CBSE Class 9 Social Science The Story of Village Palampur Assignment

The Story of Village Palampur

Question : Modern farming methods require more inputs which are manufactured in industry. Do you agree?
Answer : Traditional farming methods involve the use of relatively low-yielding seeds, which require less water for irrigation. Farmers following the traditional methods use cow dung and other natural manure as fertilisers. All these elements are readily available with the farmers. This makes them less dependent on
industrial output.
Modern farming methods, on the other hand, involve the use of high-yielding variety seeds. These seeds require a combination of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, agricultural implements like tractors, and proper irrigation facilities like electric tube wells to produce the best results. All these elements are manufactured in industries. Hence, it would be right to say that modern farming methods make use of a greater number of industrial outputs as compared to traditional farming methods.

Question : How did the spread of electricity help farmers in Palampur?
Answer :  The spread of electricity in Palampur transformed the system of irrigation in the village. Persian wheels gave way to electric-run tube wells, which reduced the dependence of the farmers upon rainfall, and enabled larger areas of land to be irrigated. By mid-1970s, the entire cultivated area of 200 hectares was irrigated. This improvement in irrigation allowed farmers to grow three different crops in a year, thereby ensuring that the cultivable land was being used for producing the maximum possible output.

Question : Is it important to increase the area under irrigation? Why?
Answer : Monsoons are by their very nature erratic and variable. So, farming cannot entirely depend upon rains. A large portion of the cultivable land in India is not well irrigated and is dependent entirely upon rains. As a result, when rains are late or are inadequate, farmers incur much loss. The loss is more acutely experienced by the small farmers. Failure of rain means failure of crops and a total waste of efforts and resources, both for the individual farmers and for the economy. To avoid such situations, it is important for the entire cultivable area of the country to be brought under the protective shield of proper irrigation facilities. A well-irrigated land produces greater output. The constant availability of water for irrigation provides a sense of stability to the farmer, and also encourages him to practise newer farming methods and patterns to maximise the productivity from his land.

Question : Why are the wages for farm labourers in Palampur less than minimum wages?
Answer : Though the minimum wage fixed by the government for a farm labourer is Rs 60 per day, farm labourers in Palampur get paid much less, about 35 to 40 rupees a day. The reason for this is the competition for work among the agricultural labourers in the village. Knowing that supply is much more than the demand, they themselves agree to work for wages that are lower than minimum wages. The large farmers too exploit this condition of excess supply, and force labourers to work for low wages. The use of modern agricultural implements like tractors, threshers and harvesters also reduces the amount of agricultural labour required. This further intensifies the competition among the labourers looking for jobs.

Question : Describe the work of a farmer with 1 hectare of land.
Answer : The situation of a farmer with 1 hectare of land is truly problematic. Since the land area cultivated by him is small, the output is generally low. The produce is barely enough for the survival of his family. To begin work on his farm, he needs to buy seeds and fertilisers. For these, he needs sufficient capital, which is provided to him by the large farmers, traders and moneylenders as loan. The loan comes with a high rate ofinterest and often requires him to work in the lender's fields. He works on his field along with his family members. Even after all their efforts of ploughing and sowing seeds, the output depends upon the availability or non-availability of water for irrigation. If irrigation facilities are not available, then the output is more or less dependent upon rainfall, which is uncertain and erratic. Thus, even the low output is not something he can be certain about. Hence, in order to make ends meet, and to repay his loans, he and his family members have to work as farm labourers.
After harvest, there is little or no surplus left as almost all the produce is either used for his needs or for repaying his lenders. The lack of savings prevents him from adopting better farming practises and improving the conditions on his farm and in his house. As he is left with almost no working capital, his situation at the end of the day is still the same. He is still in need of money to start working on his farm, and for this, he takes more loans. Thus, he remains in the vicious circle of loans.

