Economics Chapter 1 The Story Of Village Palampur

LOCATION: Palampur is a village in Western Part of Uttar Pradesh. It is well connected with neighbouring villages and towns. Raiganj, a big village, is 13 Kms. from Palampur.

300 hectares.

LAND USE (in hectares):

FACILITIES :

Yes, modern farming methods require more inputs:

(i) Fixed Capital: Modern farming methods need more fixed capital such as tools, machines, tractors, combines, threshers, drilling machines, motors etc. All these factors are manufactured in Industry.

(ii) Working Capital: Modern farming also needs more working capital such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides, weedicides etc which are also manufactured in Industries.

Yes, it is important to increase the area under irrigation for the reasons mentioned below :

(i)Through irrigation crops which can be grown even in dry regions. The modern HYV seeds need assured irrigation.

(ii)The other modern inputs like fertilizers and pesticides also become ineffective if irrigation is not available.

(iii)Through irrigation we can increase the quantity of production as the arrival and departure of monsoon is also uncertain.

Table : The Distribution of Land in Palampur.

The wages for farm labourers in Palampur are less than minimum wages for the following reasons:

I have talked to labourers Ramu and Shamu working at construction sites and they stated  the following information:

A farmer with one hectare of land can use multiple cropping system in his land. The other way of work is to use modern farming methods for higher yield.

The difference:
(i)Medium and large farmers obtain capital for farming from their own savings or from the banks as loan.

(ii)Small farmers on the other hand borrow from large farmers or the village moneylenders or the traders, who supply various inputs for cultivation. The interest on such loans are usually high.

Savita got a loan of Rs. 3,000/- from Tajpal Singh at an interest rate of 24 percent for four months, which is very high interest rate. Savita also has to promise to work on Tajpal Singh's field as a farm labourer during the harvest season at Rs. 35 per day.

As we can see, this wage is quite low. Savita knows that she will have to work very hard to complete the harvesting on her own field, and then work as a farm labourer for Tajpal Singh. The harvest time is very busy time. As a mother of three children she has a lot of household responsibilities. Savita agrees to these tough conditions as she knows getting a loan is difficult for a small farmer.

Savita’s condition would be different if she could get a loan from the bank at a low rate of interest. From Bank's loan she has not to work at such a quite low wage rate.

I talked to some of old residents in many regions and found that before 30 years there was no irrigation facilities in this region.
Agriculture was merely depended on rain. Method of production was also traditional, there was no use of HYV techniques and hence production yield was very low.
But now-a-days in the region with the Government's efforts people use various types of irrigation methods and HYV techniques such as seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides etc. and production has increased many-fold in the region.

The following non-farm production activities are taking place in my region:

(i) Dairy and fishing,

(ii)Tailoring, Shopkeeping,

(iii)Transportation activities,

B.

Farming

C.

Raiganj

A.

450

A.

One

C.

Human Capital

B.

Multiple cropping

A.

Shahpur

D.

100

B.

40

A.

1960

B.

24

B.

Production

D.

Utility

D.

All of these

A.

Fixed

B.

Working

C.

Hectare

B.

150

C.

Two

C.

Multiple

D.

A buffalo and a woodencart.

A.

Three

C.

Western

D.

10

C.

Agriculture

B.

The small farmers

B.

50

B.

Abundant

C.

Two

D.

Green

A.

Tools

C.

Raw material and building

A.

A farmer having less than 2 hectare of land.

D.

Labour

B.

High Yielding Varieties.

D.

Purchasing Power

B.

To grow more than one crop on a piece of land during the year.

D.

Sowing crops

A.

Banks and own savings

D.

Rich farmers and moneylenders

C.

It has raised the living standard of farmers all over India.

HYV, chemical fertilizers and use of pesticides are the methods of modern farming.

One hectare equals the area of a square with one side measuring 100 metres.

They are comparatively very high.

Surplus will be 20.

As Surplus = Production - Consumption.

Bullock carts, tongas, bogeys, motor vehicles like motor cycles, jeeps, tractors and trucks are visible on the roads of Palampur.

The working capital required by the farmers using modern farming methods are capitals to purchase the HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers, pesticides etc.

Modern farming methods require the farmer to start with more cash than before because they have to hire tractors, threshers and to purchase HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers and pesticides which are expensive.

The farmers of my region use mixed methods of farming consisting of traditional as well as modern methods.

The sources of irrigation in my region are rain, tubewells and canals.

The farmers obtain the inputs from the nearby market.

Yes, i would agree that the distribution of cultivated land is unequal in Palampur as well as in India.
Small number of farmers have big cultivable plots while large number of farmers have small plots to cultivate.

Labour is the next necessary factor for production after land. 
The small farmers alongwith their families will provide the labour for their own fields as well as for the fields of medium and large farmers.

