Page 272
Introduction - Compare Facilities
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The description above shows that Palampur has fairly well-developed system of roads, transport, electricity, irrigation, schools and health centre. Compare these facilities with those in your nearby village.
• Roads & Transport: Like Palampur, which has all-weather roads connecting to Raiganj and Shahpur, our nearby village is linked to the mandal town by a pucca tar road with regular bus, auto-rickshaw, and tractor connectivity.
• Electricity: Most households and agricultural tubewells receive electric connections, providing essential power for daily living, domestic lighting, and field borewells.
• Schools: The village has one Mandal Parishad Primary School and a Zilla Parishad High School, providing free elementary and secondary schooling.
• Healthcare: It has a government Primary Health Sub-Centre with an ANM visiting regularly, while major medical treatments require traveling to the community hospital in town.
Page 274
Picture 1.2 Activity
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In the picture, identify the land, labour and fixed capital used in production.
• Land: The physical factory building site, workshop floor space, and the natural resources used in setting up the manufacturing facility.
• Labour: The factory workers, machine operators, and manual helpers operating looms and handling materials.
• Fixed Capital: The heavy machinery, weaving equipment, power looms, tools, generators, and the permanent industrial building itself.
Page 276
Land Measurement Comparison
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Can you compare the area of a 1 hectare field with the area of your school ground?
One hectare equals the area of a square with sides of 100 metres, which is 10,000 square metres. A typical standard school playground is approximately 5,000 to 6,000 square metres. Therefore, a 1-hectare field is nearly equal to one and a half to two school playgrounds combined.
Page 278
Let's Discuss & Crop Table
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The following Table 1.1 shows the land under cultivation in India in units of million hectares. Plot this on the graph provided. What does the graph show? Discuss in class.
The data and graph show that the cultivated land area in India increased from 132 million hectares in 1950-51 to 186 million hectares in 1990-91 as wastelands were converted into cultivable fields. However, since the 1990s and through 2016-17, the cultivated area has plateaued and remained virtually stagnant around 196 to 200 million hectares. This demonstrates that land is a fixed and limited natural resource, highlighting that future agricultural growth must rely on raising per-hectare yield through intensive farming and irrigation rather than expanding land area.
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Is it important to increase the area under irrigation? Why?
Yes, it is very important to increase the area under irrigation for the following reasons:
1. Uncertain Rainfall: More than 60% of India's cultivated area still depends on erratic monsoon rains; timely irrigation safeguards crops against droughts and delayed rains.
2. Multiple Cropping: Assured round-the-year water supply enables farmers to grow two or three crops a year (such as rabi wheat and winter potatoes) instead of depending solely on a single rain-fed kharif harvest.
3. Success of Modern Inputs: Modern inputs like High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds and chemical fertilizers require regular, controlled water application to achieve optimum yields. -
You have read about the crops grown in Palampur. Fill the following table based on information on the crops grown in your region.
Name of crop Month sown Month Harvested Source of irrigation (Rain, tanks, tubewells, canals, etc.) Paddy (Rice) June - July November - December Canals and Tubewells Groundnut July - August October - November Rain and Borewells Sugarcane January - February December - January (next year) Tubewells and Canals Black gram / Pulses November - December February - March Residual moisture / Borewells
Page 280
Let's Discuss & Suggested Activities
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What is the difference between multiple cropping and modern farming method?
Point of Difference Multiple Cropping Modern Farming Method 1. Basic Concept Growing more than one crop on the same piece of land during a single year. Using advanced scientific inputs and industrial technology to maximize single-crop yield per hectare. 2. Inputs Used Relies on crop rotation, seasonal cycles, traditional seeds, and assured canal/tubewell water. Requires High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds, chemical fertilizers, chemical pesticides, farm machinery (tractors, threshers), and electric pump sets. -
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 the crops? Discuss.
No, the Green Revolution was not equally successful for both crops.
• Wheat: Production jumped dramatically from 10 million tonnes in 1965-66 to 55 million tonnes in 1990-91, crossing 110 million tonnes by 2020-21. The increase was more than tenfold, earning it the label of a 'Wheat Revolution'.
• Pulses: In sharp contrast, production of pulses rose very sluggishly from 10 million tonnes in 1965-66 to only 14 million tonnes in 1990-91 and about 25-28 million tonnes by 2021-22. Pulses did not benefit from HYV technology to the same extent, leading to lower per capita availability of protein for common consumers. -
What is the working capital required by the farmer using modern farming methods?
Working capital consists of raw materials and liquid cash required during production. For modern farming, this includes:
1. Purchased Inputs: Cash to purchase HYV seeds, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides from the market.
