Chapter 1 The story of village palampur (Class 9- Economics) Question Answers

NCERT Solutions (Class 9- Economics) Chapter 1 The story of village palampur

Question-1

Modern farming methods require more inputs, which are manufactured in industry. Do you agree?

Solution:

No doubt, modern farming requires more inputs than traditional farming. These are:

chemical fertilizers

pesticides

pump sets

farm machinery

electricity

diesel

HYV seeds

water supply

Most of these inputs like fertilizers, tools, and implements are manufactured in industry.

 HYV seeds are developed in agriculture research laboratories. 

Machine industry provides various kinds of implements, irrigation pumps, and farming machinery to improve productivity and minimize farming efforts. 

Chemical and soil engineering-based industries provide fertilizers and pesticides to boost agriculture. 

Water supply is done by canals and tanks. Electricity is supplied by powerhouses.

Question-2

How did the spread of electricity help farmers in Palampur?

Solution:

The spread of electricity helped the farmers in Palampur in the following ways:

Most of the houses have electricity connections.

It is used to run tubewells in the fields.

It is used in various types of small businesses.

Question-3

Is it important to increase the area under irrigation? Why?

Solution:

Irrigation facilities are available only to about 40% of the cultivated land area in the country. The rest of the land, i.e., 60% of the cultivated area, is still dependent on rainfall for irrigation. It means that the benefit of multiple cropping cannot be achieved by 60% of the farmers in the country. They produce less and so their income is also low. Thus, they live in poverty.

Therefore, if these farmers are to be brought out of poverty, farm productivity has to increase. This is only possible when they use modern farming methods and dependable irrigation facilities. Hence, it is important to increase the area under irrigation.

Question-4

Why are the wages for farm labourers in Palampur less than minimum wages?

Solution:

A waged labourer might be employed on a daily basis, or for one particular farm activity like harvesting, or for the whole year. Most small farmers have to borrow money to arrange for the capital. They borrow from large farmers or the village moneylenders or the traders who supply various inputs for cultivation. The rate of interest on such loans is very high. They are put to great distress to repay the loan. Hence they pay very low wages to the farm labourers.

Question-5

What are the different ways of increasing production on the same piece of land? Use examples to Explain.

Solution:

To grow more than one crop on a piece of land during the year is known as multiple cropping. It is the most common way of increasing production on a given piece of land. All farmers in Palampur grow at least two main crops; many are growing potato as the third crop in the past fifteen to twenty years.

EXTRA QUESTIONS

Question 1.

Define the meaning and aim of production.

Answer:

Production is the creation of value in a commodity, e.g., manufacturing of a car from steel.

Aim: The aim of production is to produce the goods and services that we want. There are four requirements for production of goods and services: Land, labour, physical capital and human capital.

Question 2.

Farmers of which two states were the first to use modem farming methods in India? Mention any four positive effects of it.

Answer:

(i) The farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh were the first to use modem farming methods in India.

(ii) (a) Modern farming methods increased the productivity of land.

(b) It increases foodgrain production in the country.

(c) It brought the Green Revolution in the 1960s which resulted in high increase in the production of cereal grains, particularly, wheat and rice.

(d) It has played a very important role in food security.

(e) It has led to growth of agro-based industries.

Question 3.

How do small farmers obtain capital for farming? What is its consequence? Explain.

Answer:

Most small farmers have to borrow money to arrange for the capital. They borrow from large farmers or the moneylenders or the traders whd supply various inputs for cultivation.

Consequence:

The rate of interest on such loans is very high. The small farmers are put to great distress to repay the loan.

Question 4.

Describe any three features of small-scale manufacturing as a non-farm activity in Palampur.

Answer:

Less than 50 people are engaged in manufacturing in Palampur.

Manufacturing in Palampur involves very simple production methods and are done on a small-scale.

Manufacturing activities are carried out mostly at home or in the fields with the help of family labour. Labourers are hired rarely.

Question 5.

How do the medium and large farmers make their own savings and how do they utilize it? Explain.

Answer:

The medium and large farmers have surplus production even after keeping a substantial part for their own family needs. They sell it in the market and have good earnings and save it in their bank accounts. They utilize their savings:

By lending to small farmers who are in need of a loan.

As working capital for farming in the next season.

As fixed capital for buying tractors etc.

Question 6.

Explain any two differences between physical capital and human capital.

Answer:

Differences:

Physical capital has variety of inputs while human capital is labours, using those inputs.

Physical captial includes tools, machines can be used over the years while human capital can produce output only it they have experience.

Question 7.

What is modem farming methods? Explain its drawbacks.

Answer:

It is a scientific way of increasing the production. Under this, production is increased by using HYV seeds and other inputs.

Drawbacks:

It is used by rich farmers as it requires more inputs.

