produce the desired goods andservices in the village.

Palampur is well-connected with

neighbouring villages and towns. Raiganj,a big village, is 3 kms from Palampur. Anall weather road connects the village toRaiganj and further on to the nearestsmall town of Shahpur. Many kinds oftransport are visible on this road startingfrom bullock carts, tongas, bogeys (woodencart drawn by buffalos) loaded with jaggery(gur) and other commodities to motor

vehicles like motorcycles, jeeps, tractorsand trucks.

This village has about 450 familiesbelonging to several different castes. The80 upper caste families own the majorityof land in the village. Their houses, someof them quite large, are made of brick withcement plastering. The SCs (dalits)comprise one third of the population andlive in one corner of the village and inmuch smaller houses some of which areof mud and straw. Most of the houses have

electric connections. Electricity powersall the tubewells in the fields and is usedin various types of small business.Palampur has two primary schools and

one high school. There is a primary healthcentre run by the government and oneprivate dispensary where the sick aretreated.

The descript ion above shows thatPalampur has fairly well-developedsystem of roads, transport, electricity,irrigation, schools and health centre.Compare these facilities with those in

your nearby village.

The story of Palampur, an imaginary

village, will take us through the differenttypes of production activities in the

village. In villages across India, farmingis the main production activity. The otherproduction activities, referred to as non-farm activities include smallmanufacturing, transport, shop-keeping,etc. We shall take a look at both thesetypes of activities, after learning a fewgeneral things about production.

The Story of Village PalampurThe Story of Village Palampur1

Chapter

1

Picture 1.1Scene of a village


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2 Economics

Organisation of Production

The aim of production is to produce thegoods and services that we want. Thereare four requirements for production ofgoods and services.

The first requirement is land, andother natural resources such as water,forests, minerals.

The second requirement is labour, i.e.people who will do the work. Someproduction activities require highlyeducated workers to perform thenecessary tasks. Other activities require

workers who can do manual work. Each

worker is providing the labour necessaryfor production.

The third requirement is physicalcapital, i.e. the variety of inputs requiredat every stage during production. Whatare the items that come under physicalcapital?

(a) Tools, machines, buildings: Tools andmachines range from very simple toolssuch as a farmers plough tosophisticated machines such as

generators, turbines, computers, etc.Tools, machines, buildings can be usedin production over many years, andare called fixed capital.

(b) Raw materials and money in hand:Production requires a variety of rawmaterials such as the yarn used bythe weaver and the clay used by thepotter. Also, some money is alwaysrequired during production to makepayments and buy other necessary

items. Raw materials and money inhand are called working capital.Unlike tools, machines and buildings,these are used up in production.

There is a fourth requirement too. Youwill need knowledge and enterprise to beable to put together land, labour andphysical capital and produce an outputeither to use yourself or to sell in themarket. This these days is called human

capital. We shall learn more abouthumancapital in the next chapter. In the picture, identify the land, labour

and fixed capital used in production.

Picture 1.2 A factory, with several labourersand heavy machines

Every production is organised bycombining land, labour, physical capitaland human capital, which are known as

factors of production. As we read throughthe story of Palampur, we will learn moreabout the first three factors of production.For convenience, we will refer to thephysical capital as the capital in thischapter.

Farming in Palampur

1. Land is fixed

Farming is the main production activity

in Palampur. 75 per cent of the peoplewho are working are dependent onfarming for their livelihood. They could

be farmers or farm labourers. The well-being of these people is closely related toproduction on the farms.

But remember that there is a basicconstraint in raising farm production.Land area under cultivation is practicallyfixed. Since 1960 in Palampur, there has

been no expansion in land area under


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cultivation. By then, some of thewastelands in the village had beenconverted to cultivable land. There exists

no further scope to increase farmproduction by bringing new land undercultivation.

larger areas of land more effectively. Thefirst few tubewells were installed by thegovernment. Soon, however, farmers

started setting up private tubewells. As aresult, by mid-1970s the entire cultivatedarea of 200 hectares (ha.) was irrigated.