Question : How do the medium and large farmers obtain capital for farming? How is it different from the small farmers?
Answer : Medium and large farmers retain a part of their produce and sell the surplus in the market. This provides them with the required capital for farming. Most of them even use these earnings to provide loans to small farmers. By charging high rates of interest on these loans, they succeed in furthering their earnings. Thus, medium and large farmers have ready capital with them from one agricultural season to the next. The situation of small farmers is in stark contrast. They begin an agricultural season with no working capital and end the season on more or less the same note. To begin working on their farms, they take loans at high rates of interest. Due to the small sizes of their farms, their total production is small. Their produce is kept for their needs or for repaying their lenders. As a result, they have no surplus to sell in the market, and thus, have no savings.

Question : On what terms did Savita get a loan from Tejpal Singh? Would Savita's condition be different if she could get a loan from the bank at a low rate of interest?
Answer : Savita required money for buying seeds, fertilisers and pesticides, and water for irrigation. She also needed money for repairing her farm instruments. So, she decided to borrow money from Tejpal Singh, a large farmer in her village. Tejpal Singh agreed to give the loan of Rs. 3000 at an interest rate of 24 per cent for four months. He also got her to agree to work on his field during the harvest season for Rs. 35 a day. Knowing that it was difficult for a small farmer like herself to get a loan, she agreed to these tough conditions.
If she could get a loan from a bank, then her situation would definitely have been different. First of all, she would have got the loan at a reasonable rate of interest. Secondly, she would have been able to focus her entire attention on her farm. She would also have been able to devote more time to the needs of her family members, especially those of her three children.

Question : What can be done so that more non-farm production activities can be started in villages?
Answer : Three things that need to be done to encourage non-farm production activities in villages:
(i) The government should set up schemes whereby landless labourers and small farmers are able to get cheap loans to start small individual/community businesses.
(ii) In addition to financial assistance, the government should set up rural workshops to enable the villagers to build on their skill levels.
(iii) The government should also work towards improving the infrastructure of villages so that the rural parts of the country are well connected to the urban areas

• Village Palampur: Palampur is a small village having about 450 families. It is 3 km away from Raiganj — a big village. Shahpur is the nearest town to the village.
• Main Production Activities: Farming is the main production activity in the village Palampur.

¶ Farming is the main production activity in the villages.
¶ 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. In the future, one would like to see more non-farm production activities in the villages.
¶ Unlike farming, non-farm activities require little land. People with some amount of capital can set up non-farm activities and reduce the pressure on land.

THE GREEN REVOLUTION IN PUNJAB

Write the answers for the following VERY IMPORTANT Question UESTIONS in your note-book: 1,3,5,9,15,16,18 and 19 SCHOLAR!!!Question . Describe the village Palampur.( Write in your notebook)

Question . Name the four requirements needed for the production. Explain OR Name the factors of production. 
Answer :
1. The first requirement is land, and other natural resources such as water, forests, minerals.
2. The second requirement is labour that is people who will do the work.
3. The third requirement is physical capital, i.e., the variety of inputs required at every state during production. There are 2 types of Physical Capital- (i) Fixed (ii) Working.
4. Human Capital : The knowledge and enterprise that we need to put together land, labour and physical capital to produce an output is human Capital.

Question. Differentiate between Fixed and Working Capital?
OR What is Physical Capital?What are the different types? Explain each type. 

Question. What is the main production activity in Palampur? Mention its features?
Answer :
1. Farming is the main production activity in Palampur.
2. 75% of the people who are working are dependant on farming for their livelihood.
3. They could be farmers or farm labourers. The well-being of these people is closely related to production on the farms.

Question. What are the different ways of increasing production on the same piece of land? Use examples to explain. OR How was multiple cropping practiced in Pallampur ? Explain 
Answer :
1. 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, as electricity came early to Palampur.
2.To grow more than one crop on a piece of land during the year is known as multiple cropping. It is the most common way of increasing production on a given piece of land.
3. For example in Palampur during the rainy season (kharif) farmers grow jowar and bajra. These plants are used as cattle feed. It is followed by cultivation of potato between October and December.
4. In the winter season (rabi), fields are sown with wheat. From the wheat produced, farmers keep enough wheat for the family’s consumption and sell the surplus wheat at the market at Raiganj.
5. A part of the land 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.