2. Running Expenses: Money to pay electricity bills for tubewells and purchase diesel for tractors and pump sets.
3. Labour and Repairs: Immediate cash to pay wages to hired farm laborers and repair irrigation pumps and farm implements. -
Modern farming methods require the farmer to start with more cash than before. Why?
Under traditional farming methods, farmers relied on farm-produced inputs like stored native seeds, cow-dung manure, and family bullocks, which required little or no monetary purchase. In contrast, modern farming depends almost entirely on factory-manufactured industrial inputs—such as HYV seeds, synthetic fertilizers, chemical insecticides, electric tubewell connections, fuel for tractors, and machinery repairs—all of which must be purchased directly from the market with ready cash before sowing begins.
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Suggested Activity: During your field visit talk to some farmers of your region. Find out:
1. What kind of farming methods — modern or traditional or mixed — do the farmers use? Write a note.
2. What are the sources of irrigation?
3. How much of the cultivated land is irrigated? (very little/nearly half/majority/all)
4. From where do farmers obtain the inputs that they require?• 1. Farming Methods: Most farmers in our locality practice a mixed method; they use tractors for ploughing, hybrid seeds, and chemical fertilizers, but also supplement them with farmyard manure and manual labor for weeding and harvesting.
• 2. Sources of Irrigation: Deep agricultural borewells fitted with electric submersible pumps, village irrigation tanks, and local canal distributor channels.
• 3. Proportion Irrigated: The majority of the cultivated land in the village (roughly 70% to 80%) has access to borewell or tank irrigation.
• 4. Procurement of Inputs: Farmers purchase seeds, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides from local Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS), Rythu Bharosa Kendras, or licensed agricultural dealers in the nearby town. -
Suggested Activity: After reading the following reports from newspapers/magazines, write a letter to the Agriculture Minister in your own words telling him how the use of chemical fertilisers can be harmful.
To: The Honorable Minister for Agriculture
Subject: Urgent need to address adverse impacts of excessive chemical fertilizer usage
Respected Sir,
I wish to draw your attention to the serious environmental and economic damage caused by the continuous, indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers. While chemical fertilizers provide readily soluble nutrients to crops, they escape into drainage channels and pollute groundwater, village ponds, and rivers. Continuous application destroys friendly soil bacteria and earthworms, causing long-term degradation of natural soil fertility.
In states like Punjab, farmers are compelled to apply ever-higher doses of fertilizer to maintain the same yields, drastically raising input costs. I urge your ministry to formulate policies promoting balanced soil nutrient testing, subsidizing organic compost and bio-fertilizers, and educating farmers on regenerative sustainable agriculture to safeguard our soil health for future generations.
Yours sincerely,
A Concerned Citizen
Page 284
Let's Discuss (Land Distribution & Farming Operations)
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In the Picture 1.5, can you shade the land cultivated by the small farmers?
Small farmers cultivate the dense, fragmented mosaic of small, tiny plots (measuring less than 2 hectares) clustered unevenly around the edges of the village, which occupy less than half the total cultivated village land.
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Why do so many families of farmers cultivate such small plots of land?
Land becomes fragmented over successive generations due to inheritance laws and family partitions. As shown in the story of Gobind, when a farmer with 2.25 hectares passes away, his land is divided equally among his three sons, leaving each with only 0.75 hectare. With expanding rural population and limited non-farm employment alternatives, repeated generational division reduces land parcels into tiny, economically unviable plots.
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Would you agree that the distribution of cultivated land is unequal in Palampur? Do you find a similar situation for India? Explain.
Yes, the distribution of cultivated land in Palampur is highly unequal:
• Out of 450 families, 150 families (one-third, mostly dalits) are completely landless.
• 240 small farmer families cultivate small plots of less than 2 hectares.
• Only 60 medium and large families own and cultivate more than half of the entire village land, with some owning over 10 hectares.
Similar Situation in India: As illustrated in Graph 1.1, a strikingly similar pattern exists across India: 85% of all farmers are marginal and small farmers owning only 44.6% of the cultivated land, whereas just 15% of medium and large farmers control 55.4% of the total cultivated area. -
Identify the work being done on the field in the Pictures 1.6 and arrange them in a proper sequence.
1. Ploughing: Preparing the soil using bullocks and traditional wooden ploughs, or modern tractors.
2. Sowing: Sowing and scattering seeds across the ploughed soil.
3. Spraying: Spraying insecticides and pesticides using backpack sprayers to protect standing crops.
4. Harvesting & Threshing: Cutting ripe wheat stalks manually using sickles or modern combine harvesters, followed by threshing grain from chaff.