The standard unit of measuring landis hectare, though in the villages youmay find land area being discussedin local units such as bigha, guinthaetc. One hectare equals the area of asquare with one side measuring 100metres. Can you compare the area ofa 1 hectare field with the area of yourschool ground?

2. Is there a way one can grow morefrom the same land?

In the kind of crops grown and facilitiesavailable, Palampur would resemble a

village of the western part of the state ofUttar Pradesh. All land is cultivated inPalampur. No land is left idle. During therainy season (kharif) farmers grow jowarand bajra. These plants are used as cattlefeed. It is followed by cultivation of potato

between October and December. In thewinter season (rabi), fields are sown withwheat. From the wheat produced, farmerskeep enough wheat for the familysconsumption and sell the surplus wheatat the market at Raiganj. A part of theland area is also devoted to sugarcane

which is harvested once every year.Sugarcane, in its raw form, or as jaggery,

is sold to traders in Shahpur.The main reason why farmers are able

to grow three different crops in a year inPalampur is due to the well-developedsystem of irrigation. Electricity came earlyto Palampur. Its major impact was totransform the system of irrigation.Persian wheels were, till then, used byfarmers to draw water from the wells andirrigate small fields. People saw that theelectric-run tubewells could irrigate much

Not all villages in India have suchhigh levels of irrigation. Apart fromthe riverine plains, coastal regions inour country are well-irrigated. Incontrast, plateau regions such as theDeccan plateau have low levels ofirrigation. Of the total cultivated area

in the country a little less than 40per cent is irrigated even today. Inthe remaining areas, farming islargely dependent on rainfall.

To grow more than one crop on a piece ofland during the year is known as multiplecropping. It is the most common way ofincreasing production on a given piece ofland. All farmers in Palampur growatleast two main crops; many are growing

potato as the third crop in the past fifteento twenty years.

Picture 1.3 Different crops

Lets Discuss

The following Table1.1 shows the land

under cultivation in India in units of

million hectares. Plot this on the graph

provided. What does the graph show?

Discuss in class.


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4 Economics

Cultivated Area

1950 1201960 130

1970 140

1980 140

1990 140

2000 140

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 20000

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Name of crop Month sown Month Harvested Source of irrigation (Rain,tanks, tubewells, canals, etc.)

Picture 1.4 Modern Farming Methods: HYV

seeds, chemical fertilizer etc.

Table 1.1: Cultivated area over the years

Is it important to increase the areaunder irrigation? Why?

You have read about the crops grownin Palampur. Fill the following tablebased on information on the cropsgrown in your region.

You have seen that one way ofincreasing production from the sameland is by multiple cropping. The other

way is to use modern farming methodsfor higher yield. Yield is measured ascrop produced on a given piece of landduring a single season. Till the mid-

1960s, the seeds used in cultivation

were traditional ones with relatively lowyields. Traditional seeds needed lessirrigation. Farmers used cow-dung and

other natural manure as fertilizers. Allthese were readily available with thefarmers who did not have to buy them.

The Green Revolution in the late 1960sintroduced the Indian farmer tocultivation of wheat and rice using high

yielding varieties (HYVs) of seeds.Compared to the traditional seeds, theHYV seeds promised to produce muchgreater amounts of grain on a single plant.

As a result, the same piece of land wouldnow produce far larger quantities of

foodgrains than was possible earlier. HYVseeds, however, needed plenty of waterand also chemical fertilizers and


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Modern farming methods require thefarmer to start with more cash than

before. Why?

Suggested Activity

During your field visit talk to somefarmers of your region. Find out:

1. What kind of farming methodsmodern or traditional or mixed dothe farmers use? Write a note.

2. What are the sources of irrigation?

3. How much of the cultivated land isirrigated? (very little/nearly half/majority/all)

4. From where do farmers obtain theinputs that they require?

3. Will the land sustain?

Land being a natural resource, it isnecessary to be very careful in its use.Scientific reports indicate that the modernfarming methods have overused thenatural resource base.