Question. Farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh were rewarded with high yields of wheat. Why?
Answer :
1. Higher yields were possible only from a combination of HYV seeds, irrigation, chemical fertilizers, pesticides etc. HYV seeds promised to produce much greater amounts of grain on a single plant.
2. HYV seeds, however, needed plenty of water and also chemical fertilizers and pesticides to produce best results.
2. Farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh were the first to try out the modern farming method in India.
3. The farmers in these regions set up tubewells for irrigation, and made use of HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers and pesticides in farming. 5. Some of them bought farm machinery like tractors and threshers, which made ploughing and harvesting faster.

Question. What are the main constrains in raising farm production? OR What are the major constraints in raising farm production in Palampur since 1960?
Answer :
1. Land area under cultivation is practically fixed.
2. Since 1960 in Palampur, there has been no expansion in land area under cultivation.
3. Some of the wastelands in the village had been converted into cultivable land. So, there exists no further scope to increase farm production by bringing new land under cultivation.

Question. Why are farmers able to grow three different crops in a year in Palampur? 
Answer :
1. The main reason why farmers are able to grow three different crops in a year in Palampur is due to well-developed system of irrigation.
2. Electricity came early to Palampur.
3. Persian wheels were till then used by farmers to draw water from the wells and irrigate small fields, but people saw that the electric run tube wells could irrigate much larger areas of land more effectively.
4. The first few tube wells were installed by the government.

Question. What is difference between multiple cropping and modern farming method? 

Question. What was the traditional type of seeds used in cultivation that existed till mid -1960s and how was it different from the Green Revolution in the late 1960s?
Answer :
1. Till the mid-1960s, the seeds used in cultivation were traditional ones with relatively low yields
2. Traditional seeds needed less irrigation. Farmers used cow dung and other natural manure as fertilizers.
3. All these were readily available with the farmers who did not have to buy them.
4. The Green Revolution in the late 1960s introduced the Indian farmer to cultivation of wheat and rice using High Yielding Varieties (HYVs) of seeds
5. 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, however, needed plenty of water.

Question. “Scientific reports indicate that the modern farming methods have over used the natural resource base.” Justify the statement.
Answer :
1. In many areas, Green Revolution is associated with the loss of soil fertility due to increased use of chemical fertilizers, which will kill bacteria and other micro-organisms in the soil.
2. These chemicals may escape from the soil and pollute groundwater, rivers and lakes.
3. The continuous use of ground water for tube well irrigation has reduced the water table below the ground.
4. Environmental resources like soil fertility and groundwater are built up over many years. Once destroyed it is very difficult to restore them.
5. We must take care of the environment to ensure future development of agriculture.

Question. Who provides labour for small, medium and large farmers?
Answer :
1. Small farmers along with their families cultivate their own fields. Thus they provide the labour required for farming.
2. Medium and large farmers hire farm labourers to work on their fields.
3. Farm labourers come either from landless families or families cultivating small plots of land.

Question. Why are the wages for farm labourers less than minimum wages? Explain with an example.
Answer :
1. Farm labourers come either from landless families or families cultivating small plots of land.
2. They do not have a right over the crops grown on the land. Instead they are paid wages by the farmer for whom they work.
3. Wages can be in cash or in kind e.g. crop. Sometimes labourers get meals also. Wages vary widely from region to region, from crop to crop, from one farm activity to another (like sowing and harvesting).
4. There is also a wide variation in the duration of employment. A farm labourer might be employed on a daily basis, or for one particular farm activity like harvesting, or for the whole year. For example in Palampur, landless farm labourer who works on daily wages, must regularly look for work.
5. The minimum wages for a farm labourer set by the government is Rs 60 per day, but they get only Rs 35–40. There is heavy competition for work among the farm labourers in Palampur, so people agree to work for lower wages.

