NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Social Science Economics Chapter 1 The Story of Village Palampur

These NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Social Science Economics Chapter 1 The Story of Village Palampur Questions and Answers are prepared by our highly skilled subject experts to help students while preparing for their exams.

The Story of Village Palampur NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Social Science Economics Chapter 1

Class 9 Economics Chapter 1 The Story of Village Palampur InText Questions and Answers

Lets’s Discuss, NCERT Textbook Page 3

Question 1.
The following Table given on textbook page 4 shows the land under cultivation in India in units of million hectares. Plots this on the graph provided. What does the graph show? Discuss in class. (Textbook Page 3)
Answer:
(i) Is it important to increases the area under irrigation? Why?
(ii) You have read about the crops grown in Palampur. Fill the following table based on information on the crops grown in your region.

Table: Cultivated area over the years

Year	Cultivated Area
1950	120
1960	130
1970	140
1980	140
1990	140
2000	140
2001	140
2004	140
2005	140
2006	140
2007	140
2008	140
2010-11	140

Source: Economic Survey 2013-2014

Name of Crop	Month Shown	Month Harvested	Sources of irrigation (Rain, tanks, tube-wells, canals, etc.)

Answer:
The graph shows that the land under cultivation in India was 120 million hectares in 1950 which rose to 140 million hectares in 1970 and remained constant at this figure (140 million hectares) till 2010.
(i) Yes, it is important to increase the area under irrigation because it will help farmers do multiple cropping and grow more than one crop in a year. Also, the use of HYV seeds need plenty of water to
(ii)

Name of Crop	Month Shown	Month Harvested	Sources of irrigation (Rain, tanks, tube-wells, canals, etc.)
Wheat	October-December	April-June	Rain, tube-wells, and canals
Paddy	June-July	September-October	Rain, tube-wells, and canals
Maize	June-July	September-October	Rain

Lets’s Discuss, NCERT Textbook Page 5

Question 1.
(i) What is the difference between multiple cropping and modern farming method?
(ii) The following table shows the production of wheat and pulses in India after the Green revolution in units of million tonnes. Plot this on a graph. Was the Green revolution equally successful for both crops? Discuss.
(iii) What is the working capital required by the farmer using modern farming methods?
Table 1.2: Production of Pulses and wheat (Million Tones)

	Production of Pulses	Production of Wheat
1965-66	10	10
1970-71	12	24
1980-81	11	36
1990-91	14	55
2000-01	11	70
2010-11	18	86
2012-13	18	92

Source: Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Department of Agriculture and Cooperative, 2010-11, 2013 Pocketbook on agricultural statistics.
(iv) Modern farming methods require the farmer to start with more cash than before. Why?
Answer:
(i) 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. The other way of increasing production from the same land is to use modern farming methods. In this method, yield is measured as a crop produced on a given piece of land during a single season. Farmers of Punjab, Haryana, and Western Uttar Pradesh used the modern farming method for the first time. The farmers in these regions set up tubewells for irrigation and made use of HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides in farming. They also used tractors and threshers to make ploughing and harvesting faster.

(ii) The Table shows that between 1965 and 2013, the production of pulses has increased negligibly whereas the production of wheat increased greatly. On this basis, we can say that the Green revolution was not equally successful for both crops.

(iii) The working capital required by the farmer using modern farming methods includes money, HYV seeds, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and water.

(iv) Modern farming methods require HYV seeds which are more expensive than those of traditional seeds. HYV seeds need plenty of water and also chemical fertilizers and pesticides to produce the best results. For buying all these inputs, a lot of money is required. So, farmers require more cash for carrying out modern farming methods.

Lets’s Discuss, NCERT Textbook Page 7-A

Question 1.

In picture 1.5, on textbook page 6 can you shade the land cultivated by the small farmers?
Why do so many families of farmers cultivate such small plots of land?
The distribution of farmers in India and the amount of land they cultivate is given in the following Graph 1.1. Discuss in the classroom.

Graph 1.1 Distribution of Cultivated Area and Farmers

Source: Agricultural statistics at glance 2006: Dept, of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt, of India.
Answer:

See Picture 1.5 on Textbook page 6. The shaded rectangles with boundaries show the land cultivated by small farmers.
The reason is that land in Palampur is fixed and 75 percent of the people who are working are dependent on farming for their livelihood. They could be farmers or farm labourers.
Do it yourself.

Lets’s Discuss, NCERT Textbook Page 7-B

Question 1.
Would you agree that the distribution of cultivated land is unequal in Palampur.? Do you find a similar situation for India? Explain.
Answer:
Yes, the distribution of cultivated land is highly unequal in Palampur. About one-third of the 450 families are landless there. These 150 families are mostly Dalits who have no land for cultivation. Of the remaining families who own land, 240 families cultivate small plots of land less than 2 hectares in size. Cultivation of such plots doesn’t bring adequate income to the farmer’s family.