In many areas, Green Revolution isassociated with the loss of soil fertility

due to increased use of chemicalfertilizers. Also, continuous use ofgroundwater for tubewell irrigation hasreduced the water-table below theground. Environmental resources like soilfertility and groundwater are built up overmany years. Once destroyed it is verydifficult to restore them. We must takecare of the environment to ensure futuredevelopment of agriculture.

Suggested Activity

After reading the following reports fromnewspapers/magazines, write a letterto the Agriculture Minister in your own

words te ll ing him how the use ofchemical fertilizers can be harmful.

pesticides to produce best results. Higheryields were possible only from acombination of HYV seeds, irrigation,

chemical fertilisers, pesticides etc.Farmers of Punjab, Haryana andWestern Uttar Pradesh were the first totry out the modern farming method inIndia. The farmers in these regions setup tubewells for irrigation, and made useof HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers andpesticides in farming. Some of them

bought farm machinery like tractors andthreshers, which made ploughing andharvesting faster. They were rewarded

with high yields of wheat.

In Palampur, the yield of wheat grownfrom the traditional varieties was 1300 kgper hectare. With the HYV seeds, the yield

went up to 3200 kg per hectare. Therewas a large increase in the production ofwheat. Farmers now had greater amountsof surplus wheat to sell in the markets.

Lets Discuss

What is the difference betweenmultiple cropping and modern farming

method? The following table shows the

production of wheat and pulses inIndia after the Green revolution inunits of million tonnes. Plot this on agraph. Was the Green revolutionequally successful for both the crops?Discuss.

What is the working capital requiredby the farmer using modern farmingmethods?

Production Productionof Pulses of Wheat

1965 - 66 10 10

1970 - 71 12 24

1980 - 81 11 36

1990 - 91 14 55

2000 - 01 11 70

Table 1.2: Production of pulses and wheat

....Chemical fertilizers provideminerals which dissolve in water andare immediately available to plants.But these may not be retained in the


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6 Economics

Of the remaining families who ownland, 240 families cultivate small plots ofland less than 2 hectares in size.Cultivation of such plots doesnt bringadequate income to the farmer family.

In 1960, Gobind was a farmer with2.25 hectares of largely unirrigated land.

With the help of his three sons Gobindcultivated the land. Though they didntlive very comfortably, the family managed

to feed itself with a little bit of extraincome from one buffalo that the familypossessed. Some years after Gobindsdeath, this land was divided among histhree sons. Each one now has a plot ofland that is only 0.75 hectare in size. Even

with improved irrigation and modernfarming method, Gobinds sons are notable to make a living from their land. Theyhave to look for additional work duringpart of the year.

You can see the large number of smallplots scattered around the village in thepicture. These are cultivated by the smallfarmers. On the other hand, more thanhalf the area of the village is covered byplots that are quite large in size. InPalampur, there are 60 families of mediumand large farmers who cultivate morethan 2 hectares of land. A few of the largefarmers have land extending over 10hectares or more.

Picture 1.5 Palampur village: Distribution of cultivated land

soil for long. They may escape fromthe soil and pollute groundwater,rivers and lakes. Chemical fertilizerscan also kill bacteria and other micro-organisms in the soil. This meanssome time after their use, the soil will

be less fertile than everbefore....(Source: Down to Earth, NewDelhi)

.....The consumption of chemical

fertilizers in Punjab is highest in thecountry. The continuous use of chemicalfertilizers has led to degradation of soilhealth. Punjab farmers are now forcedto use more and more chemicalfertilizers and other inputs to achievethe same production level. This meanscost of cultivation is rising veryfast.....(Source: The Tribune,Chandigarh)

4. How is land distributed betweenthe farmers of Palampur?

You must have realised how importantland is for farming. Unfortunately, not allthe people engaged in agriculture havesufficient land for cultivation. InPalampur, about one third of the 450families are landless, i.e. 150 families,most of them dalits, have no land forcultivation.