Question. How do the medium and large farmers obtain capital for farming? How is it different from the small farmers? 
Answer :
1. In contrast to the small farmers, the medium and large farmers have their own savings from farming. They are thus able to arrange for the capital needed.
2. Large and medium farmers sell the surplus farm products. A part of the earnings is saved and kept for buying capital for the next season.
3. Thus, they are able to arrange for the capital for farming from their own savings. Some farmers might also use the savings to buy cattle, trucks, or to set up shops.
4. 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.
5. The rate of interest on such loans is very high. They are put to great distress to repay the loan.

Question. What is the working capital required by the farmer using modern farming methods? OR Modern farming methods require the farmer to start with more cash than before. Why?
Answer :
1. Raw materials and money in hand are called working capital. Unlike tools, machines and buildings, these are used up in production.
2. The farmers have to set up tubewells for irrigation, and use HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers and pesticides in farming. They also have to purchase sophisticated machines such as generators, tractors, harvesters, threshers ,computers, etc.
3. Therefore some money is always required during production to make payments and buy other necessary items.

Question. “Transport is a fast developing sector in Palampur”. Explain .
OR Describe the different types of transport services existing in Palampur. 
Question. How many people are engaged in the manufacturing sector in Palampur? What are their peculiarities?
Answer :
1. Less than fifty people are engaged in manufacturing in Palampur.
2. Unlike the manufacturing that takes place in the big factories in the towns and cities, manufacturing in Palampur involves very simple production methods and are done on a small scale.
3. They are carried out mostly at home or in the fields with the help of family labour. Rarely do they hire labourers.

Question. Explain the problems that rise due to unequal distribution of land. 
Answer :
1. The landless farmers have no land and hence have to look for work throughout the year and dependent on the medium and large farmers. They face seasonal unemployment.
2. Small farmers are able to meet the family needs but face problems when the land gets distributed among the sons.
3. The medium and large farmers own large pieces of land and employ small farmers and the landless farmers to work for them. But they are exploited.

Question :  Which is the main production activity in villages across India?
Answer :  Farming is the main production activity in villages across India.

Question :  Name any two non-farming activities in Palampur village.
Answer : Small-scale manufacturing , dairy farming , transport , services etc.

Question :  Who owns the majority of land in Palampur village?
Answer :  80 upper caste families own the majority of land in Palampur village.

Question :  What educational facilities are available in Palampur village?
Answer :  Palampur has two primary schools and one high school.

Question :  What health facilities are available in Palampur village?
Answer : Palampur has a primary health centre run by the government and one private dispensary where sick are treated.

Question :  What is the main aim of production?
Answer : The main aim of production is to produce goods and services required by the people.

Question :  What is marketable surplus?
Answer : The difference between the quantity of output that a farmer produces during a year and the quantity that he keeps with himself for his own and family’s consumption is called marketable surplus.

Question :  Who are small farmers?
Answer : Farmers who own less than 2 hectares of land.

Question :  Who are medium farmers?
Answer : Farmers who own more than 2 hectares and less than 10 hectares of land.

Question :  Who are large farmers?
Answer : Farmers who own more than 10 hectares of land.

Question :  What is the basic constraint in raising farm production?
Answer : Land area under cultivation is the basic constraint in raising farm production because it is fixed and scarce.

Question :  What is the minimum wage rate for a farm labourer?
Answer : The minimum wages for a farm labourer set by government is Rs 60 per day.

Question :  Which is the most abundant factor of production?
Answer : Labour is the most abundant factor of production.

Question :  What do medium and large farmers do with their earnings from the surplus farm produce?
Answer : A part of the earnings from surplus farm produce is saved e kept for buying capital for the next season. Another part may be utilized for landing to small farmers who require loan.

