CBSE
Class 9 Economics Notes Chapter 1 – The Story of Village Palampur
Overview
An introduction to some basic concepts related to production
through a hypothetical village called Palampur, where farming is the main
activity. The village also has several other activities, such as small-scale
manufacturing, dairy, transport, etc., carried out on a limited scale.
Introduction
Palampur is fairly connected with a well-developed system of
roads, transport, electricity, irrigation, schools and health centres. The
story of Palampur takes us through the different types of production activities
in the village. In India, farming is the main production activity across
villages.
Organisation of Production
The main aim of production is to produce goods and services,
which require four essential components.
- Land
and other natural resources such as water, forests, minerals
- Labour
- Physical
capital, such as tools, machines, buildings, raw materials and money
A variety of raw materials are required during the process
of production, such as the yarn used by the weaver and the clay used by the
potter. Money is also essential during production, and both of them in hand is
called working capital. The fourth requirement is knowledge and enterprise to
be able to put together land, labour and physical capital and produce an
output. The factors of production are combining land, labour, physical capital
and human capital.
Farming in Palampur
1. Land is fixed
For Palampur, village farming is their main product, and the
well-being of these people is related to production on the farms. But, there is
a basic constraint in raising farm production. The land area under cultivation
is practically fixed.
2. Is there a way one can grow more from the same land?
In the rainy season, Kharif farmers grow jowar and bajra,
followed by the cultivation of potatoes between October and December. In
winter, farmers grow wheat and a part of the land is devoted to sugarcane,
harvested once every year. Due to well-developed irrigation, farmers can grow
three different crops. Electricity transformed the system of irrigation.
Multiple cropping means to grow more than one crop on a piece of land. Another
way for higher yield is modern farming. In the later 1960s, the Green Revolution
introduced the Indian farmer to the cultivation of wheat and rice using
high-yielding varieties (HYVs) of seeds.
3. Will the land sustain?
Modern farming methods have overused the natural resource
base. Due to the increased use of chemical fertilisers, the soil lost its
fertility. Natural resources like soil fertility and groundwater are destroyed,
and it is very difficult to restore them.
4. How is land distributed between the farmers of
Palampur?
The land is important for any kind of farming. In Palampur,
about one-third of the 450 families are landless. Dalits have no land for
cultivation. 240 families cultivate small plots of land less than 2 hectares in
size. In Palampur, there are 60 families of medium and large farmers who
cultivate more than 2 hectares of land.
5. Who will provide the labour?
Small farmers cultivate their own lands. Medium and large
farmers hire labourers to cultivate their fields who come either from landless
families or families cultivating small plots of land. Farm labourers will not
have any right over the crops grown on the land. They will be paid wages for
their work which can be cash or in-kind, e.g. crop. Sometimes labourers get
meals also. Wages vary from region to region, crop to crop, and from one farm
activity to another. Farm labourers are employed on a daily basis, or for one
particular farm activity like harvesting, or for the whole year.
6. Capital needed in farming
Modern farming methods require a great deal of capital.
1. Most small farmers borrow money from large farmers or
village moneylenders or traders who supply various inputs for cultivation. The
rate of interest on such loans is very high.
2. The medium and large farmers have their own savings from
farming. They are thus able to arrange for the capital needed.
7. Sale of surplus farm products
The wheat the farmers produce from the land is retained in
part for their family consumption, and they sell the surplus wheat. Only the
medium and large farmers supply wheat to the market.
Non-Farm Activities in Palampur
25 per cent of the people working in Palampur are engaged in
activities other than agriculture.
1. Dairy — the other common activity
Other than agriculture, some people are engaged in dairy,
and the milk is sold in the nearby village.
2. An example of small-scale manufacturing in Palampur
People are engaged in small-scale manufacturing, which is
carried out at home or in the fields. This manufacturing involves very simple
production methods.
3. The shopkeepers of Palampur
Traders of Palampur buy various goods from wholesale markets
in the cities and sell them in the village. General stores in the village sell
a wide range of items like rice, wheat, sugar, tea, oil, biscuits, soap,
toothpaste, batteries, candles, notebooks, pens, pencils, and even some types
of cloth.
4. Transport: a fast-developing sector
Transport services include rickshaws, tongas, jeeps,
tractors, truck drivers, traditional bullock carts and bogeys. They transport
people and goods from one place to another and, in return, get paid for it.
