AMBER INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, THANE

2023-24
ASSIGNMENT

GRADE: IX ECONOMICS SOCIAL SCIENCE

Chapter 1. The Story of Village Palampur

QI Choose the correct option for the following

1. Who provides capital to the small farmers at high rate of interest?
(A) Moneylenders
(B) Banks
(C) Politicians
(D) Friends
Ans. Option (A) is correct.

2. What is the prime requirement for production of goods and services?

(A) Land
(B) Willingness to work
(C) Market
(D) Aim
Ans. Option (A) is correct.

3. Which of these Indian states were the first to tryout the modern farming?
(A) Himachal Pradesh
(B) Kerala
(C) Assam
(D) Western Uttar Pradesh
Ans. Option (D) is correct.

4. How did the introduction of the Green Revolution affect the cost of cultivation?
(A) It made fertilizers economical
(B) The cost of cultivation went up
(C) It lowered the interest rates on loans
(D) It did not affect the cost at all.
Ans. Option (B) is correct.

5. Which is the basic constraint in raising farm production?

(A) Land is fixed
(B) Land is variable
(C) Farmers lack knowledge
(D) Lack of money
Ans. Option (A) is correct.
Q2) Short Answer Type Questions

1. Which crop out of sugarcane, bajra or wheat are kharif crops?

Answer: Bajra is a rapid growing warm weather crop suitable for areas with 40 to 75 cm
of annual rainfall. Thus, it is suitable for the kharif season, which is between July and
October. Wheat is not suitable for warm weather and sugarcane requires a full year to
grow. 

2. Identify which out of land, seeds, machinery and building is in the category of
working capital.

Answer: Seeds, once used, cannot be used again and so they fall in the category of
working capital. Land, machinery and building are fixed capital, as they can be used
again and again. 

3. What are the constituents of modern farming methods?

Answer: The constituents of modern farming methods are use of high yielding variety
of seeds, using chemical fertilizers and pesticides, as well as using plenty of water for
irrigation.

4. When large and medium farmers sell their surplus produce in the market, what
are the purposes to which they use this income?

Answer: A part of the earnings is saved and kept as capital for the next season. Thus,
they are able to arrange for the capital for farming from their own savings. Some
farmers also use the savings to buy cattle, trucks or use it in other non-agricultural
activities. 

5. Which farmers out of landless farmers, small farmers or medium and large
farmers, hire labour to work in the fields?

Answer: Landless farmers are hired as laborers are hired. Small farmers do not need
additional labour, as they work with their family members in the fields. Only the medium
and large farmers have extensive work, which makes them hire additional labour. 

Q3. Long Answer Type Questions

1. List the changes in Palampur due to the advent of electric power in the village.

Answer: The advent of electric power in Palampur has brought about the following
changes:
(i) Irrigation is now done through electric run tube wells, which has reduced the
dependence of the farmers upon rainfall and enables larger areas of land to be irrigated.
(ii) Irrigation improvement allowed farmers to grow three different crops in a year.
(iii) It enabled Mishrilal to set up a sugarcane crushing machine so that he can sell
jaggery manufactured by him to the traders at Shahpur. 

2. The farm laborers in Palampur usually earn less than the minimum wage. Why?

Answer: The use of modem agricultural implements like tractors, threshers and

harvesters by the large and medium farmers has reduced the amount of agricultural
labour required. So, there is competition for work among the agricultural laborers in the
village. Knowing that the supply is much more than the demand, the laborers
themselves agree to work for wages that are lower than minimum wages. The farmers
exploit this condition of excess labour supply and force laborers to work for low wages. 

3. What is the difference between multiple cropping and modern farming

method?

Answer: Multiple Cropping: 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. Modern Farming Method The farmers of Punjab,
Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh use HYV seeds, tube wells for irrigation, chemical
fertilizers and pesticides, as well as machinery like tractors and threshers to increase the
production. All these measures comprise what are known as modern farming methods.

4. Why are farm laborers like Dala and Ramkali poor?

Answer: 
(i) Dala and Ramkali are landless farm laborers who work on daily wages in Palampur.
(ii) The minimum wages for farm laborer set by the government is 115 per day, they get
only 80.
(iii) There is heavy competition for work among the farm laborers in Palampur, so
people agree to work for lower wages.
(iv) They remain out of work for most parts of the year and have to take loans from the
moneylender to fulfill their needs. Due to this seasonal unemployment, they remain
poor and are unable to repay the loan and fall into a debt trap. 

5. 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 in 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?
Answer: Mostly people migrate in search of employment or better job opportunities to
the cities like Mumbai, Delhi, etc or to the prosperous agricultural regions like Punjab
and Haryana to work as farm laborers.
(i) This migration usually takes place when a person is unemployed or in extreme
poverty, which may be due to lack of land, displacement, negative impact of natural
disasters like drought or floods, etc.
(ii) The migrants from Gosaipur and Majauli who went to cities will probably find work
as casual laborers, industrial workers, street hawkers, rickshaw pullers, headload workers
or as servants in homes and hotels, etc.
(iii) Those who went to rural areas of Punjab and Haryana will probably work as farm
laborers since agriculture is the main occupation of the rural people in these states.