Question : Which changes have taken place in the way of farming practiced in India?
Answer : a) Traditional seeds have been replaced by HYVs

 SUMMARY OF THE LESSON:-

• Farming is the main production activity in the villages.
• 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. In the future, one would like to see more non-farm production activities in the villages.
• Unlike farming, non-farm activities require little land. People with some amount of capital can set up non-farm activities and reduce the pressure on land.

Question . Name the four requirements needed for the production. Explain OR Name the factors of production. 
Answer :
1. The first requirement is land, and other natural resources such as water, forests, minerals.
2. The second requirement is labour that is people who will do the work.
3. The third requirement is physical capital, i.e., the variety of inputs required at every state during production. There are 2 types of Physical Capital- (i) Fixed (ii) Working.
4. Human Capital : The knowledge and enterprise that we need to put together land, labour and physical capital to produce an output is human Capital.

Question. Differentiate between Fixed and Working Capital?
OR What is Physical Capital?What are the different types? Explain each type. 
Answer :

Question. What is the main production activity in Palampur? Mention its features?
Answer :
1. Farming is the main production activity in Palampur.
2. 75% of the people who are working are dependant on farming for their livelihood.
3. They could be farmers or farm labourers. The well-being of these people is closely related to production on the farms.

Question. What are the different ways of increasing production on the same piece of land? Use examples to explain. OR How was multiple cropping practiced in Pallampur ? Explain 
Answer :
1. 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, as electricity came early to Palampur.
2.To grow more than one crop on a piece of land during the year is known as multiple cropping. It is the most common way of increasing production on a given piece of land.
3. For example in Palampur during the rainy season (kharif) farmers grow jowar and bajra. These plants are used as cattle feed. It is followed by cultivation of potato between October and December.
4. In the winter season (rabi), fields are sown with wheat. From the wheat produced, farmers keep enough wheat for the family’s consumption and sell the surplus wheat at the market at Raiganj.
5. A part of the land 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.

Question. Farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh were rewarded with high yields of wheat. Why?
Answer :
1. Higher yields were possible only from a combination of HYV seeds, irrigation, chemical fertilizers, pesticides etc. HYV seeds promised to produce much greater amounts of grain on a single plant.
2. HYV seeds, however, needed plenty of water and also chemical fertilizers and pesticides to produce best results.
2. Farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh were the first to try out the modern farming method in India.
3. The farmers in these regions set up tubewells for irrigation, and made use of HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers and pesticides in farming. 5. Some of them bought farm machinery like tractors and threshers, which made ploughing and harvesting faster.

Question. What are the main constrains in raising farm production? OR What are the major constraints in raising farm production in Palampur since 1960?
Answer :
1. Land area under cultivation is practically fixed.
2. Since 1960 in Palampur, there has been no expansion in land area under cultivation.
3. Some of the wastelands in the village had been converted into cultivable land. So, there exists no further scope to increase farm production by bringing new land under cultivation.

Question. Why are farmers able to grow three different crops in a year in Palampur? 
Answer :
1. The main reason why farmers are able to grow three different crops in a year in Palampur is due to well-developed system of irrigation.
2. Electricity came early to Palampur.
3. Persian wheels were till then used by farmers to draw water from the wells and irrigate small fields, but people saw that the electric run tube wells could irrigate much larger areas of land more effectively.
4. The first few tube wells were installed by the government.

Question. What is difference between multiple cropping and modern farming method? 
Answer :

Question. What was the traditional type of seeds used in cultivation that existed till mid -1960s and how was it different from the Green Revolution in the late 1960s?
Answer :
1. Till the mid-1960s, the seeds used in cultivation were traditional ones with relatively low yields
2. Traditional seeds needed less irrigation. Farmers used cow dung and other natural manure as fertilizers.
3. All these were readily available with the farmers who did not have to buy them.
4. The Green Revolution in the late 1960s introduced the Indian farmer to cultivation of wheat and rice using High Yielding Varieties (HYVs) of seeds
5. 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, however, needed plenty of water.