Loss of soil fertility due to increased use of chemical fertilizers.

Continuous use of groundwater for tubewell irrigation has reduced the water table below the ground.

Question 8.

How many crops are grown by the farmers in Palampur? How are they able to grow these different crops in a year?

Answer:

(i) The farmers in Palampur grow jowar and bajra during the rainy season, potato between October and December and wheat in the winter season.

(ii) (a) There is the well-developed system of irrigation in Palampur that enables the farmers there to grow three different crops in a year.

(b) Electricity came early to Palampur. Its major impact was to transform the system of irrigation in the village.

(c) By mid-1970s, the entire area of 200 hectares was irrigated.

(d) Modern farming methods and the Green Revolution introduced HYV seeds.

Question 9.

How do large farmers utilise surplus farm products to arrange for the capital needed for farming?

Answer:

The large farmers generally sell the surplus farm products and have good earnings.

They put most of their earnings or money in their bank accounts and get adequate interest on the same.

A part of their earnings is saved and kept to arrange for the working capital for farming in the next season.

They also use savings for lending to small farmers and other persons in the village.

A part of their earnings is used to increase their fixed capital like tractor, thresher, cattle etc.

Question 10.

Distinguish between Fixed, Working and Human Capital.

Answer:

Fixed Capital Working Capital Human Capital

(i)  Tools, machines, buildings etc. which can be used in production over many years is called fixed capital. (ii) Fixed capital cannot be changed or built in short period of time. Human capital includes competent and trained people who put together land, capital and other factors of production to produce goods.

The factors of production which are used up in the production process are known as working capital. Working capital can be changed or built in short period. Human capital can be built only in the long run through education and training.

Question 11.

Explain the distribution of workforce engaged in non-farming activities in the rural areas. Suggest some measures to increase non-farming activities.

Or

Explain any four efforts which can be made to increase non-farming production activities in villages.

Answer:

25% of the total workforce is engaged in non-farming activities. Measures to Increase Non-farming Activities:

Infrastructure: Infrastructure includes building of roads, establishing of banks and improving communication. All these are basic inputs for economic development.

Expansion of Market: To increase non-farming activities, rural markets should be linked to urban markets.

Education and Health: Improvement in education will lead to human capital formation.

Cheap Loan: Non-farming activities can be promoted by providing cheap and affordable loan to the farmers.

Question 12.

Why do modern farming methods require more capital? Explain.

Answer:

Modem farming methods need inputs like chemical fertilizers, pesticides, tractors etc. which are manufactured in industry. So, they require the farmer to start with more cash than before.

In modem farming methods, HYV seeds are used which require more irrigation.

In traditional method, the farmers use cow-dung as natural fertilizer, which they do not need to buy while chemical fertilizers need more cash to buy from the market.

Modern farming is machine-oriented. Hence, farmers need more capital to purchase them.

To operate the machines, semi-skilled or skilled manpower is required which need more investments.

Question 13.

Explain the basic requirements for the production of goods and services. 

                          OR

Mention the factors of production.

Answer:

(i) Land: Land is the most important factor of production. It is required for growing crops, building factories and infrastructure. The first requirement is land. We also need other natural resources such as water, forests, minerals etc.

(ii) Labour: The second requirement is labour, i.e., people who will do the work. Different production activities require different types of workers, such as highly educated, skilled or those doing some manual work. Each worker provides labour necessary for production.

(iii) Physical Capital: The third requirement is physical capital, comprising various inputs required during production. It has two components. Tools, machines and buildings fall under ‘fixed capital’.

They can be used in production for many years. Raw materials and money in hand are called working capital. These are used up in production.

(iv) Human Capital: The fourth requirement is the human capital. Knowledge and enterprise are needed to put together land, labour and physical capital in order to produce an output.

Question 14.

Where and why has the Green Revolution been started in India? Give advantages and disadvantages of the Green Revolution.

Answer:

Green Revolution involves the introduction of high yielding varieties of seeds. It also includes the use of fertilizers and irrigation techniques that increases the production and make countries like India self-sufficient in foodgrains. So, this technique is mainly used to improve the status of agriculture. 

Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh are ; the main regions where green Revolution was started.

Advantages of Green Revolution:

The HYV seeds produce much greater amount of grains in comparison to the normal seeds.

It has increased the production on the same pieces of land which produces large quantities of food grains than it was produced earlier.

Disadvantages of Green Revolution:

Poor farmers are unable to afford HYV seeds, fertilizers and machineries.

This may lead to an end with large debts.

HYV seeds need more fertilizers and water and they are expensive.

Since Green Revolution introduced new machineries, it led to the replacement of labour, and further leading to unemployment and rural-urban migration.

It was limited to rice and wheat only.