On the other hand, 60 medium and large farmers cultivate more than 2 hectares of land. A few of the large farmers have land extending over 10 hectares or more. This shows that medium and large farmers have more land though their number is very small.

A similar situation can be found in India also. About 80% of farmers are small who cultivate only 36% of the cultivated areas whereas 20% of the large farmers cultivate 64% of the cultivated area. This shows that there is inequality in the distribution of cultivated areas in village Palampur as well as in India.

Lets’s Discuss, NCERT Textbook Page 7-C

Question 1.

Work on the fields: Wheat crop— ploughing by bullocks, sowing, spraying of insecticides, cultivation by the traditional method, cultivation by modern method, and cutting of crops.
Identify the work being done on the field in the pictures 1.6 and arrange them in a proper sequence.
Answer:
The proper sequence of the activities is:

Ploughing by bullocks
Sowing
Spraying of insecticides
Cultivation by the traditional method
Cultivation by modern method
Cutting of crops.

Lets’s Discuss, NCERT Textbook Page 9

Question 1.
1. Why are farm labourers like Dala and Ramkali poor?
2. Gosaipur and Majauli are two villages in North Bihar. Out of a total of 850 households in the two villages, there are more than 250 men who are employed in rural Punjab and Haryana or in Delhi, Mumbai, Surat, Hyderabad, or Nagpur. Such migration is common in most villages across India. Why do people migrate? Can you describe (based on your imagination) the work that the migrants of Gosaipur and Majauli might do at the place of destination?
Answer:
1. Both Dala and Ramkali are poor farm labourers who work on daily wages in Palampur. This means they must regularly look for work. Although the minimum wages for a farm labourer set by the government is ₹ 115 (April 2011) per day, Dala and Ramkali get only ₹ 80. Also, there is heavy competition for work among the farm labourers in Palampur, So they agree to work for lower wages. Dala and Ramkali are under the burden of past debt which forces them to work for lower wages. They also have to look after a large family, which is a measure cause of their poverty.

2. Most people migrate to big cities like Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, etc., in search of employment or better job opportunities. People also migrate for higher education. The migrants from Gosaipur and Majauli who went to cities will probably find work as casual labourers, industrial workers, rickshaw pullers, or headload workers.

Lets’s Discuss, NCERT Textbook Page 12-A

Question 1.

What capital did Mishrilal need to set up his jaggery manufacturing unit?
Who provides the labour in this case?
Can you guess why Mishrilal is unable to increase his profit?
Could you think of any reasons when he might face a loss?
Why does Mishrilal sell his jaggery to traders in Shahpur and not in his village?

Answer:
1. To set up his manufacturing unit Mishrilal needed fixed capital in the form of the sugar cane crushing machine, working capital in the form of money for buying sugar cane from other farmers for crushing, and for paying the electricity bill of running the crushing machine.

2. The labour is provided by Mishrilal himself and his family members.

3. Mishrilal has set up a small-scale unit. He has to pay for the electricity to run the machine. As a result, he is unable to increase his profit.

4. If his crushing machine becomes defective or if there is a drought, he might face a loss.

5. Shahpur is a town where traders come from different nearby villages to buy things and there is more demand for jaggery there. So, Mishrilal sells his jaggery to traders in Shahpur and not in his village where he might get a low price for his product.

Lets’s Discuss, NCERT Textbook Page 12-B

Question 1.

In what ways are Kareem’s capital and labour different from Mishrilal’s?
Why didn’t someone start a computer centre earlier? Discuss the possible reasons.

Answer:

Unlike Mishrilal, Kareem has a larger fixed capital in the form of computers. Computers are more expensive than Mishrilal’s sugar cane crushing machine. The labour employed by Kareem is also different from that of Mishrilal’s. Kareem has employed educated and qualified computer teachers whereas Mishrilal’s labour is unskilled.
There may be several reasons behind it. A few of them are:
- Educated people did not want to stay in the village.
- People in the village were not aware of the employment potential of computer courses. So nobody thought that such a business could be successful.

Lets’s Discuss, Textbook Page-13

Question 1.

What is Kishora’s fixed capital?
What do you think would be his working capital?
In how many production activities is Kishora involved?
Would you say that Kishora has benefited from better roads in Palampur?

