The Story Of Village Palampur

The graph shows that the cultivated area increased regularly till 1970 and became constant for the next four decades. There was some increase between 2000 and 2010 but then again stagnated.

Yes, it is important to increase the area under irrigation because the increase in area under irrigation will be helpful for more and more production which will help to feed the rising population of India.

Difference between multiple cropping and modern farming methods:

For both crops, Green Revolution was not equally successful. We can look at the graph and analyse that in 1965-66, the production of both crops was 10 million tonnes, but after a long gap of 35 years in 2000-01, production of pulses raised to 11 million tonnes and the other crop wheat’s production raised to 70 million tonnes. So it can be said that Green revolution has seen more success in the production of wheat.

HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers, diesel, insecticides and pesticides are required working capital by the farmer using modern farming methods.

The working capital is more in case of modern farming because one needs to employ costly farming techniques and the costs of the modern fertilizers, other chemicals and seeds are also higher than the conventional equipments.

We all know that land is very important for farming. But the sad truth is that not all the people engaged in agriculture have sufficient land for cultivation. In Palampur village about one third of the 450 families are landless, i.e. 150 families, most of them Dalits, have no land for cultivation. Remaining families who own land, 240 families cultivate small plots of land less than 2 hectares in size. This small plot doesn’t bring sufficient income to the farmer family. So, when we look at the picture, it can be seen that around 50 families cultivate on the land which is less than 2 hectares in size.

Yes, we do agree that the distribution is unequal of cultivated lands in Palampur. In Palampur 240 families cultivate small plots of land which is less than 2 hectares in size and on the side there are 60 families who cultivate more than 2 hectares of land. There are few farmers who have land extending over 10 hectares or more. The number of the big farmers is very less while their lands are about half of the total available. This disparity is in accordance with the trends shown at the national level.

So many families cultivate such small plots of land because of the division and sub-division of the same land. Existing land is divided among family members continuously and as a result each member of the family gets smaller plot of the land.

On looking at pie chart, we can observe that in India there are 15 % farmers who have farms less than 2 hectares, these farmers cultivate 55.4% of total cultivated area. On the other side 85% of the total farmers have farms of more than 2 hectares and they cultivate only 44.6% of total cultivated area.

Arranging the work being done on the field:

1. Traditional method of cultivation.

2. Modern method of cultivation.

3. Field ploughing with the help of bullocks.

4. Sowing

5. Spraying of chemical fertilizers and insecticides.

6. Harvesting.

Dala and Ramkali are poor farm labourers because, they don’t own any piece of land for farming, and just work on daily wages. Also, they get far less wages than the minimum daily wages decided by the government. The government has decided the minimum wages for a farm labourer Rs. 60 per day, but they only get Rs. 35-40. People tend to work for lower wages to earn their livelihood, which makes the competition heavy for work among farm labourers.

1. People tend to shift to cities from villages because of lack of work in the rural areas. Urban areas have greater employment opportunities than the villages. Most of the migrants are landless laborers or small farmers who need to constantly search for work when they do not get work in the agricultural sector.

2. (i) Those men who are employed in rural area might be working as household servants in the house od big Zamindaars.

(ii) They might be working as farm labourers.

(iii) In Delhi and other big cities they may be:

(a) Working in small factories.

(b) Working in hotels, grocery stores or garment stores etc.

(c) Rickshaw pulling.

(d) Helping the plumbers, electricians etc.

On comparing the production of wheat by the three farmers over 3 years, we observe that:

(i)The continuous increase in all the three years in the production of wheat of the farmer-1.

(ii) The production of wheat of farmer-2 has been constant in three years. It neither increased nor decreased.

(iii) The continuous decrease in the all the three years in the production of farmer-3.

Farmer 1

Farmer 2

Farmer 3

(i) In 3^rd year, farmer 3 could not produce wheat anymore in accordance with the trends of the three years.

(ii) Yes, production can be continued by him but it would require additional capital input from the farmer’s end.

(iii) The farmer will have to arrange for working capital by borrowing money from the moneylender, banks or some other source, if he wishes to continue production.

1) Sugarcane crushing machine is needed by Mishrilal to set up his jaggery manufacturing unit.

2) His family members and he himself provides the labour in this case.

3) Because of the limited production of sugarcane in his village, he is unable to raise his profit.

4) He might face losses when the price of jaggery falls.

