THE STORY OF VILLAGE PALAMPUR [VSA]

THE STORY OF VILLAGE PALAMPUR

Overview

The purpose of the story is ………………………………………… and this we do through ……………………………. called Palampur.

………………….. is the main activity in Palampur, whereas several other activities such as ………………………………………………….. are carried out on a limited scale.

These production activities need various types of resources — …………………………………………………

As we read through the story of Palampur, we will learn how various resources combine ……………………………………………………. in the village.

 

Introduction

Palampur is ……………………………. with neighbouring villages and towns.

…………………….., a big village, is ……………… from Palampur.

……………………………………. connects the village to Raiganj and further on to the nearest small town of ………………………………...

Many kinds of transport are visible on this road starting from …………………………………… loaded with jaggery (gur) and other commodities to motor vehicles like …………………………………………………..

This village has about ………………………………… belonging to several different ………………………..

………………………………. own the majority of land in the village.

Their houses, some of them quite large, are made of …………………………………………..

The SCs (dalits) comprise …………………………………….. and live in …………………………….. and in much smaller houses some of which are of …………………………………….

Most of the houses have ……………………………..

Electricity powers …………………………………… and is used …………………………………...

Palampur has …………….. primary schools and ………………. high school.

There is …………………………… run by the government and ………………………. where the sick are treated.

• The description above shows that Palampur has fairly well-developed system of …………………………………………………………….

In villages across India, ………………………… is the main production activity.

The other production activities, referred to as ………………………….. include ………………………………….

 

Organisation of Production

The aim of production is …………………………………………………...

There are ………………………. requirements for production of goods and services.

The first requirement is …………….. and other natural resources such as …………………………..

The second requirement is …………………………..

Some production activities require …………………………….. to perform the necessary tasks.

Other activities require ………………………………………...

The third requirement is ……………………………….

Tools and machines range from very simple tools such as …………………………. to sophisticated machines such as ……………………………………..

Tools, machines, buildings can be used in production over many years, and are called ………………….

Production requires a variety of raw materials such as …………………. used by the weaver and …………………… used by the potter.

……………………. is always required during production to make payments and buy other necessary items.

Raw materials and money in hand are called ………………………………...

You will need ………………………….. to be able to put together land, labour and physical capital and produce an output either to use yourself or to sell in the market.

This these days is called ………………………….

Every production is organised by combining land, labour, physical capital and human capital, which are known as ……………………………………

For convenience, we will refer to ……………………………… as the capital in this chapter.

Farming in Palampur

1. Land is fixed

……………………………….. is the main production activity in Palampur.

………………………. of the people who are working are dependent on farming for their livelihood.

They could be ……………….. or ……………………….

Land area under cultivation is practically …………………..

Since ……………………. in Palampur, there has been no expansion in land area under cultivation.

By then, some of ………………………… in the village had been converted to cultivable land.

 

2. Is there a way one can grow more from the same land?

In the kind of crops grown and facilities available, Palampur would resemble a village of ………………………………..

………………… land is cultivated in Palampur.

…………… land is left idle.

During …………………………….. farmers grow jowar and bajra.

These plants are used as ……………………………..

It is followed by cultivation of …………………….. between October and December.

In ……………………………….., fields are sown with wheat.

From the wheat produced, farmers keep enough wheat for the family’s consumption and sell the ………………………………. at the market at ………………………….

A part of the land area is also devoted to sugarcane which ……………………………………...

Sugarcane, in ……………………….., or ………………………, is sold to traders in Shahpur.

The main reason why farmers are able to grow three different crops in a year in Palampur is …………………………………………………………………

The major impact of electricity in Palampur was ………………………………………….

………………………………….. were, till then, used by farmers to draw water from the wells and irrigate small fields.

People saw that …………………………………….. could irrigate much larger areas of land more effectively.

The first few tubewells were installed by ……………………………...

Soon, however, farmers started setting up ………………………………..

As a result, by mid-1970s the entire cultivated area of ………………………. was irrigated.

 

Apart from …………………………………………. in our country are well-irrigated.