Q4. In the following questions, a statement of Assertion (A) is followed by a

statement of Reason (R). Mark the correct choice as:

(A) Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true, and Reason (R) is the correct
explanation of Assertion (A).
(B) Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true, but Reason (R) is not the correct
explanation of Assertion (A).
(C) Assertion (A) is true, but Reason (R) is false.
(D) Assertion (A) is false, but Reason (R) is true.

1. Assertion (A): Farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh were the first
to try out the modern farming method in India.
Reason (R): Land being a natural resource, it is necessary to be very careful in its use.
Scientific reports indicate that the modern farming methods have overused
the natural resource base.
Ans. Option (B) is correct.
Explanation: The farmers in these regions set up tube wells for irrigation, and made
use of HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers and pesticides in farming.
2. Assertion (A): Small farmers have to borrow money to arrange for the capital.
Reason (R): They are put to great distress to repay the loan.
Ans. Option (A) is correct.
Explanation: The moneylenders charge higher rates of interests on the loans. The
repayment of the loan also becomes difficult for the farmers. The payment terms
are also Very tough that sometimes interest amount increases than the actual
amount to pay.
3. Assertion (A): Farming requires a great deal of hard work. Small farmers along with
their families cultivate their own fields.
Reason (R): After land, labor is the next necessary factor of production.
Ans. Option (A) is correct.
Explanation: Farming is not an easy task. It requires a great amount of hard work
and presence of mind. The cultivated land needs to be looked after constantly. A
farmer must always be vigilant about giving water and fertilizers to the crops. A
small mistake may lead to the bigger consequences. Hence, farming requires
 ample labour.
4. Assertion (A): 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.
Reason (R): The rate of interest on such loans is very high. They are put to great
distress to repay the loan.
Ans. Option (B) is correct.
Explanation: The modern farming methods require a great deal of capital, so
that the farmer now needs more money than before.

Q5. Read the source given below and answer the questions that follow:
A) Read the source given below and answer the following questions:

Apart from farming activities in Palampur, certain non- farming activities are also
carried out. Only 25 per cent of the people working in Palampur are engaged in
activities other than agriculture. Dairy is a common activity in many families of
Palampur. The milk is sold in Raiganj, the nearby large village. 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.
People involved in trade (exchange of goods) are not many in Palampur. The traders of
Palampur are shopkeepers who buy various goods from wholesale markets in the cities
and sell them in the village. There are variety of vehicles on the road connecting
Palampur to Raiganj. Rickshawallahs, tongawallahs, 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.
At present, less than fifty people are engaged 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 and are
done on a small scale. They are carried out mostly at home or in the fields with the
help of family labour.
Answer the MCQs by choosing the most appropriate option:
1. _______________ Percent of the people working in Palampur are engaged in activities
other than agriculture.
(A) 30
(B) 40
(C) 25
(D) 15
Ans. Option (C) is correct.

2. Manufacturing in Palampur involves very simple production methods and are done
 on a:
(A) small scale
(B) large scale
(C) medium scale
(D) None of the above
Ans. Option (A) is correct.

3. There are variety of vehicles on the road connecting Palampur to:

(A) Raiganj
(B) Shahpur
(C) Both (A) and (B)
(D) None of the above
Ans. Option (A) is correct.
4. ___________________is a common activity in many families of Palampur.
(A) Manufacturing
(B) Transport
(C) Dairy
(D) All of the above
Ans. Option (C) is correct.

B) Read the source given below and answer the following questions:

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. This village has about 450
families belonging to several different castes. 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. 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
of mud and straw. Most of the houses have electric connections. Electricity powers
all the tube wells in the fields and is used in various types of small business.
Palampur has two primary schools and one high school. There is a primary health
centre run by the government and one private dispensary where the sick are
treated. The story of Palampur, an imaginary village, will take us through the
different types of production activities in the village. In villages across India,
farming is the main production activity. The other production activities, referred to
as non- farm activities include small manufacturing, transport, shop-keeping, etc.
Every production is organised by combining land, labour, physical capital and
human capital, which are known as factors of production.
Answer the following MCQs by choosing the most appropriate option.
1. Raiganj, a big village, is__________ kms from Palampur.
(A) 5
(B) 4
(C) 3
(D) 1
Ans. Option (C) is correct.

2. Which of the following statement is true with respect to Palampur?

(A) Palampur has one primary school and two high schools.
(B) Palampur has two primary schools and one high school.
(C) Dairy is the main production activity.
(D) The village has about 600 families belonging to several different castes.
Ans. Option (B) is correct.

3. Raw materials and money in hand are called:

(A) Working capital
(B) Fixed capital
(C) Human capital
(D) None of the above
Ans. Option (A) is correct.
4. The variety of inputs required at every stage during production is known as.
(A) Physical capital
(B) Labour
(C) Human capital
(D) None of the above
Ans. Option (A) is correct.