The story of village Palampur: Class-9 Social Studies (Economics)

Palampur is a hypothetical village where farming is the main activity. Palampur is well- connected with neighbouring villages and towns. Many kinds of transport are visible in Palampur. This village has about 450 families belonging to several different castes. Most of the houses have electric connections. Palampur has two primary schools and one high school. There is a primary health centre run by the government and one private dispensary.

Organisation Of Production

The aim of production is to produce the goods and services that we want. There are four requirements for production of goods and services.

1. The first requirement is land.
2. The second requirement is labour.
3. The third requirement is physical capital. Further it is divided into: 1. Tools , machines, buildings can be used in production over many years , and are called fixed capital. 2. Raw materials and money in hand are called working capital.
4. There is a fourth requirement too. We will need knowledge and enterprise to be able to put together land, labour and physical capital and produce an output either to use yourself or to sell in the market. This these days is called human capital.

Farming in Palampur

Land is fixed

Farming is the main production activity in Palampur. 75 percent of the people who are working are dependent on farming for their livelihood. Land area under cultivation is practically fixed. There exists no scope to increase farm production by bringing new land under cultivation.

Is there a way one can grow more from the same land

All land is cultivated in Palampur. No land is left idle. During the rainy season ( kharif) farmers grow jowar and bajra. It is followed by cultivation of potato between October and December. In winter season( rabi) , fields are sown with wheat. A part of the land area is also devoted to sugarcane.

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. Electricity came early to Palampur. People saw that the electric run tubewell could irrigate much larger areas of land more effectively.

To grow more than one crop on a piece of land during the year is know as multiple cropping. All farmers in Palampur grow at least two main crops: many are growing potato as the third crop. The other way is to use modern farming methods for higher yield. The Green Revolution in the late 1960s introduced the Indian farmer to cultivation of wheat and rice using high yielding varieties (HYVs) of seeds. HYV seeds promised to produce much greater amounts of grain on a single plant. Higher yields were possible only from a combination of HYV seeds, irrigation, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, etc.

Will the land sustain?

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.

In many areas, Green Revolution is associated with loss of soil fertility due to increased use of chemical fertilizers. Also, continuous use of groundwater for tubewell irrigation has reduced the water table below the ground.

How is land distributed between the farmers of Palampur?

You can see the large number of small plots scattered around the village in the picture. These are cultivated by the small farmers. On the other hand, more than half the area of the village is covered by plots that are quite large in size. In Palampur, there are 60 families of medium and large farmers who cultivate more than 2 hectares of land. A few of the large farmers have land extending over 10 hectares or more.

Exercises

Question 1. Modern farming method require more inputs which are manufactured in industry. Do you agree? Ans. Yes, modern farming methods require more inputs. Modern farming methods need tools, machines like tractors, threshers, drilling machine, etc. all these are manufactured in industry. It also needs more chemicals,fertilizers, pesticides etc.which all are manufactured in industry.

Question 2. Is it important to increase area under irrigation. Why?

Ans. Yes, it is important to increase the area under irrigation because

1. The modern HYV seeds need assured irrigation.
2. The other modern inputs like chemical fertilizers and pesticides also become ineffective if irrigation is not available.
3. Through irrigation crops crops can be grown in dry regions.
4. Arrival a d departure of monsoon is also uncertain so we need irrigation facilities.

Note: Students are requested to note down the above questions and answers in their economics notebook.

References

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

ETIENNE, GILBERT. 1988. Food and Poverty: India’s 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, New Delhi

THORNER, DANIEL AND ALICE THORNER. 1962. Land and Labour in India, Asia Publishing House, Bombay.