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Lets Discuss

In the Picture 1.5, can you shade theland cultivated by the small farmers?

Why do so many families of farmers

cultivate such small plots of land? The distribution of farmers in India and

the amount of land they cultivate is givenin the following Graph 1.1. Discuss inthe classroom.

Number of FarmersCultivated Area

Small farmers Medium andLarge farmers

80%

20%

64%

36%

(Less than 2 ha.)

(More than 2 ha.)

Graph 1.1:Distribution of Farmers andCultivated Area

Lets Discuss

Would you agree that the distribution

of cultivated land is unequal in

Palampur? Do you find a similarsituation for India? Explain.

5. Who will provide the labour?

After land, labour is the next necessaryfactor for production. Farming requires a

great deal of hard work. Small farmers

along with their families cultivate theirown fields. Thus, they provide the labour

required for farming themselves. Medium

and large farmers hire farm labourers to

work on their fields.

Lets Discuss

Identify the work being done on the

field in the Pictures 1.6 and arrange

them in a proper sequence.

Farm labourers come either from

landless families or families cultivating

small plots of land. Unlike farmers, farm

labourers do not have a right over the

Picture 1.6 Work onthe fields: Wheat crop

ploughing by bullocks,

sowing, spraying ofinsecticides, cultivationby traditional method,cultivation by modernmethod, and cutting ofcrops.

Source:Agricultural statistics at glance 2003:Dept of agriculture and cooperation,Ministry of agriculture, Govt of India.


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8 Economics

crops grown on the land. Instead they arepaid wages by the farmer for whom they

work. Wages can be in cash or in kinde.g. crop. Sometimes labourers get mealsalso. Wages vary widely from region toregion, from crop to crop, from one farmactivity to another (like sowing andharvesting). There is also a wide variationin the duration of employment. A farm

Picture 1.7The conversation between Dala and Ramkali

labourer might be employed on a dailybasis, or for one particular farm activitylike harvesting, or for the whole year.

Dala is a landless farm labourer whoworks on daily wages in Palampur. Thismeans he must regularly look for work.

The minimum wages for a farm labourerset by the government is Rs 60 per day,

but Dala gets only Rs 3540. There is


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agrees to give Savita the loan at aninterest rate of 24 per cent for fourmonths, which is a very high interest rate.

Savita also has to promise to work on hisfield as a farm labourer during the harvestseason at Rs 35 per day. As you can tell,this wage is quite low. Savita knows thatshe will have to work very hard tocomplete harvesting on her own field, andthen work as a farm labourer for TejpalSingh. The harvest time is a very busytime. As a mother of three children shehas a lot of household responsibilities.Savita agrees to these tough conditionsas she knows getting a loan is difficultfor a small farmer

2. In contrast to the small farmers, themedium and large farmers have theirown savings from farming. They arethus able to arrange for the capitalneeded. How do these farmers havetheir own savings? You shall find theanswer in the next section.

The story so far....

We have read about the three factors ofproductionland, labour and capitaland how they are used in farming. Let usfill in the blanks given below.

Among the three factors of production,we found that labour is the mostabundant factor of production. There aremany people who are willing to work asfarm labourers in the villages, whereasthe opportunities of work are limited. They

be long to either land less families or

. They are paid low wages,and lead a difficult life.

In contrast to labour,is a scarce factor of production. Cultivatedland area is . Moreover,even the existing land is distributed

(equally/unequally)amongthe people engaged in farming. There area large number of small farmers whocultivate small plots of land and live in

heavy competition for work among thefarm labourers in Palampur, so peopleagree to work for lower wages. Dala

complains about his situation to Ramkali,who is another farm labourer.

Both Dala and Ramkali are among thepoorest people in the village.

Lets Discuss

Why are farm labourers like Dala andRamkali poor?

Gosaipur and Majauli are two villagesin North Bihar. Out of a total of 850households in the two villages, there

are more than 250 men who areemployed in rural Punjab and Haryanaor in Delhi, Mumbai, Surat, Hyderabador Nagpur. Such migration is commonin most villages across India. Why dopeople migrate? Can you describe(based on your imagination) the workthat the migrants of Gosaipur andMajauli might do at the place ofdestination?

