Solution of Chapter 1. The Story of Village Palampur (NCERT - Economics Book)

The following table 1.1 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 the class.

Table 1.1: Cultivated area over the years

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

You have read about the crops grown in Palampur. Fill the following table based on information on the crops grown in your region.

What is the difference between multiple cropping and modern farming methods?

The following table shows the production of wheat and pulses in India after the Green Revolution in units of million tones. Plot this on a graph. Was the Green Revolution equally successful for both the crops? Discuss.

Production of pulses and wheat

What is the working capital required by the farmer using modern farming methods?

Modern farming methods require the farmer to start with more cash than before. Why?

In the picture 1.5 given below, can you shade the land 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 given in the following graph. Discuss in the class-room.

Would you agree that the distribution of cultivated land is unequal in Palampur? Do you find a similar situation for India? Explain.

Identify the work being done on the field in the pictures (given below) and arrange them in a proper sequence.

1. Cutting of crops

2. Spraying of insecticides

3. Cultivation by traditional method

4. Ploughing the field by bullock.

5. Sowing

6. Cultivation by modern method.

Why are farm labourers like Dala and Ramkali poor?

Gosaipur and Majauli are two villages in north Bihar. Out of a total of 850 households in the two villages, there are more than 250 men, who are employed in rural Punjab and Haryana or in Delhi, Mumbai, Surat, Hyderabad or Nagpur. Such migration is common in most villages across India. Why do people migrate? Can you describe (based on your imagination) the work that the migrants of Gosaipur and Majauli might do at the place of destination.

Let us take three farmers. Each has grown wheat on his field, though the production is different (see Column 2). The consumption of wheat by each farmer family is the same (Column 3). The whole of surplus of wheat this year is used as capital for next year's production. Also suppose production is twice the capital used in production.

Complete the tables.

Farmer 1

Farmer 2

Farmer 3

Compare the production of wheat by the three farmers over 3 years.

What happens to farmer-3 in year 3? Can he continue production? What will he have to do to continue production?

Read the following descriptions and answer the questions that follow:

Mishrilal has purchased a mechanical sugarcane crushing machine run on electricity and has set it up on his field. Sugarcane crushing was earlier done with the help of bullocks but people prefer to do it by machines these days. Mishrilal also buys sugarcane from other farmers and processes it into jaggery. The jaggery is then sold to traders at Shahpur. In the process, Mishrilal makes a small profit.

1) What capital did Mishrilal need to set up his jaggery manufacturing unit?

2) Who provides the labour in this case?

3) Can you guess why Mishrilal is unable to increase his profit?

4) Could you think of any reasons when he might face a loss?

5) Why does Mishrilal sell his jaggery to traders in Shahpur and not in his village?

Read the following descriptions and answer the questions that follow:

Kareem has opened a computer class centre in the village. In recent years, a large number of students have been attending college in Shahpur town. Kareem found that a number of students from the village are also attending computer classes in the town. There were two women in the village having a degree in computer applications. He decided to employ them. He bought computers and set up the classes in the front room of their house over looking the market. High class students have started attending them in good numbers.

1) In what ways is Kareem's capital and labour different from Mishrilal’s?

2) Why didn't someone start a computer centre earlier? Discuss the possible reasons.

Read the following descriptions and answer the questions that follow:

Kishora is a farm labourer. Like other such labourers, Kishora found it difficult to meet his family's needs from the wages that he received. A few years back, Kishora took a loan from the bank. This was under a government programme which was giving cheap loans to poor landless households. Kishora bought a buffalo with this money. He now sells the buffalo's milk. Further he has attached a wooden cart to his buffalo and uses it to transport various items. Once a week he goes to the river Ganga to bring back clay for the potter. Or sometimes he goes to Shahpur with a load of jaggery or other commodities. Every month he gets some work in transport. As a result, Kishora is able to earn more than what he used to do some years back.

1) What is Kishora's fixed capital?

2) What do you think would be his working capital?

3) In how many production activities is Kishora involved?

4). Would you say that Kishora has benefited from better roads in Palampur ?

Every village in India is surveyed once in ten years during the Census some of details are presented in the following format. Fill up the following based on information on Palampur.

(a) Location

(b) Total Area of the Village.

(c) Land Use (In Hectares)

(d) FACILITIES

Modern farming methods require Communication more inputs which are manufactured in Nearest Town industry. Do you agree?

How did the spread of electricity help farmers in Palampur?

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

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

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

In your region, talk to two labourers. Choose either farm labourers or labourers working at construction sites. What wages do they get? Are they paid in cash or kind? Do they get work regularly? Are they in debt?

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

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

How do the medium and large farmers obtain capital for farming? How is it different from the Small farmers?

On what terms did Savita get a loan from Tejpal Singh? Would Savita's condition would be different if she could get a loan from the bank at a low rate of interest?

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

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

What can be done so that more non-farm production activities can be started in villages?