Page 288
Let's Discuss (Dala, Ramkali & Migration)
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Why are farm labourers like Dala and Ramkali poor?
1. Landlessness: They own no land of their own and depend completely on daily agricultural wage employment.
2. Labor Surplus & Competition: The large number of landless workers in the village creates severe competition for work, forcing laborers to accept wages as low as ₹160 per day, far below the government-notified minimum wage of ₹300 per day.
3. Seasonal Unemployment: Modern farm machinery (tractors, threshers, harvesters) has reduced manual labor requirements, leaving farm hands without work for many months of the year. -
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?
• Why people migrate: Lack of sufficient agricultural land, absence of local non-farm industries, low wages, and prolonged seasonal unemployment compel rural workers to migrate to urban industrial centers in search of higher earnings and year-round livelihoods.
• Work done at destination: In Punjab and Haryana, they work as seasonal agricultural laborers for transplantation and harvesting. In major metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Surat, Hyderabad, and Nagpur, they work as construction site laborers, brick-kiln workers, auto and rickshaw drivers, factory helpers in textile and diamond polishing units, security guards, or street vendors.
Page 290
Let's Discuss the Story so Far... (Fill in the Blanks)
- Among the three factors of production, we found that labour is the most abundant factor of production. There are many people who are willing to work as farm labourers in the villages, whereas the opportunities of work are limited. They belong to either landless families or families cultivating small plots of land. They are paid low wages, and lead a difficult life.
- In contrast to labour, land is a scarce factor of production. Cultivated land area is fixed. Moreover, even the existing land is distributed unequally among the people engaged in farming. There are a large number of small farmers who cultivate small plots of land and live in conditions not much better than the landless farm labourer. To make the maximum use of the existing land, farmers use multiple cropping and modern farming methods. Both these have led to increase in production of crops.
- Modern farming methods require a great deal of capital. Small farmers usually need to borrow money to arrange for the capital, and are put to great distress to repay the loan. Therefore, capital too is a scarce factor of production, particularly for the small farmers.
- Though both land and capital are scarce, there is a basic difference between the two factors of production. Land is a natural resource, whereas capital is man-made. It is possible to increase capital, whereas land is fixed. Therefore, it is very important that we take good care of land and other natural resources used in farming.
Page 292
Let's Discuss - Three Farmers Wheat Production
Farmer 1
| Year | Production | Consumption | Surplus = Production - Consumption | Capital for next year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 100 | 40 | 60 | 60 |
| Year 2 | 120 | 40 | 80 | 80 |
| Year 3 | 160 | 40 | 120 | 120 |
Farmer 2
| Year | Production | Consumption | Surplus | Capital for next year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 80 | 40 | 40 | 40 |
| Year 2 | 80 | 40 | 40 | 40 |
| Year 3 | 80 | 40 | 40 | 40 |
Farmer 3
| Year | Production | Consumption | Surplus | Capital for next year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 60 | 40 | 20 | 20 |
| Year 2 | 40 | 40 | 0 | 0 |
| Year 3 | 0 | 40 | -40 | 0 |
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Compare the production of wheat by the three farmers over the years. What happens to Farmer 3 in Year 3? Can he continue production? What will he have to do to continue production?
• Comparison: Farmer 1 generates an increasing surplus each year (60 → 80 → 120), building higher capital and expanding production. Farmer 2 maintains a steady production of 80 with a constant surplus of 40. Farmer 3 experiences declining production (60 → 40 → 0) as his surplus falls to zero by Year 2.
• Farmer 3 in Year 3: In Year 3, Farmer 3 has zero capital and cannot produce any wheat. He cannot continue production on his own savings.
• What he must do: To continue production, Farmer 3 must borrow capital at high interest rates from a moneylender or large farmer, or work as a wage laborer on another person's farm to save money for inputs.
Page 294
Let's Discuss (Mishrilal & Kareem)
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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?
• Capital: Fixed capital includes the mechanical sugarcane crushing machine and processing pans; working capital includes cash to buy raw sugarcane from other farmers and electricity charges.
• Labour: Mishrilal and his family members provide the labor.
• Why unable to increase profit: His scale of operation is small, local sugarcane availability is limited, machine crushing capacity is small, and wholesale traders in Shahpur dictate prices.
• When he might face a loss: If sugarcane prices spike, electricity supply is frequently interrupted, jaggery market rates drop, or stored jaggery gets spoiled during monsoon.