Question. “Scientific reports indicate that the modern farming methods have over used the natural resource base.” Justify the statement.
Answer :
1. In many areas, Green Revolution is associated with the loss of soil fertility due to increased use of chemical fertilizers, which will kill bacteria and other micro-organisms in the soil.
2. These chemicals may escape from the soil and pollute groundwater, rivers and lakes.
3. The continuous use of ground water for tube well irrigation has reduced the water table below the ground.
4. Environmental resources like soil fertility and groundwater are built up over many years. Once destroyed it is very difficult to restore them.
5. We must take care of the environment to ensure future development of agriculture.

Question. Who provides labour for small, medium and large farmers?
Answer :
1. Small farmers along with their families cultivate their own fields. Thus they provide the labour required for farming.
2. Medium and large farmers hire farm labourers to work on their fields.
3. Farm labourers come either from landless families or families cultivating small plots of land.

Question. Why are the wages for farm labourers less than minimum wages? Explain with an example.
Answer :
1. Farm labourers come either from landless families or families cultivating small plots of land.
2. They do not have a right over the crops grown on the land. Instead they are paid wages by the farmer for whom they work.
3. Wages can be in cash or in kind e.g. crop. Sometimes labourers get meals also. Wages vary widely from region to region, from crop to crop, from one farm activity to another (like sowing and harvesting).
4. There is also a wide variation in the duration of employment. A farm labourer might be employed on a daily basis, or for one particular farm activity like harvesting, or for the whole year. For example in Palampur, landless farm labourer who works on daily wages, must regularly look for work.
5. The minimum wages for a farm labourer set by the government is Rs 60 per day, but they get only Rs 35–40. There is heavy competition for work among the farm labourers in Palampur, so people agree to work for lower wages.

Question. How do the medium and large farmers obtain capital for farming? How is it different from the small farmers? 
Answer :
1. In contrast to the small farmers, the medium and large farmers have their own savings from farming. They are thus able to arrange for the capital needed.
2. Large and medium farmers sell the surplus farm products. A part of the earnings is saved and kept for buying capital for the next season.
3. Thus, they are able to arrange for the capital for farming from their own savings. Some farmers might also use the savings to buy cattle, trucks, or to set up shops.
4. 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.
5. The rate of interest on such loans is very high. They are put to great distress to repay the loan.

Question. What is the working capital required by the farmer using modern farming methods? OR Modern farming methods require the farmer to start with more cash than before. Why?
Answer :
1. Raw materials and money in hand are called working capital. Unlike tools, machines and buildings, these are used up in production.
2. The farmers have to set up tubewells for irrigation, and use HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers and pesticides in farming. They also have to purchase sophisticated machines such as generators, tractors, harvesters, threshers ,computers, etc.
3. Therefore some money is always required during production to make payments and buy other necessary items.

Question. “Transport is a fast developing sector in Palampur”. Explain .
OR Describe the different types of transport services existing in Palampur. 
Question. How many people are engaged in the manufacturing sector in Palampur? What are their peculiarities?
Answer :
1. Less than fifty people are engaged in manufacturing in Palampur.
2. Unlike the manufacturing that takes place in the big factories in the towns and cities, manufacturing in Palampur involves very simple production methods and are done on a small scale.
3. They are carried out mostly at home or in the fields with the help of family labour. Rarely do they hire labourers.

Question. Explain the problems that rise due to unequal distribution of land. 
Answer :
1. The landless farmers have no land and hence have to look for work throughout the year and dependent on the medium and large farmers. They face seasonal unemployment.
2. Small farmers are able to meet the family needs but face problems when the land gets distributed among the sons.
3. The medium and large farmers own large pieces of land and employ small farmers and the landless farmers to work for them. But they are exploited.