CBSE Class 9 Social Science The Story of Village Palampur Notes Set 01

Organisation of Production

Production of goods and services needs four things: land and other natural resources such as water, forests and minerals; labour; physical capital such as tools, machines, buildings, raw materials and money; and human capital, meaning the knowledge and enterprise to combine land, labour and physical capital to produce output. Money used to pay for raw materials and wages is called working capital.

Farming in Palampur

Land is fixed. The area under cultivation cannot be increased easily, so farmers must find other ways to grow more from the same land. Multiple cropping means growing more than one crop on the same land in a year. In Palampur, Kharif crops such as jowar and bajra are followed by potato between October and December, and wheat is grown in winter. Sugarcane is harvested once a year. Electricity transformed irrigation, which made multiple cropping possible.

Modern farming. From the later 1960s, the Green Revolution brought high yielding varieties (HYVs) of wheat and rice to Indian farmers. Modern farming gives higher yields but needs a great deal of capital and inputs.

Will the land sustain? Heavy use of chemical fertilisers has reduced soil fertility, and natural resources such as soil fertility and groundwater are hard to restore once damaged.

Land distribution. About one-third of the 450 families in Palampur are landless, and Dalits have no land for cultivation. 240 families cultivate small plots of less than 2 hectares. Around 60 families are medium and large farmers who cultivate more than 2 hectares.

Labour. Small farmers cultivate their own land. Medium and large farmers hire labourers from landless families or from families with small plots. Labourers are paid wages in cash or in kind, such as a share of the crop, and sometimes meals. They are employed daily, for a particular activity such as harvesting, or for the whole year. Wages vary by region, crop and activity, and in Palampur they are below the minimum wage.

Capital. Small farmers usually borrow from large farmers, moneylenders or traders at very high interest rates. Medium and large farmers have savings from farming and can arrange the capital themselves.

Sale of surplus. Farmers keep part of the wheat for family consumption and sell the surplus. Only medium and large farmers supply wheat to the market in large quantities.

Non-Farm Activities in Palampur

About 25 per cent of the people working in Palampur are engaged in activities other than farming. Dairy is common, and milk is sold in nearby villages. Small-scale manufacturing is carried out at home or in the fields using simple methods. Shopkeepers buy goods such as rice, sugar, tea, oil, soap and batteries in wholesale markets in the cities and sell them in the village. Transport is a fast-developing sector, with rickshaws, tongas, jeeps, tractors, trucks and bullock carts carrying people and goods for payment.

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