Palampur

Questions/Answers related to this video and chapter.

Q.1
Modern farming methods require more inputs which are manufactured in industry. Do you agree? Hide Answer Yes, we agree. For example chemical fertilizers and pesticides are required under modern farming methods. These two inputs are manufactured in industry.

Q.2

How did the spread of electricity help farmers in Palampur? Hide Answer The spread of electricity helped the farmers of Palampur in a number of ways: (i) It helped the farmers of Palampur to irrigate their lands in a far better way. Formerly they used to irrigate their lands with the help of the Persian wheels, but it was a slow process and was not so effective. But now with the help of electricity they could irrigate much larger areas of land and that too quite quickly and effectively. (ii) Due to better irrigation facilities as a result of the use of electricity they could grow different crops all the year round.

Q.3

Is it important to increase the area under irrigation? Why? Hide Answer Yes, it is important to increase the area under irrigation. Reasons: Increasing the area under cultivation is important for following reasons: 1. Rainfall is uncertain and inadequate. 2. There are certain food and cash crops such as rice, wheat, sugarcane which requires adequate and regular supply of water. 3. HYV seeds need plenty of water.

Q.4

Construct a table on the distribution of land among the 450 families of Palampur. Hide Answer

Distribution of land among 450 families of Palampur No. of families 150 240 60 Area of land Landless Less than 2 hectares More than 2 hectares

Q.5

Why are the wages for farm labourers in Palampur less than minimum wages? Hide Answer Because there exists abundance labour force and the land is fixed.

Q.6

In your region, talk to two labourers. Choose either farm labourers or labourers working at construction sites. What wages do they get? Are they paid in cash or kind? Do they get work regularly? Are they in debt? Hide Answer After having talk to two labourers working at construction sites, we have got the following information about them: 1. They get Ra. 90 per day as wages. 2. They are paid in cash. 3. No, they do not get work regularly. 4. No, they are not in debt.

Q.7

What are the different ways of increasing production on the same piece of land? Use examples to explain. Hide Answer Different ways of increasing production on the same piece of land:Following are two methods of increasing production on the same piece of land: 1. Multiple Cropping Method: Under this method more than two crops are raised on a piece of land during the year. It is the most common way of increasing production on a given piece of land. Multiple cropping is possible if there exists well-developed system of irrigation. 2. Modern Farming Methods : The other method for having higher yield is known as modern farming methods. Under modern farming methods:

(i) High yielding varieties of seeds (HYVs) are used in place of traditional seeds. (ii) Chemical fertilizers are used in place of cow-dung and other natural manure as fertilizers. (iii) Irrigation is done by tube-wells. (iv) Tractors and threshers are used in farming. (v) Pesticides are sprayed.

Q.8

Describe the work of a farmer with 1 hectare of land. Hide Answer He works as agricultural labour on the land of others.

Q.9

How do the medium and large farmers obtain capital for farming? How is it different from the small farmers? Hide Answer Medium and large farmers obtain capital from their past savings for farming. Generally their production is more than their consumption. They sell the surplus in market and have money. It is their saving. But the small farmers do not have savings. They arrange capital by taking loans from moneylenders or large farmers.

Q.10

On what terms did Savita get a loan from Tejpal Singh? Would Savitas condition be different if she could get a loan from the bank at a low rate of interest? Hide Answer Savita got a loan from Tejpal Singh on the following terms: 1. The interest rate on the loan would be 24% for four months. 2, She was required to work on Tejpal Singhs field as a farm labourer during the harvest season at Rs. 35 per day. Yes, her condition would be different if she could get loan from the bank at the lower rate.

Q.11

Talk to some old residents in your region and write a short report on the changes in irrigation and changes in production methods during the last 30 years. (Optional). Hide Answer

I talked two old residents in my region in connection with the irrigation and method of farming 30 years back. I found many changes in irrigation and production methods. The following report conveys the changes over the last 30 years: 1. Irrigation: 30 years back, the method of irrigation was a very tedious job. Persian wheels were used by the farmers to draw water from the wells and irrigate small fields. During the period of 30 years, the system of irrigation changed. People saw that the electric run tube- well could irrigate much larger areas of land more effectively. The first few tube-wells were installed by the government. Soon, farmers started setting up private tube-wells. 2. Production Method: Sugarcane crushing was earlier done with the help of bullock, but people prefer to do it by mechanical sugarcane crushing machine run on electricity now a days.

Q.12

What are the non-farm production activities taking place in your region? Make a short list. Hide Answer Transport, shopkeeper, small scale manufacturing of shoes, readymade garments, dairy are main non-farm production activities taking place in our region.

Q.13

What can be done so that more non-farm production activities can be started in villages? Hide Answer Steps to be taken for starting more non - farm production activities in villages: Following steps can be taken for increasing non- farm production activities in villages. 1. The villages should be made aware of different non-farm production activities. 2. They should be provided loans by the government at low rate of interest so that they may start or expand non-farm production activities. 3. Easy and cheap transport facilities should be provided in villages so that people can easily carry goods to and from the nearby markets.