The Story of Village Palampur Important Questions Class 9 Social Science Economics
Very Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1. What is the disadvantage in using chemical fertilizers in modern farming methods?
Answer
The chemicals kill bacteria and microbes, which are essential for soil fertility.
Question 2. What was the major advantage of using HYV seeds in agriculture?
Answer
The major advantage of using HYV seeds in agriculture is growing more crops on the same piece of land.
Question 3. What does ‘yield’ mean?
Answer
Yield is measured as crop produced on a given piece of land during a single season.
Question 4. What are the different types of production activities in the village?
Answer
There are two types of production activities in the village-
- farming and,
- non-farm activities. The non-farm activities include small manufacturing, transport and shop-keeping.
Question 5. Name the Indian states who were first to try out the modern farming methods in India.
Answer
Farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh were first to try out modern farming methods in India.
Question 6. How did Green Revolution benefit the Indian farmer?
Answer
The Green Revolution in late 1960’s introduced the Indian farmer to high yielding variety of seeds to produce much greater amount of grain on a single plant.
Question 7. Define factors of production.
Answer
The various inputs required to produce goods and services are called as factors of production. There are mainly four factors of production: land, labour,’ physical capital and human capital.
Question 8. Which state of India has highest consumption of chemical fertilizer in India?
Answer
Punjab has highest consumption of chemical fertilizer in India.
Question 9. What is the main economic activity in village Palampur?
Answer
The main economic activity in village Palampur is agriculture.
Question 10. Name the non-farm activities of Palampur?
Answer
Dairy farming, small scale manufacturing, trade, shop keeping and providing transport services.
Question 11. What is human capital?
Answer
The knowledge and enterprise required to put together land, labour and physical capital to produce an output either for self-consumption or for sale in the market is called as human capital.
Question 12. During which season do farmers of Palampur grow jowar and bajra?
Answer
During rainy season (kharif) farmers of Palampur grow jowar and bajra.
Question 13. In 2003, the area cultivated by small farmers in India was how much percentage of the total cultivated area?
Answer
The area cultivated by small farmers in India was 36 per cent of the total cultivated area.
Question 14. Define multiple cropping.
Answer
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.
Question 15. What are the non-farming activities being carried out in Palampur?
Answer
Some of the non-farming activities being carried out in Palampur include manufacturing, transport, shop keeping and computer education.
Question 16. What is surplus?
Answer
The produce left over after self-consumption is called as surplus. This surplus is brought Over to the market for sale.
Question 17. Sugarcane crushing undertaken in the village is what type of activity?
Answer
Sugarcane crushing undertaken in the village is the first step in manufacture of jaggery from raw sugarcane. Thus, it is a manufacturing activity.
Short Answer Type Questions
Question 1. How is dairy farming practiced in Palampur?
Answer
Many families sell the milk of their buffalos, in nearby village Raiganj. Traders of Shahpur town have set up collection cum chilling centers at Raiganj from where the milk is transported to far away towns and cities.
Question 2. State the various ways of growing more crop from the same land by the people of Palampur.
Answer
To grow more than one crop on a piece of land during the year:
(i) Modern farming methods like HYV seeds, pesticides, chemical fertilizers, etc. were used.
(ii) Green Revolution in the late 1960s introduced to the farmers, the cultivation of wheat and rice by using high yielding variety seeds.
Question 3. What kind of manufacturing units are set up in Palampur?
Answer
Manufacturing in Palampur involves very simple production methods and is done on a small scale. It is carried out mostly at home or in the fields with the help of family labour.
Question 4. How did the spread of electricity help farmers in Palampur?
Answer
- Electricity enabled the use of tubewells which improved the system of irrigation, leading to more yield, more income and further investment.
- Shops, sugarcane machines, small-scale industries and computer centers were introduced by the farmers to get supplement income.
Question 5. Distinguish between fixed capital and working capital.
