RBSE Class 9 Social Science Notes Economics Chapter 1 The Story of Village Palampur

These comprehensive RBSE Class 9 Social Science Notes Economics Chapter 1 The Story of Village Palampur will give a brief overview of all the concepts.

RBSE Class 9 Social Science Notes Economics Chapter 21 The Story of Village Palampur

→ The story of Palampur, an imaginary village, will take us through the different types of production activities in the village. Through the story of Palampur, we will learn how various resources combine to produce the desired goods and services in the village. Farming is the main activity in Palampur and small scale manufacturing, dairy, transport, etc. are carried out on a limited scale.

→ Organisation of Production:
The aim of production is to produce the goods and services that we want. There are four basic requirements to produce any goods or services. They are land, labour, physical capital and human capital. For production of goods and services the first requirement is land, and other natural resources. The second requirement is the people who will do the work, i. e. labour. For the production, the third requirement is physical capital that includes fixed capital and the working capital. Tools, machines, buildings, etc. are the examples of the fixed capital and raw materials, money and labour are the examples of working capital. Human capital is needed as the fourth means to produce these thtee resources or to organize the land, labour and capital.

→ Farming in Palampur:
The status of farming in Palampur can be explained from the following points:

• Land is fixed: Farming is the main production activity in Palampur and there has been no expansion in cultivable land area.
• Is there a way one can grow more from the same land?: The land available for agriculture can be produced in many ways. Productivity can be increased by adopting multiple cropping systems on that land, planting electric tube wells, expanding irrigation facilities, using high yielding seeds, using chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
• Will the land sustain?: Modern resources and excessive agricultural inputs have adverse effects on soil fertility and ground water sources.

How is land distributed between, the farmers of Palampur?: In Palampur there are 450 families, out of which 150 families do not have any land for farming. 240 families cultivate small plots of land less than 2 hectares in size. In Palampur, there are 60 families of medium and large farmers who cultivate more than 2 hectares of land. A few of the large farmers have land extending over 10 hectares or more.

→ Who will provide the labour? : Small farmers cultivate their own fields along with their families. Medium and large farmers hire farm labourers to work on their fields. Large farmers provide wages in the form of cash or grain to the labourers. The economic condition of landless labourers and labourers in the village is quite bad.

→ The capital needed in farming: The modem farming methods require a great deal of capital. Most small farmers borrow money from large farmers or moneylenders, whereas the medium and farmers use their savings for farming.

→ Sale of Surplus Farm Products : Small farmers often have very little surplus of production in the village as their total production is small and after meeting the requirement of the family, there is a very little left for them to sell in the market. Medium and large farmers have a large amount of agricultural produce as surplus, so they sell agricultural surplus.

→ Non-Farm Activities in Palampur:
Agriculture is the main economic activity in Palampur. But in addition to this, the rural area is engaged in many other non-agricultural works. Major non-agricultural production activities in this rural area are as follows :

• Dairy - the other common activity: Dairy is the main occupation in Palampur besides agriculture. People sell milk in nearby areas and villages.
• An example of small-scale manufacturing in Palampur : In Palampur, many manufacturing operations are done on a small scale with the help of family labour and very rarely the workers are also hired on wages.
• The shopkeepers of Palampur: There are many small shopkeepers in Palampur who earn a living by selling essential items of daily life.
• Transport - a fast developing sector : Many people are also involved in the transport service sector in Palampur.