Answer:

Kishora’s fixed capital is the buffalo and wooden cart which he has purchased with the bank loan.
The money that he earns from selling the milk and transporting goods on his bullock cart minus his own living expenses is his working capital.
Kishora is involved in four production activities:
- Selling of buffalo’s milk.
- Transporting of various items.
- Bringing clay from the river Ganga for the potter.
- Going to Shahpur with a load of jaggery or other commodities.
Kishora has definitely benefited from better roads in Palampur because he is involved in the transport business. Better roads would enable him to carry on his business more successfully and more comfortably. There may be fair chances of earning good profit.

Class 9 Economics Chapter 1 The Story of Village Palampur Textbook Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Every village in India is surveyed once in ten years during the census and some of the details are presented in the following format. Fill up the following based on information on Palampur.
(a) Location
(b) Total Area of the Village
(c) Land Use (In Hectares)

Cultivated Land		Land not available for cultivation (Area covering dwelling roads, ponds, grazing ground)
Irrigated	Unirrigated
		26 hectares

(d) Facilities:

Educational
Medical
Market
Electricity Supply
Communication
Nearest Town

Answer:
(a) Location: Palampur is located 3 km from Raiganj which is a big village. The nearest town is Shahpur. It is well-connected with neighbouring villages and towns. An all-weather road connects the village to Raiganj and further on to the nearest small town of Shahpur.

(b) The Total Area of the Village: The total area of village Palampur is 246 hectares.

Cultivated Land		Land not available for cultivation (Area covering dwelling roads, ponds, grazing ground)
Irrigated	Unirrigated
200 hectares	20 hectares	26 hectares

(d) Facilities:

Educational	Palampur has two primary schools and one high school.
Medical	There is a primary health centre run by the government and one private dispensary where the sick are treated.
Market	There are general stores in the village selling a wide range of items like rice, wheat, sugar, etc. There are also small shops selling eatables.
Electricity Supply	Most of the houses in village Palampur have electric connections. Electricity powers all the tubewells in the fields and is used in various types of small businesses.
Communication	Palampur has a well-developed system of roads and transport.
Nearest Town	Shahpur

Question 2.
Modern farming methods require more inputs which are manufactured in industry. Do you agree?
Answer:
Yes. I agree with the statement.

In modern farming, farmers use HYV seeds, insecticides, pesticides, and chemical fertilizers which are manufactured in industries.
Farmers also use various types of farm machinery like tractors, combine harvesters, threshers, etc., which are also manufactured in industries.
Whenever there is not adequate rainfall, farmers take the help of tubewells and water pumps for irrigating their fields. These machines are also manufactured in industries.

Question 3.
How did the spread of electricity help farmers in Palampur?
Answer:

The spread of electricity helped the farmers of Palampur to irrigate their lands in a far better way. Earlier they used to irrigate their lands with the help of Persian wheels, which was not so effec¬tive. But now with the help of electricity, they could irrigate much larger areas in lesser time.
With the improved irrigation system as a result of the use of electricity, farmers could grow different crops around the year. They did not have to depend on the monsoon which is so uncertain.
Farmers of Palampur as a result of the use of electricity got rid of much manual labour, anxieties, etc. They were now more empowered than before.

Question 4.
Is it important to increase the are an under irrigation? Why?
Answer:
Yes, it is very important to increase the area under irrigation. There are several reasons behind it:

Monsoon in India is highly uncertain and therefore farmers cannot depend on it. They have to make alternative arrangements to carry on their agricultural activities. This they do by developing a system of irrigation.
In our country, rainfall is not evenly distributed. There are many areas which receive scanty rainfall. In these areas, production will be low if there is no facility for irrigation.
A well-developed system of irrigation will enable farmers to grow more than one crop in a year. This will improve their financial condition.

Question 5.
Constructs a table on the distribution of land among the 450 families of Palampur.
Answer:
Here is the distribution of land among the 450 families of Palampur:

1. Families with no land (mainly Dalits)	150 families
2. Families with land less than 2 hectares	240 families
3. Families with land more than 2 hectares	60 families
Total	450 families

Question 6.
Why are the wages for farm labourers in Palampur less than minimum wages?
Answer:
The minimum wage for a farm labourer set by the government is ₹ 115 (April 2011) per day. But in Palampur, the poor farm labourers usually get less than this because there is heavy competition for work among them. So they agree to work for lower wages.

Question 7.
In your region, talk to two labours. 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?
Answer:

One day I came across two labourers namely Babulal and Ramjilal who are brothers working as casual labourers at a construction site. They came to the new place in search of employment.
They get approximately 90 to 100 rupees per day which they are paid in cash.
They do not get work regularly because the number of workers seeking employment is so great.
They are under the burden of huge debt because firstly they get low wages and secondly their work is not regular.