Farm labourers like Dala and Ramkali are poor because they are landless and due to heavy competition for work among the farm labourers they get only a quite low wage rate.

People migrate mainly in search of employement.

In the future, we would like to see more non-farm production on activities in the village because unlike farming, non-farming activities require lesser land.
People with even less amount of capital can set up non-farm activities.

People involved in trade are not many in Palampur.
(i)The traders of Palampur are shopkeepers who buy various goods from wholesale markets in the cities and sell them in the village.
(ii)We will see small general stores in the village having a wide range of items like rice, wheat, sugar, tea, oil etc.
(iii)A few of the families whose houses are close to the bus stand have used a part of the space to open small shops. They sell eatables.

There are variety of vehicles on the road connecting Palampur to Raiganj.
(i)Rickshawallahs, tongawallahs, jeep, tractor, truck drivers and people driving the traditional bullock-cart and bogey are people in the transport services.
(ii)They ferry people and goods from one place to another, and in return get paid for it.
(iii)The number of people involved in transport has grown over the last several years.

Small scale manufacturing:
(i)At present, less than 50 people are engaged in manufacturing in Palampur.
(ii)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.
(iii)They are carried out mostly at home or in the fields, with the help of family labour. Rarely are labourers hired.

Importance of non-farm production activities:

(i)The non-farm production activities help in establishing a market in the village.

(ii)They act as the source of income for the farmers.

(iii) They provide employment to landless workers.

Following are the main features of labour as a factor of production:

Following are the features of Capital as a factor of production:

Following are the features of land as a factor of production:

Following are the features of an entrepreneur as a factor of production:

(i)It is a factor of production which blends all the factors of production to produce.

(ii) Profit is the prime objectives of entrepreneur.

(iii)It produces goods and services for self-consumption or to sell in the market.

Following are the outcome of Green Revolution:-

(i)India has become self-sufficient in food grains.

(ii)The production of food grains has increased many times.

(iii) Agro-based industries have got a boost and the living standard of the farmers has also improved.

Following are the limitations of the Green Revolution:

The two states which have benefited from the Green Revolution are Punjab and Haryana.

The factors are:

(i)Small land holdings.
(ii)Obsolete technology.

The disadvantages of using chemical fertilizers are explained below:

Let us suppose that the farmers have produced wheat on their land using the three factors of production.
(i)The wheat is harvested and production is complete. What do the farmers do with the wheat ? They retain a part of the wheat for the families consumption and sell the surplus wheat.
(ii)Small farmers have little surplus wheat because their total production is small and from this a substantial share is kept for their own family needs.
(iii)So, it is the medium and large farmers who supply wheat to the market. The traders at the market buy the wheat and sell it further to shopkeepers in the towns and cities.

It is very important to increase the area under irrigation as it will increase the food production to feed the rapidly growing population of India.

To grow more than one crop on a piece of land during the year is known as multiple cropping.
On the other hand, modern farming methods include the usage of tubewells for irrigation, HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers and pesticides in farming. Modern farming methods also include use of machinery like tractors and threshers.

Due to the widely followed norms of separation by the families, existing land is distributed among sons, brothers and other family members.
As a result of it, many families of farmers cultivate such small plots of land.

It is clear from the above graph that in India 80 percent of farmers have less than 2 hectares of land.
These farmers cultivate only 36 percent of the total cultivated area. Contrary to it, 20 percent of the farmers have more than 2 hectare of land and having 64 percent of the total cultivated area.

The classification can be arranged in the following sequence :

(i)Cultivation by traditional method

(ii)Ploughing with the bullock

(iii)Cultivation by modern method

(iv)Sowing the field

(v)Spraying of insecticides

(vi)Cutting of the crops.

Farmer 1

Farmer 2

Farmer 3

(i)Mishrilal needed mechanical sugarcane crushing machine run on electricity to set up his jaggery manufacturing unit.
(ii)Mishrilal and his family members provide the labour in this case.
(ii)Mishrilal is unable to increase his profit because the production of sugarcane in his village is limited.
(iv)He might face a loss when the price of jaggery will fall.

Mishrilal sells his jaggery to traders in Shahpur and not in his village because the market for jaggery in Shahpur is big in comparison to his village, where he can earn more profit.

Kareem’s capital is computer whereas Mishrilal’s capital is mechanical sugarcane crushing machine.
Kareem’s labour is hired one whereas Mishrilal’s labour is self-employed.

(i)Because earlier no one had a degree in computer applications.

(ii)Because they had no capital to buy computers.

A buffalo and a wooden cart is Kishora’s fixed capital.

His working capital would be money.

Kishora is involved in three production activities.

Yes, Kishora has benefited from better roads in Palampur as he has attached a wooden cart to his buffalo and uses it to transport various items.