6. The capital needed in farming

You have already seen that the modernfarming methods require a great deal ofcapital, so that the farmer now needsmore money than before.

1. Most small farmers have to borrowmoney to arrange for the capital. They

borrow from large farmers or thevillage moneylenders or the traderswho supply various inputs forcultivation. The rate of interest on

such loans is very high. They are putto great distress to repay the loan.

Savita is a small farmer. She plans tocultivate wheat on her 1 hectare of land.Besides seeds, fertilizers and pesticides,she needs cash to buy water and repairher farm instruments. She estimates thatthe working capital itself would cost aminimum of Rs 3,000. She doesnt havethe money, so she decides to borrow from

Tejpal Singh, a large farmer. Tejpal Singh


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10 Economics

conditions not much better than thelandless farm labourer. To make the

maximum use of the existing land,

farmers use and. Both these have led to

increase in production of crops.

Modern farming methods require agreat deal of . Small

farmers usually need to borrow money to

arrange for the capital, and are put togreat distress to repay the loan. Therefore,

capital too is a scarce factor of production,

particularly for the small farmers.

Though both land and capital arescarce, there is a basic difference between

the two factors of production.is a natural resource,

whereas is man-made. It

is possible to increase capital, whereasland is fixed. Therefore, it is very

important that we take good care of land

and other natural resources used infarming.

7. Sale of Surplus Farm ProductsLet us suppose that the farmers have

produced wheat on their lands using the

three factors of production. The wheat

is harvested and production is complete.

What do the farmers do with the wheat?

They retain a part of the wheat for the

familys consumption and sell the

surplus wheat. Small farmers like

Savita and Gobinds sons have little

surplus wheat because their total

production is small and from this asubstantial share is kept for their own

family needs. So it is the medium and

large farmers who supply wheat to the

market. In the Picture 1.1, you can see the

bullock cart streaming into the market

each carrying loads of wheat. The traders

at the market buy the wheat and sell it

further to shopkeepers in the towns and

cities.

Tejpal Singh, the large farmer, has asurplus of 350 quintals of wheat from all

his lands! He sells the surplus wheat at

the Raiganj market and has good earnings.What does Tejpal Singh do with his

earnings? Last year, Tejpal Singh had put

most of the money in his bank account.Later he used the savings for lending to

farmers like Savita who were in need of a

loan. He also used the savings to arrangefor the working capital for farming in the

next season. This year Tejpal Singh plans

to use his earnings to buy another tractor.Another tractor would increase his fixed

capital.Like Tejpal Singh, other large and

medium farmers sell the surplus farm

products. A part of the earnings is saved

and kept for buying capital for the nextseason. Thus, they are able to arrange

for the capital for farming from their own

savings. Some farmers might also use thesavings to buy cattle, trucks, or to set up

shops. As we shall see, these constitute

the capital for non-farm activities.

Non-Farm Activities in Palampur

We have learnt about farming as the main

production activity in Palampur. We shallnow take a look at some of the non-farm

production activities. Only 25 per cent

of the people working in Palampur areengaged in activities other than

agriculture.

1. Dairy the other common

activityDairy is a common activity in many families

of Palampur. People feed their buffalos onvarious kinds of grass and the jowarand

bajra that grows during the rainy season.

The milk is sold in Raiganj, the nearby largevillage. Two traders from Shahpur town

have set up collection cum chilling centres

at Raiganj from where the milk istransported to far away towns and cities.


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Optional Exercise

Let us take three farmers. Each has grown wheat on his field though theproduction is different (see Column 2). The consumption of wheat by eachfarmer family is the same (Column 3). The whole of surplus wheat this yearis used as capital for next years production. Also suppose, production istwice the capital used in production. Complete the tables.

