THE STORY OF VILLAGE PALAMPUR

1. Modern farming methods require more inputs which are

manufactured in industries. Do you agree?

Modern farming methods involve the use of high-yielding variety

seeds.
These seeds require a combination of chemical fertilizers, pesticides,
agricultural implements and proper irrigation facilities to produce the
best result. All these implements are manufactured in industries.
Hence, modern farming methods make use of a greater number of
industrial outputs as compared to the traditional farming methods.

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

Most of the houses in Palampur have electric connection.
Electricity in Palampur transformed the system of irrigation.
Electricity powers all the tubewells in the fields. It could irrigate much
larger areas of land more effectively.
Due to the well-developed system of irrigation the farmers are able to
grow three different crops in a year (multiple cropping).
Electricity is even used in various types of small business- sugarcane
crushing.

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

India is an agricultural country. Nearly 75% of the people are
dependent on farming for their livelihood.
But of the total cultivated area in the country, a little less than 40% is
irrigated even today.
In the remaining 60% of area, farming is largely dependent on rainfall
which is irregular and uncertain.
Modern farming methods cannot be used in the absence of assured
adequate water supplies.
India cannot achieve the goal of self-sufficiency in food grains unless
the area under irrigation is increased.

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

Palampur.

Number of families Land (hectares)

150 0
240 less than 2
60 more than 2
-------------
450

5. What are the four requirements for production?

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 Or
What are the different factors of production?
The first requirement is land and other natural resources such as water,
forests, and minerals.
The second requirement is labour. Production activities require skilled
and unskilled workers.
The third requirement is physical capital. Physical capital is the variety of
inputs required at every stage during production. It comprises of fixed
capital and working capital.
The fourth requirement is human capital. We need a knowledgeable and
skillful entrepreneur to put together land, labour, and physical capital for
production of goods and services.

6. What do you understand by fixed capital and working capital?

The things that are used in production over many years are known as
fixed capital. Example - tools, machines, buildings etc.
The things required during production and are used up in the production
process are known as working capital. Example - raw materials and
money to make payments and buy the necessary items.

7. Why are the wages for farm labourers in Palampur lesser than the
minimum wages set by the government?
The wages for farm labourers in Palampur are lesser than the
minimum wages because there exists heavy competition for work
among the farm labourers.
So, people agree to work for lower wages to sustain themselves.

8. What are the different ways of increasing production on the same land?
Use examples to explain.
The different ways of increasing production on the same piece of land
are by multiple cropping and modern farming methods.
Multiple Cropping : Under multiple cropping more than one crop is
grown on the same piece of land during a year.
Farmers in Palampur grow two main crops due to the availability of
irrigation facilities.
Modern farming methods: By adopting modern farming methods
production can be increased.
For this HYV seeds, which produce greater amount of grains on a
single plant should be used to get more yield and increase
production.
This requires the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and
bringing the land under irrigation.
In Palampur, the yield of wheat grown from the traditional varieties
was 1300 kg per hectare. With the HYV seeds, the yield went up to
3200 kg per hectare.
The Green Revolution in India is a remarkable example of it.

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9. What is Green Revolution?
The Green Revolution was introduced to attain self-sufficiency in
foodgrains in the late 1960s by cultivating wheat and rice using high
yielding varieties of seeds.
Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh were the first to try out
the modern farming methods in India.
The farmers in these regions set up tube wells for irrigation and made
use of HYV seeds (which yielded much greater amount of grains on a
single plant ), chemical fertilizers and pesticides in farming.
Thus, the same piece of land would now produce far larger quantities
of foodgrains than was possible earlier.

10. What are the drawbacks of the Green Revolution?

The modern farming methods have overused the natural resource
base. The increased use of chemical fertilizers kill bacteria and
microorganisms in the soil, leading to soil losing its fertility.
The continuous use of ground water for tube well irrigation has
reduced the water-table in the ground.
Chemical fertilizers seep in from the soil and pollute groundwater,
rivers and lakes.
The continuous use of chemical fertilizers have led to degradation of
soil health. To achieve the same production level the farmers have to
use more and more chemical fertilizers and other inputs which leads
to higher cost of cultivation.

11. Differentiate between traditional farming and modern farming.

Traditional farming uses age old equipments. For example - ploughing
the field is done by a pair of bullocks.
Modern farming makes use of advanced technology. For example -
the fields are ploughed by tractors. Further many machines like seed
drills, threshers, harvesters are used in different stages of production.

The production in traditional farming is low as low yield seeds ,

natural manures, and cow dung are used during farming.
In modern farming the production is high as HYV seeds, chemical
fertilizers, and pesticides are used in large quantities.

Traditional farming employs a great number of labour as most of the

work is done manually and hence many job opportunities are created
in the agricultural field.
In modern farming most of the work is carried out by large machines,
thus the job opportunities in the agricultural field are comparatively
less.

Traditional farming can thrive on seasonal rainfall as well can make

use of irrigation facilities.
Modern farming requires well-equipped irrigation system.

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 The cost involved in traditional farming is less as they make use of
traditional seeds, natural manure, thus the cost of production is
lower.
The cost of production in modern farming is more and thus expensive
as they make use of HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers and pesticides
which needs to be procured.

12. Describe the work of a farmer with one hectare of land.

A farmer having one hectare of land for farming is a subsistence
farmer (a farmer growing food crops to feed themselves and their
families), because one hectare of land is too less for even the
sustenance of a small family.
Production is very low and it is difficult for the farmer to provide food
for his family.
Apart from working on his own field he has to work on the field of the
rich farmers or work as a casual labourer to survive.
The small farmer has no irrigation facilities. He has no working
capital so he is also not able to buy modern machinery, HYV seeds,
fertilizers and pesticides.
In the absence of capital he has to take loan from money lender who
charges a high interest rate.
He is rarely able to repay the loan and eventually falls into a debt trap.

13. How do the medium and large farmers obtain capital for farming? How is
it different from the small farmers?
The medium and the large farmers sell their surplus farm products
and have good earning which is saved in the banks.
The savings are used to obtain capital for the next season.
The production of small farmers from small size of their plot is not
enough to meet the market requirements.
After retaining a part of their produce for the family's consumption,
nothing is left to sell it in the market.
So, to obtain capital for farming a small farmer has to depend on a
large farmer, village money lenders, or the traders who supply the
various inputs for cultivation. The rate of interest is too high and they
are put in to great distress.

14. On what terms did Savita acquire 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?
Savita, a small farmer, in order to cultivate wheat on her one hectare
of land decides to borrow money from Tejpal Singh, a large farmer.
Savita got a loan from Tejpal Singh at an interest rate of 24% for 4
months which is at a high rate of interest.
Savita also had to promise to work on Tejpal Singh's field as s farm
labourer during the harvest season at INR100 per day.

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 Savita's condition would have been different, had she loaned the
money from the bank, at a lower rate of interest.
She could have easily repaid the loan and saved money for her future
use and devoted more time on her own field.

15. What can be done so that more non-farm production activities can be
started in villages?
Banks must provide loan at lower rates of interest so that people
without savings can start non-farming production activities.
The government must set up rural workshops to enable villagers to
build on their skills and provide training.
There is a need to have markets for non-farm products where the
goods produced can be sold.

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