• Why sell in Shahpur: Palampur has limited local demand for jaggery since many families make their own or consume little, whereas Shahpur town has a large wholesale market with commercial traders who distribute to wider regions. -
In what ways is Kareem's capital and labour different from Mishrilal's? Why didn't someone start a computer centre earlier? Discuss the possible reasons.
• Differences: Kareem's fixed capital consists of electronic computers, monitors, desks, and teaching aids, whereas Mishrilal's is a mechanical crushing unit. Kareem employs educated, highly skilled labor (two local women with degrees in computer applications), while Mishrilal uses manual family labor.
• Why not started earlier: In previous years, very few rural students attended college in town, awareness of computer literacy was low, electricity supply was irregular, and skilled educated trainers were not readily available in the village.
Page 296
Let's Discuss (Kishora)
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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 benefitted from better roads in Palampur?
• Fixed Capital: The domestic buffalo and the wooden cart attached to it.
• Working Capital: Cash in hand to purchase fodder for the buffalo, pay cart maintenance expenses, and pay river ghat toll fees.
• Production Activities: Three distinct activities: (1) Agricultural labor, (2) Dairying (selling buffalo milk in Raiganj), and (3) Transport services (ferrying clay for the potter and jaggery to Shahpur).
• Benefit from roads: Yes, the pucca all-weather road connecting Palampur to Raiganj and Shahpur allows Kishora to operate his cart smoothly throughout the year without getting stuck during rainy seasons, enabling regular commercial transport trips.
Page 298 & 300
Exercises 1 to 14
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1. Every village in India is surveyed once in ten years during the Census and some of details are presented in the following format. Fill up the following based on information on Palampur.
a. LOCATION: Bulandshahr District, Western Uttar Pradesh (3 km from Raiganj, near Shahpur town).
b. TOTAL AREA OF THE VILLAGE: 226 hectares (200 ha cultivated + 26 ha non-cultivated).
c. LAND USE (in hectares):Cultivated Land (Irrigated) Cultivated Land (Unirrigated) Land not available for cultivation (Dwellings, roads, ponds, grazing ground) 200 hectares 0 hectares 26 hectares
d. FACILITIES:
• Educational: 2 Primary Schools and 1 High School; one private computer training centre.
• Medical: 1 Primary Health Centre run by government and 1 private dispensary.
• Market: Raiganj (big neighbouring village) and Shahpur (nearest small town).
• Electricity Supply: Connected to most houses; powers all agricultural tubewells and small businesses.
• Communication: Telephone connections, road transport services, and postal connectivity.
• Nearest Town: Shahpur. -
2. Modern farming methods require more inputs which are manufactured in industry. Do you agree?
Yes, I agree. Unlike traditional agriculture which utilized on-farm natural inputs like saved indigenous seeds and cow-dung manure, modern farming relies heavily on industrial products:
1. Chemical fertilizers (urea, NPK, superphosphate) manufactured in chemical factories.
2. Synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and insecticides produced in agrochemical plants.
3. Farm machinery such as tractors, threshers, and combine harvesters manufactured in engineering industries.
4. Electric tubewell pumps, PVC pipes, and diesel fuel manufactured in industrial sectors. -
3. How did the spread of electricity help farmers in Palampur?
1. Transformed Irrigation: Replaced slow, animal-drawn Persian wheels with electric-run tubewells that irrigate much larger areas of land quickly and efficiently.
2. Facilitated Multiple Cropping: Enabled assured round-the-year irrigation, allowing farmers to cultivate three crops a year (kharif jowar/bajra, winter potatoes, and rabi wheat).
3. Promoted Small-scale Enterprise: Powered non-farm machines like Mishrilal's mechanical sugarcane crusher, improving village productivity. -
4. Is it important to increase the area under irrigation? Why?
Yes, increasing the area under irrigation is crucial because:
1. Indian monsoons are erratic and seasonal; assured irrigation prevents crop failure during dry spells.
2. Modern HYV seeds and chemical fertilizers produce optimal yields only when accompanied by controlled water supply.
3. It allows double and triple cropping on the same plot, increasing total food production from limited cultivable land. -
5. Construct a table on the distribution of land among the 450 families of Palampur.
Category of Families Number of Families Land Cultivated Landless Labourers (mostly Dalits) 150 0 hectares (No land) Small Farmers 240 Less than 2 hectares Medium and Large Farmers 60 More than 2 hectares (a few over 10 ha) Total 450 200 hectares -
6. Why are the wages for farm labourers in Palampur less than minimum wages?
There is severe competition for employment among the large number of landless farm laborers in Palampur. Because the available workforce far exceeds the limited seasonal job opportunities, workers underbid each other and voluntarily agree to work for lower wages (₹160 per day) rather than remain without work, despite the government minimum wage being set at ₹300 per day.