Answer
The physical capital which can be used in production over many years is called as fixed capital. For example: tools, machines and buildings. On the other hand, the physical capital which gets completely used up during the production process is called as working capital. For example: raw materials and money in hand.
Question 6. Describe the condition of landless farmer like Dala, of Palampur village.
Answer
Dala is a landless farm laborer who works on daily wages in Palampur. This means he must regularly look for work. The minimum wages for a farm laborer set by the government is 115 per day, but Dala gets only 80. There is heavy competition for work among the farm laborers in Palampur. So, people agree to work for lower wages.
Question 7. Why didn’t someone start a computer centre earlier? Discuss the possible reasons.
Answer
Reasons why someone didn’t start a computer centre may be any of the following:
- As very few educated people were there in the village, there was not any demand for computer courses.
- The villagers were not aware of the employment potential of computer courses and so nobody thought that such a business could be successful.
- Teaching faculty for computer courses was not available in the village earlier.
Question 8. What is the main constraint on land?
Answer
In villages, farming is the main production activity. Most of the people are dependent on fanning for their livelihood. The well being of these people is closely related to production in the farms. The farm production depends upon the land area under cultivation. But there is one constraint on it.
Land area under cultivation is practically fixed. There has been no expansion in land area under cultivation since 1960. By then, some of the wastelands in the village had been converted to cultivable land. There exists no further scope to increase farm production by bringing new land under cultivation.
Question 9. Is it important to increase the area under irrigation? Why?
Answer
Yes, it is important to increase the area under irrigation because water is very essential for agriculture. In India, the rainfall is unevenly distributed in the country and if rainfall is less, then production will be low, and they will be only able to grow one crop in a season.
Question 10. Which crop out of sugarcane, bajra or wheat are kharif crops?
Answer
Bajra is a rapid growing warm weather crop suitable for areas with 40 to 75 cm of annual rainfall. Thus, it is suitable for the kharif season, which is between July and October. Wheat is not suitable for warm weather and sugarcane requires a full year to grow.
Question 11. Which farmers out of landless farmers, small farmers or medium and large farmers, hire labour to work in the fields?
Answer
Landless farmers are hired as laborers are hired. Small farmers do not need additional labour, as they work with their family members in the fields. Only the medium and large farmers have extensive work, which makes them hire additional labour.
Question 12. How do chemical fertilizers affect the soil?
Answer
Chemical fertilizers provide minerals which dissolve in water and are immediately available to plants. But these may not be retained in the soil for long. They may escape from the soil and pollute groundwater, rivers and lakes.
Question 13. List the changes in Palampur due to the advent of electric power in the village.
Answer
The advent of electric power in Palampur has brought about the following changes:
- Irrigation is now done through electric run tube wells, which has reduced the dependence of the farmers upon rainfall and enables larger areas of land to be irrigated.
- Irrigation improvement allowed farmers to grow three different crops in a year.
- It enabled Mishrilal to set up a sugarcane crushing machine so that he can sell jaggery manufactured by him to the traders at Shahpur.
Long Answer Type Questions
Question 1. Briefly explain the four factors of production.
Answer
Every production is organized by combining land, labour, physical capital and human capital which are known as factors of production.
These factors are explained below:
- Land: If is the first requirement for production of goods and services. The land required for farm activities is practically fixed.
- Labour: The second requirement is labour i.e. people who will do the work. Some activities require highly educated workers like banking and some require workers, for manual work, for example, carpenter.
- Physical capital: Physical capital es the variety of inputs required at every stage dur¬ing production. For example: tools, building, raw materials etc. Physical capital is of two types: fixed capital and working capital.
- Human capital: The knowledge and enterprise required to put together land, labour and physical capital for producing an output either for self-consumption or to sell in the market is called, as human cap.
Question 2. What are the different ways of increasing production? Give examples.