Farmer 1

Production Consumption Surplus = Capital for theProduction next year Consumption

Year 1 100 40 60 60

Year 2 120 40Year 3 40

Farmer 2

Production Consumption Surplus Capital for thenext year

Year 1 80 40

Year 2 40

Year 3 40

Farmer 3

Production Consumption Surplus Capital for thenext year

Year 1 60 40

Year 2 40

Year 3 40

Lets Discuss

Compare the production of wheat by the three farmers over the years. What happens to Farmer 3 in Year 3? Can he continue production? What

will he have to do to continue production?

2. An example of small-scalemanufacturing in Palampur

At present, less than fi fty people areengaged in manufacturing in Palampur.

Unlike the manufacturing that takes

place in the big factories in the towns

and cities, manufacturing in Palampur

involves very simple production methods


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12 Economics

Mishrilal has purchased amechanical sugarcane crushingmachine run on electricity and hasset it up on his field. Sugarcanecrushing was earlier done with thehelp of bullocks, but people prefer todo it by machines these days.Mishrilal also buys sugarcane fromother farmers and processes it into

jaggery. The jaggery is then sold totraders at Shahpur. In the process,Mishrilal makes a small profit.

and are done on a small scale. They arecarried out mostly at home or in the fields

with the help of family labour. Rarely are

labourers hired.

Lets Discuss

What capital did Mishrilal need to setup his jaggery manufacturing unit?

Who provides the labour in this case?

Can you guess why Mishrilal is unableto increase his profit?

Could you think of any reasons whenhe might face a loss?

Why does Mishrilal sell his jaggery totraders in Shahpur and not in his

village?

3. The shopkeepers of Palampur

People involved in trade (exchange of

goods) are not many in Palampur. Thetraders of Palampur are shopkeepers who

buy various goods from wholesale

markets in the cities and sell them inthe village. You will see small general

stores in the village selling a wide range

of items like rice, wheat, sugar, tea, oil,biscui ts , soap, toothpaste , batteries,

candles, notebooks, pen, pencil, evensome cloth. A few of the families whosehouses are close to the bus stand haveused a part of the space to open small

shops. They sell eatables.

Lets Discuss

In what ways is Kareems capital andlabour different from Mishrilals?

Why didnt someone start a computercentre earlier? Discuss the possiblereasons.

4. Transport: a fast developing

sectorThere are variety of vehicles on the roadconnecting Palampur to Raiganj.Rickshawallahs, tongawallahs, jeep,tractor, truck drivers and people drivingthe traditional bullock cart and bogey arepeople in the transport services. Theyferry people and goods from one place toanother, and in return get paid for it. Thenumber of people involved in transporthas grown over the last several years.

Kareem has opened a computer classcentre in the village. In recent yearsa large number of students have beenattending college in Shahpur town.Kareem found that a number ofstudents from the village are alsoattending computer classes in thetown. There were two women in the

village who had a degree in computerapplications. He decided to employthem. He bought computers and setup the classes in the front room oftheir house overlooking the market.High school students have started

attending them in good numbers.

Kishora is a farm labourer. Like othersuch labourers, Kishora found itdifficult to meet his familys needs fromthe wages that he received. A few years

back Kishora took a loan from thebank. This was under a governmentprogramme which was giving cheaploans to poor landless households.Kishora bought a buffalo with thismoney. He now sells the buffalos milk.


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Lets Discuss

What is Kishoras fixed capital?

What do you think would be hisworking capital?

In how many production activities is

Kishora involved?

Would you say that Kishora has

benefitted from better roads in

Palampur?

Further, he has attached a wooden cartto his buffalo and uses it to transport

various items. Once a week, he goes to

the river Ganga to bring back clay forthe potter. Or sometimes he goes toShahpur with a load of jaggery or othercommodities. Every month he gets some

work in transport. As a result, Kishorais able to earn more than what he usedto do some years back.

Summary

Farming is the main production activity in the village. Over the years there have

been many important changes in the way farming is practiced. These have allowed

the farmers to produce more crops from the same amount of land. This is an

important achievement, since land is fixed and scarce. But in raising production

a great deal of pressure has been put on land and other natural resources.