Question 8.
What are the different ways of increasing production on the same piece of land? Use examples to explain.
Answer:
1. 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 potatoes as the third crop in the past fifteen to twenty years.

2. The other way is to use modern farming methods for higher yield. Yield is measured as a crop produced on a given piece of land during a single season.

3. Farmers of Punjab, Haryana, and Western Uttar Pradesh were the first to try out the modern farming method in India. The farmers in these regions set up tubewells for irrigation and made use of HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides in farming.

4. Some of them bought farm machinery like tractors and threshers, which made ploughing and harvesting faster. They were rewarded with high yields of wheat.

Question 9.
Describe the work of a farmer with 1 hectare of land.
Answer:
1. A farmer with 1 hectare of the land finds it difficult to provide food for his family. He works hard in his own field and also works on the field of the rich farmers for additional income. Sometimes he has to work as a casual labourer to survive.

2. Since he lacks money, so he faces many problems in carrying out his job. He has no irrigation facilities which badly affects the productivity of his land.

3. He has no working capital as a result of which he fails to buy modern machinery, HYV seeds, or insecticides, and pesticides.

4. In order to manage the capital, he has to 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. He is put in great distress to repay the loan. Sometimes he falls into a debt trap.

Question 10.
How do the medium and large farmers obtain capital for farming? How is it different from the small farmers?
Answer:
The medium and large farmers are capable enough to use their own savings from production to arrange for capital during the next season. They might also use the savings to buy cattle, trucks, or to set up shops. These constitute the capital for non-farm activities.

The small farmers, on the other hand, find it difficult to obtain capital. They constitute about 80 percent of total farmers in India. Because of the small size of their plots, their production is not enough. The lack of surplus means that they are unable to obtain capital from their own savings and to borrow. Besides the debt, many of the small farmers have to do additional work as farm labourers to feed themselves and their families.

Question 11.
On what terms did Savita get a loan from Tejpal Singh? Would Savita’s condition be different if she could get a loan from the bank at a low rate of interest?
Answer:
1. Savita is a small farmer. She plans to cultivate wheat on her one hectare of land. Besides seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides, she needs cash to buy water and repair her farm instruments.

2. Since she doesn’t have money, so she decides to borrow from Tejpal Singh, who is a big farmer. Tejpal Singh agrees to give Savita the loan at an interest rate of 24 percent for four months, which is a very high-interest rate.

3. Savita also has to promise to work on his field as a farm labourer during the harvest season at ₹ 35 per day. Obviously, this wage is quite low. If Savita had taken the loan from the bank, the interest rate would have been lower and she could have easily repaid the loan and her condition would have been far better. But Savita knows getting a loan from the bank is difficult for a small farmer like her. So she agrees to Tejpal’s tough conditions and is bound to face difficulties.

Question 12.
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)
Answer:
Recently I met some old residents in my region and talked to them about the changes in irrigation and changes in production methods during the last 30 years. They told me that earlier they were totally dependent on rainfall as there were no other means of irrigation.

Later on, they started to use the Persian wheels to draw water from the wells and irrigate small fields. Eventually, several technological developments took place as a result of which electric run tubewells came into existence. These tube wells could irrigate much larger areas of land more effectively. The first few tubewells were installed by the government. Soon, farmers started setting up private tubewells.

In the farming methods, traditionally they ploughed the field with ploughs drawn by bullocks which were time-consuming. They used cow-dung and other natural manure as fertilizers. However, with changes in technology, they started using HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides to produce the best results. Some of them bought modern farm machinery like tractors and threshers, which made ploughing and harvesting faster. They were rewarded with high yields, which eventually improved their lives.

Question 13.
What are the non-farm production activities taking place in your region? Make a shortlist.
Answer:

Dairy is a common activity in many families in our region.
Some people are engaged in manufacturing which involves very simple production methods and is done on a small scale. They are carried out mostly at home or in the fields with the help of family labour.
Some people have engaged in trade also. The traders of our region are shopkeepers who buy various goods from wholesale markets in the cities and sell them in the villages.
Transport has become a fast developing sector in our region. People engaged in this sector ferry people and goods from one place to another, and in return get paid for it.
There is also a computer class centre in our region providing employment to young men and women who have completed a diploma in computer application.

Question 14.
What can be done so that more non-farm production activities can be started in villages?
Answer:
In order to start more non-farm production activities in villages, the following measures can be taken up:

The government should start employment generating schemes.
Vocational training should be given to the villagers.
Banks should provide loans at cheap interest rates in order to enable the poor villagers to start some business.
Industries should be set up in the villages so that people there get engaged in various activities to earn their livelihood.
There should be effective transportation facilities so that the goods manufactured by the villagers are easily transported to the city markets.