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7. 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?
• Wages & Mode: Construction and farm laborers in our area earn around ₹350 to ₹400 per day, paid in cash at the end of the day or week.
• Regularity of Work: Employment is irregular; they find work for only 15 to 20 days in a month depending on building phases and crop harvesting schedules.
• Debt: Both laborers are under debt from local moneylenders and grocers, taken to meet family medical emergencies, children's school fees, and daily expenses during non-working months. -
8. What are the different ways of increasing production on the same piece of land? Use examples to explain.
1. Multiple Cropping: Growing more than one crop on the same plot during a year. For example, in Palampur farmers grow jowar and bajra during rainy kharif, potatoes as a third crop between October and December, and wheat during winter rabi.
2. Modern Farming Methods: Using high-yielding variety (HYV) seeds, assured tubewell irrigation, chemical fertilizers, and insecticides. For example, wheat yields in Palampur rose from 1,300 kg per hectare using traditional seeds to 3,200 kg per hectare with HYV inputs. -
9. Describe the work of a farmer with 1 hectare of land.
A farmer with 1 hectare of land is categorized as a small farmer (like Savita or Gobind's sons). The farmer and family members do all the field work themselves—ploughing, sowing, weeding, and harvesting. Due to lack of savings, the farmer must borrow working capital from moneylenders at steep interest rates. The total harvest is barely sufficient for family consumption, leaving no marketable surplus. Consequently, the farmer must also work as a daily wage laborer on large farms during harvest time to make ends meet.
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10. How do the medium and large farmers obtain capital for farming? How is it different from the small farmers?
• Medium and Large Farmers: They own large holdings producing substantial crop surpluses (like Tejpal Singh's 350 quintals of wheat). Selling this surplus in markets generates large cash profits, which they save in banks. They use these accumulated savings to arrange working capital for next season, buy new equipment, or lend money at interest.
• Difference from Small Farmers: Small farmers produce very little surplus from their tiny plots, leaving no savings. Unlike large farmers, small farmers must borrow capital from village moneylenders or large landowners at very high interest rates and agree to harsh repayment conditions. -
11. On what terms did Savita get a loan from Tajpal Singh? Would Savitas condition be different if she could get a loan from the bank at a low rate of interest?
• Terms of Loan: Tejpal Singh gave Savita a loan of ₹3,000 at a very high interest rate of 24% for four months. In addition, Savita was forced to promise to work on Tejpal Singh's fields as a farm laborer during the peak harvest season at a very low wage of ₹100 per day.
• If She Got a Bank Loan: Savita's condition would have been much better. The bank would have charged a reasonable, regulated rate of interest, flexible repayment terms, and would not have tied her down to work at exploitative daily wages on another farm, allowing her to devote full time to her own fields and family. -
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)
Report on Changes in Agriculture Over 30 Years:
Older residents recall that thirty years ago, farming was predominantly dependent on seasonal rains, open wells, and bullock-drawn water lifts. Cultivation was performed using wooden ploughs and farmyard manure with low yields. Over the past three decades, electric and solar borewells have replaced traditional wells, ensuring uninterrupted irrigation. Wooden ploughs have given way to tractors and mechanical harvesters, and native seeds have been replaced by hybrid seeds and chemical inputs, leading to multi-fold yield increases alongside rising input expenses and falling groundwater levels. -
13. What are the non-farm production activities taking place in your region? Make a short list.
• Dairy farming and milk collection centres
• Small-scale agro-processing (rice mills, flour mills, oil expellers)
• Transport operations (auto-rickshaws, tractors, mini-trucks)
• Retail shopkeeping (kirana general stores, cloth and fertilizer shops)
• Tailoring and garment alteration units
• Construction, carpentry, brick kilns, and masonry work
• Computer, xerox, and mobile phone recharge centres -
14. What can be done so that more non-farm production activities can be started in villages?
1. Cheap Institutional Credit: Provide low-interest bank loans and microfinance without cumbersome collateral so that poor villagers can start small enterprises.
2. Skill Development: Establish rural vocational training centers in tailoring, electrical repairs, food processing, and digital skills.
3. Infrastructure Connectivity: Construct all-weather roads and ensure uninterrupted electricity supply to power workshops and cold storages.
4. Market Linkages: Develop transport and market facilities connecting villages to nearby towns so rural producers can sell goods directly to wider consumers.
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