Answer
The different ways of increasing production are:
(i) Multiple cropping: Under this method, more than one crop is raised on the same piece of land during a year. It is the most common way of increasing production on a given piece of land. It is possible if a well-developed system of irrigation exists. Generally, a crop like potato is cultivated between two seasonal crops like rice and wheat.
(ii) Modern farming methods: Under modern farming methods, high yielding variety of seeds and chemicals are used.
- High Yielding Variety (HYV) seeds are used in place of the traditional seeds to increase the production.
- Chemical fertilizers are used instead of cow-dung and natural manure.
- Insecticides, pesticides, herbicides and irrigation through tubewells are sed in modern farming methods.
- Machines like tractors, harvesters and threshers are used to make the farmer’s job easier and faster.
Question 3. What is the condition of non-farm sector in villages? How can these activities be increased?
Answer
The non-farm activities include small manufacturing, transport shop-keeping etc. At present, the non-farm sector in the village is not very large. Out of every 100 workers in the rural areas in, India, only 24 are engaged in non-farm activities. Though there is a Variety of non-farm activities in the village, the number of people employed in each is quite small.
Unlike farming, non-farm activities require little land. People with some amount of capital can set up non-farm activities. The capital required can be mobilised either from one’s own savings or by taking a loan. It is important that loan be available at low rate of interest so that even people without savings can start some non-farm activities.
Another thing which is essential for non-farm activities is to have market where the goods and services can be sold. As more villages get connected to towns and cities through good roads, transport and telephone, it is possible that the opportunities for non-farm activities production in the village would increase in the coming years.
Question 4. What are the merits and demerits of the Green Revolution?
Answer
Merits of the Green Revolution: Green Revolution introduced a number of modern farming methods in India.
- Higher yield due to the use of HYV seeds.
- Machines like harvesters, tractors and threshers have made ploughing and harvesting faster and easier.
- Higher yield enabled farmers to sell the surplus food in the market and earn more.
- Pesticides and insecticides are able to protect the crops from pests and insects.
- A good irrigation system is able to enhance crop production.
Demerits of the Green Revolution
- 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.
- The chemical fertilizers, easily soluble in water, can dissolve in the groundwater and pollute it.
- They can kill bacteria and other micro-organisms helpful for the soil.
- Excessive use of fertilizers can also make the soil alkaline and unfit for cultivation.
Question 5. Write a short note on green revolution.
Answer
The green revolution started in India in the late 1960’s It introduced the Indian farmer to cultivation of wheat and rice using high yielding varieties of seeds (HYV). These seeds give much greater amounts of grain on a Single plant as compared to traditional seeds.
As a result the same piece of land would now produce for larger quantities of foodgrains ‘than was possible earlier. HYV seeds, however, needed plenty of water, chemical fertilizers and pesticides to produce best results.
Higher yields were possible only from a combination. of HYV seeds, irrigation, chemical fertilisers, pesticides etc. Farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh were the first to try out the modem farming method in India. The farmers in these regions set up tube wells for irrigation and made use of HYV seeds, chemical fertilisers and pesticides. Some of them also bought farm machineries like tractors and threshers. They were rewarded with high yields of wheat.
But green revolution did not come without negative effects. Scientific reports indicated that modern farming methods have overused the natural resource base. In many areas there was loss of soil fertility due to increased use of chemical fertilizers. The continuous use of groundwater for tubewell irrigation has reduced the wafer table below the ground. This is a huge loss. Therefore, one must take care of the environment to ensure future development of agriculture.
Question 6. What are the main factors for production of goods and services?
Answer
- The first requirement is land and other natural resources like water, forests, minerals, etc.
- The second requirement is labor, i.e., the people who will do the work. Some activities require educated workers to perform the necessary task and other activities require workers who can do manual work.
- The third requirement is physical capital, i.e., the variety of inputs required at every stage during production. It includes fixed capital and working capital.
- Fourth requirement-knowledge and entrepreneur.