The new ways of farming need less land, but much more of capital. The medium

and large farmers are able to use their own savings from production to arrange

for capital during the next season. On the other hand, the small farmers who

constitute about 80 per cent of total farmers in India, find it difficult to obtain

capital. Because of the small size of their plots, their production is not enough.

The lack of surplus means that they are unable to obtain capital from their own

savings, and have to borrow. Besides the debt, many of the small farmers have

to do additional work as farm labourers to feed themselves and their families.Labour being the most abundant factor of production, it would be ideal if

new ways of farming used much more labour. Unfortunately, such a thing has

not happened. The use of labour on farms is limited. The labour, looking for

opportunities is thus migrating to neighbouring villages, towns and cities. Some

labour has entered the non-farm sector in the village.

At present, the non-farm sector in the village is not very large. Out of every

100 workers in the rural areas in India, only 24 are engaged in non-farm activities.

Though there is a variety of non-farm activities in the villages (we have only

seen a few examples), the number of people employed in each is quite small.

In the future, one would like to see more non-farm production activities in the

village. Unlike farming, non-farm activities require little land. People with some

amount of capital can set up non-farm activities. How does one obtain this capital?

One can either use his own savings, but more often has to take a loan. It is

important that loan be available at low rate of interest so that even people without

savings can start some non-farm activity. Another thing which is essential for

expansion of non-farm activities is to have markets where the goods and services

produced can be sold. In Palampur, we saw the neighbouring villages, towns and

cities provide the markets for milk, jaggery, wheat, etc. As more villages get

connected to towns and cities through good roads, transport and telephone, it is

possible that the opportunities for non-farm activities production in the village

would increase in the coming years.


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14 Economics

Exercises

1. Every village in India is surveyed once is ten years during the Census andsome of details are presented in the following format. Fill up the following basedon information on Palampur.a. LOCATION:b. TOTAL AREA OF THE VILLAGE:

c. LAND USE (in hectares):

d. FACILITIES:

2. Modern farming methods require more inputs which are manufactured in

industry. Do you agree?

3. How did the spread of electricity help farmers in Palampur?

4. Is it important to increase the area under irrigation? Why?

5. Construct a table on the distribution of land among the 450 families ofPalampur.

6. Why are the wages for farm labourers in Palampur less than minimum wages?

7. In your region, talk to two labourers. Choose either farm labourers or labourersworking at construction sites. What wages do they get? Are they paid in cash

or kind? Do they get work regularly? Are they in debt?

8. What are the different ways of increasing production on the same piece ofland? Use examples to explain.

9. Describe the work of a farmer with 1 hectare of land.

10. How do the medium and large farmers obtain capital for farming? How is it

different from the small farmers?

11. On what terms did Savita get a loan from Tajpal Singh? Would Savitas conditionbe different if she could get a loan from the bank at a low rate of interest?

12. Talk to some old residents in your region and write a short report on the changesin irrigation and changes in production methods during the last 30 years.(Optional)

Cultivated Land Land not available for cultivation

Irrigated Unirrigated(Area covering dwellings, roads,

ponds, grazing ground)

26 hectares

Educational

Medical

Market

Electricity Supply

Communication

Nearest Town


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13. What are the non-farm production activities taking place in your region? Makea short list.

14. What can be done so that more non-farm production activities can be started

in villages?

References

ETIENNE, GILBERT. 1985. Rural Development in Asia: Meetings with Peasants, SagePublications, New Delhi.

ETIENNE, GILBERT. 1988. Food and Poverty: Indias half won battle, Sage Publications,New Delhi.

RAJ, K.N. 1991. Village India and its Political Economy in C.T. Kurien (Edited) Economy,Society and Development, Sage Publications.

THORNER, DANIELAND ALICE THORNER. 1962. Land and Labour in India, Asia Publishing

House, Bombay.

Documents

Class9 Economics Unit01 NCERT TextBook English Edition