5) Mishrilal sells his jaggery to traders in Shahpur and not in his village because he can earn more in Shahpur comparatively because of the big market of jaggery over there.

1) Kareem’s capital is computer which is fixed capital when on the other side Mishrilal’s capital is sugarcane crushing machine which is his fixed capital. Kareem has hired two women as labourer where Mishrilal’s labour is his own family members, he didn’t need to hire any labour, and he is self-employed.

2) Someone didn’t start a computer centre earlier because of the lack of education and electricity facilities. The other possible reasons could be non-availability of persons of having a degree especially in computer education, less students etc.

1) Buffalo and wooden cart is Kishora’s fixed capital.

2) Money that is being spent on the maintenance of the bullock and the cart is his working capital.

3) Kishora’s involvement is now in three production activities.

4) Yes, Kishora has benefitted from better roads because of better roads in Palampur; he is able to transport different items which will increase his income.

(a) Location : Palampur

(b) Total area of village: 800 hectares

(c) Land used (in hectares) : 700

(d) FACILITIES

Yes, we do agree that modern farming methods require more inputs which are manufactured in industries. The types of tools and inputs required for agriculture are:
1) Machines used in farming,
2) Motors used in tube wells,
3) Electricity,
4) Chemical Fertilizers,
5) Pesticides,
6) petrol and diesel,
7) Tractors, etc.

The spread of electricity has been helpful for the farmers of Palampur in various ways:
(i)Now irrigation of lands can be done in far more better ways. Before Persian wheels were used for the irrigation which was a prolonged process and was not so effective. So, irrigation with the help of electricity will be useful for much larger areas of land and too quite quickly and effectively.
(ii) Because of the better irrigation facilities more and more crops can be grown for one year.

(iii) Electric connection not only helped in improving agriculture but also in running small businesses.

Yes, it is important to increase the area under irrigation.

Increasing the area under cultivation is important for following reasons:

1. Because the rainfall is neither certain nor adequate.

2. Crops such as rice, wheat, sugarcane require adequate and regular supply of water.

3. Plenty of water is needed for HYV seeds.


4. Increase in irrigation facilities will increase the productivity as it will be helpful in growing multiple crops.

Distribution of land among 450 families of Palampur:

The wages of the farm labourers are less than minimum wages because the land is fixed and population is increasing day by day which leads to increase in labour force. As more labour is available, there is an apparent sense of competition amongst the laborers which leads to many of them accepting even the low wages if it guarantees them continued employment.

After having communication with two labourers working at construction sites, we got following information:

1. Their per day earning as wages is Rs. 90.

2. They get their payment in cash.

3. No. their work is not permanent; they don’t have work for every day.

4. They have debts as they take loans from moneylenders in case of any emergencies like illness of family members.

Owning a land of 1 hectare and doing agriculture on it is not enough for the sustenance of the farmer and the family, which makes it mandatory for him/her to try and find extra sources of income. Generally, this stratum of farmers work on their own plot of land and when they are finished with it, they work as labourers on construction sites or fields of the bigger farmers in order to supplement their meagre income from farming own fields.

Savita got a loan from Tejpal Singh on the following terms:

1. Rate of interest is 24% on the loan for four months.

2. She will have to work as a farm labourer during the harvest season at Rs. 35 per day in Tejpal Singh’s field.

Yes, if she applies for the loan from bank then her condition may differ, she could get loan from the bank at a low rate of interest and no other conditions like extra labor on low wages. This could help in improving her financial condition.

I talked to two old residents in my region related to irrigation and method of farming 30 years back. Many changes in irrigation and production methods can be found.

1. Irrigation: The method of irrigation was a very laborious work 30 years back, because Persian wheels were used by the farmers to draw water from the wells and irrigate small fields. But now after 30 years, the tube wells run by electricity could irrigate much larger areas of land and too effectively and quickly. Tube wells were first set up by government, but now farmers have started setting up their private tube wells.

2. Production Method: 30 years back, production activities like sugarcane crushing was done with the help of bullock, but now people prefer to do it by mechanical sugarcane crushing machine which is run on electricity. This has not only increased the efficiency of the process but also helped the farmers in making more profits out of the process.

The list of non-farm production activities in our region:

1. Small scale manufacturing of shoes

2. Readymade garments

3. Some grocery shops are there

4. Cyber café has recently inaugurated

5. People also sells vegetables in market.