ECONOMICS (IX)-LESSON-1 THE STORY OF VILLAGE PALLAMPUR (LESSON NOTES)

 

ECONOMICS (IX)-LESSON-1

THE STORY OF VILLAGE PALLAMPUR

(LESSON NOTES)

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v INTRODUCTION

Ø As you know that in India there are more than 60 % people engage in farming activity. So through the story of village Palampur we come to know not only about the farming activities but also the conditions of farmers, and other people living in village, what problem they faced etc.

v PALAMPUR VILLAGE

Ø Palampur is a small hypothetical village having about 450 families. It is 3 km away from Raiganj — big village. Shahpur is the nearest town to the village.

Ø The village is well connected with neighboring villages and towns. The village is well connected by the road and most of the houses are electrified.

 

Ø It has two primary schools and one high school.

Ø There is a government primary health Centre and a primary dispensary.

Ø Farming is the main production activity in the village Palampur. Most of the people are dependent on farming for their livelihood.

Ø Non-farming activities such as dairy, small-scale manufacturing (e.g. activities of weavers and potters, etc.), transport, etc., are carried out on a limited scale.

 

v FACTORS OF PRODUCTION (OR REQUIREMENTS FOR PRODUCTION OF GOODS AND SERVICES)

Ø Land, labour, and capital are the basic requirements for production of goods and services which are popularly known as factors of production.

§  Land includes all free gifts of nature, e.g., soil, water, forests, minerals, etc.

§  Labour means human effort which of course includes physical as well as mental labour. Physical capital is the third requirement for production. Physical capital includes

·       Fixed capital (e.g. tools, machines, building, etc.)

·       Working capital includes raw materials such as seeds for the farmer, yarn for the weaver. and money in hand.

§  Human capital:- It refers as the persons who organize the other factors of production  due to his skill and talent to produce the other things.

 

v FARMING ACTIVITY IN PALAMPUR VILLAGE

Ø Farming is the main activity in Palampur village. There nearly 75 % people engaged in Farming activity, weather farmers or labourers. Now we will see the different factors of production in village Palamapur one by one.

Ø LAND

§  Land is the main factor for agriculture production. In  Palampur almost all the land converted into areable land till 1960. Land is measured in different units as hectare (100 sq meter) bigha, guintha, kila etc. So now there is no scope to increase the cultivation area. To feed the growing popupation the farmers started to use different method to increase the production on the same land as :-

(a)  Multiple cropping farming:- To grow more than one crop on a piece of

land during the year is known as multiple cropping. For example Kharif, Rabi and Zaid crops indifferent seasons.

(b)  Use of modern farming methods:- Famers use the different modern inputs to increase the production as

(i)            Use of electricity for irrigation

(ii)          Use of HYV seeds (High Yielding Varieties seeds for more production.

(iii)        Use of tractors, harvesters, combine, etc. to save time.

(iv)        Use of pesticides and fertilizers to increase production.

§  GREEN REVOLUTION

Due to use of modern inputs (in the late 1960s) productivity of land has increased substantially which is known as Green Revolution. M. S Swaminathan was the founder of green revolution in India. Farmers of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh were the first to try out the modern farming methods in India. But this Green Revolution also created problems for the farmers as:-

(i)             Overuse of fertilizers, pesticides decreased the land fertility.

(ii)           Over irrigation created the problem of water logging and decline of ground water level.

(iii)         It also created the imbalance in the production of food grains.

§  Land distribution in Palampur: -

·       Land is not equally distributed in Palampur village.

·       In Palampur, about one third of the 450 families are landless, i.e. 150 families, most of them dalits, have no land for cultivation. Like – Dala and Ramkali, Savita

·       240 families cultivate small plots of land less than 2 hectares in size. Like-Gobind

·       In Palampur, there are 60 families of medium and large farmers who cultivate more than 2 hectares of land. Like- Tejpal

 

v LABOUR:

Ø After land, labour is the next basic factor of production. Labour required for different work in the farming as ploughing, weeding, leveling, spraying, harvesting, threshing etc.   Small farmers provide their own labour, whereas medium and large farmers make use of hired labour to work on their fields. The Landless families in Palampur provide labours. But they also faced many probles as:-

§  As the work is less for the number of labourers they are not given minimum wages set by the government.

§  Women labourers get less wages compare to men.

§  They also did not get the work for the whole year.

§  Many labourers have to migrate to the cities in search of work.

v CAPITAL:

Ø After land and labour, capital is another basic factor of production. Modern farming requires a great deal of capital. All categories of farmers (e.g. small, medium and large) require capital. They arranged by different methods as

§  Small farmers borrow from large farmers or the village moneylenders or the traders who supply them various inputs for cultivation. They have to pay high interest.

§  The medium and large farmers have their own savings from farming. They are thus able to arrange for the capital needed.

 

v FARM PRODUCTION

Ø Farmers produce crops on their lands by using the three factors of production, viz. land, labour and capital. They retain a part of produce for self-consumption and sell the surplus in the nearby market. That part of farm produce which is sold in the market is called marketable surplus.

§  Small farmers have little surplus output. So they have to borrow money on high interest. So, they caught in debt.

§  It is the medium and large farmers only who have substantial surplus produce for selling in the market. After that they again invested that surplus income which make more money.

 

v NON-FARM ACTIVITIES

Ø Out of every 100 workers in the rural areas in India, only 24 are engaged in non-farm activities. There is a variety of non-farm activities in the villages. Dairy, small scale manufacturing, transport, etc., fall under this category.