In contrast, plateau regions such as ……………………………. have low levels of irrigation.

Of the total cultivated area in the country ……………………………. is irrigated even today.

In the remaining areas, farming is largely dependent on ………………………….

 

To grow more than one crop on a piece of land during the year is known as …………………………...

It is the most common way of ………………………………………………...

All farmers in Palampur grow ……………………………………..; many are growing potato as ……………………….. in the past fifteen to twenty years.

You have seen that one way of increasing production from the same land is by ………………………...

The other way is to use ……………………………….. for higher yield.

Yield is measured as ………………………………………………….

Till the mid 1960s, the seeds used in cultivation were ………………….. with relatively …………………...

Traditional seeds needed …………….. irrigation.

Farmers used ………………………………….. as fertilizers.

…………………………….. introduced the Indian farmer to cultivation of wheat and rice using high yielding varieties (HYVs) of seeds.

Compared to the traditional seeds, the HYV seeds promised ……………………………………… on a single plant.

HYV seeds, however, needed ……………………… and also …………………………………….. to produce best results.

Higher yields were possible only from ……………………………………………………………………….

………………………………………………… were the first to try out the modern farming method in India.

Some of them bought farm machinery, like …………………………….., which made ploughing and harvesting faster.

In Palampur, the yield of wheat grown from the traditional varieties was …………………. per hectare.

With HYV seeds, the yield went up to …………………… per hectare.

 

3. Will the land sustain?

Scientific reports indicate that the modern farming methods have overused ……………………………..

In many areas, Green Revolution is associated with the ……………………………. due to increased use of ………………………………..

Also, ……………………………………. has led to the depletion of the water-table.

Environmental resources, like …………………………………….., are built up over years.

 

4. How is land distributed between the farmers of Palampur?

In Palampur, …………………………… of the 450 families are landless, i.e. ………………. families, most of them dalits, have no land for cultivation.

Of the remaining families who own land, ………………………. families cultivate small plots of land ………………………………...

 

More than half the area of the village is covered by …………………………………...

In Palampur, there are ……………. families of medium and large farmers who cultivate ………………...

A few of the large farmers have land extending ……………………………..

 

5. Who will provide the labour?

Small farmers ……………………………………. cultivate their own fields.

Medium and large farmers ……………………………. to work on their fields.

Farm labourers come either from ……………………. or ………………………………………….

Wages can be in …………… or in ……………..

There is ……………………………………. among the farm labourers in Palampur, so people agree to work for lower wages.

 

6. The capital needed in farming

Small farmers borrow money from …………………. or ………………………….. or ……………………………

The rate of interest on such loans is ……………………..

 

2. In contrast to the small farmers, the medium and large farmers have …………………………………..

 

7. Sale of Surplus Farm Products

They retain a part of the wheat for …………………….. and sell ………………………….

Small farmers like Savita and Gobind’s sons have little surplus wheat because ………………………… and from this a substantial share is kept for their own family needs.

So it is ……………………………………….. who supply wheat to the market.

 

Non-Farm Activities in Palampur

……………….. per cent of the people working in Palampur are engaged in activities other than agriculture.

1. Dairy — the other common activity

People feed their buffalos on ………………………………………………..

Two traders from Shahpur town have set up ……………………………………… at Raiganj from where the milk is transported to ………………………………..

2. An example of small-scale manufacturing in Palampur

At present, ……………………………. are engaged in manufacturing in Palampur.

Unlike the manufacturing that takes place in the big factories in the towns and cities, manufacturing in Palampur involves ………………………………………………………..

They are carried out mostly …………………………. with the help of ………………………..

 

3. The shopkeepers of Palampur

The traders of Palampur are shopkeepers who buy various goods from …………………………… and sell them in the village.

You will see small general stores in the village selling a wide range of items like ……………………………………………………………………

A few of the families whose houses are close to the bus stand have used a part of the space …………………………………….

 

4. Transport: a fast developing sector

………………………………………………………… are people in the transport services.

They ferry …………………………… from one place to another, and in return get paid for it.

The number of people involved in transport has grown ………………………………………….