The story of the village Palampur

• Purpose of the story

  To introduce basic concepts relating to production
• Palampur


  • Farming is the main activity
  • Several other activities such as small scale manufacturing, dairy, transport, etc. are carried out on a limited scale
• Palampur is well-connected with neighbouring villages and towns
• Palampur has about 450 families belonging to several different castes
• The 80 upper caste families own the majority of land in the village
• The SCs (dalits) comprise one third of the population and live in one corner of the village and in much smaller houses
• Most of the houses have electric connections
• Palampur has two primary schools and one high school, a primary health centre run by the government and one private dispensary
• Production


  The aim is to produce the goods and services that we want
• Requirements for production of goods and services

  • Land and other natural resources
  • Labour
  • Physical capital (tools, machines, buildings, raw materials, money)
  • Human capital (knowledge and enterprise)
• The physical capital is referred to as capital in this chapter
• Farming in Palampur


  • 75% of the people are dependent on farming for their livelihood
  • Land area under cultivation is practically fixed since 1960
• Multiple cropping


  Growing more than one crop on a piece of land during the year
• All land in Palampur is cultivated, no land is left idle
• The main reason farmers can grow three different crops in a year is due to the well-developed system of irrigation
• Electricity came early to Palampur and its major impact was to transform the system of irrigation
• By mid-1970s the entire cultivated area of 200 hectares was irrigated
• Yield


  Crop produced on a given piece of land during a single season
• Green Revolution


  • Introduced the cultivation of wheat and rice using high yielding varieties (HYV) of seeds
  • HYV seeds needed plenty of water and also chemical fertilizers and pesticides to produce best results
• Farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh were the first to try out the modern farming method in India
• Modern farming methods


  • HYV seeds
  • Chemical fertilizers
  • Pesticides
  • Irrigation
  • Farm machinery
• Is it important to increase the area under irrigation? Why?
• You have read about the crops grown in Palampur. Fill the following table based on information on the crops grown in your region.
• Yield


  Measured as name of crop, month sown, month harvested, source of irrigation (rain, tanks, tubewells, canals, etc.)
• One way of increasing production from the same land is by multiple cropping. The other way is to use modern farming methods for higher yield.
• Higher yields were possible only from a combination of HYV seeds, irrigation, chemical fertilisers, pesticides, etc.
• Farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh were the first to try out the modern farming method in India.
• In Palampur, the yield of wheat grown from the traditional varieties was 1300 kg per hectare. With HYV seeds, the yield went up to 3200 kg per hectare.
• There was a large increase in the production of wheat. Farmers now had greater amounts of surplus wheat to sell in the markets.
• Multiple cropping


  Growing more than one crop on the same piece of land in a year
• Modern farming method


  Use of HYV seeds, irrigation, chemical fertilisers, pesticides, farm machinery like tractors and threshers
• The following table shows the production of wheat and pulses in India after the Green Revolution in units of million tonnes.
• Was the Green Revolution equally successful for both the crops? Discuss.
• Working capital


  Cash required by the farmer using modern farming methods
• Modern farming methods require the farmer to start with more cash than before. Why?
• 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? 2) What are the sources of irrigation? 3) How much of the cultivated land is irrigated? 4) From where do farmers obtain the inputs that they require?
• Land being a natural resource, it is necessary to be careful in its use. Scientific reports indicate that the modern farming methods have overused the natural resource base.
• In many areas, Green Revolution is associated with the loss of soil fertility due to increased use of chemical fertilisers. Also, continuous use of groundwater for tubewell irrigation has led to the depletion of the water-table.
• Environmental resources, like soil fertility and groundwater, are built up over years. Once destroyed it is very difficult to restore them. We must take care of the future environment to ensure development of agriculture.
• Chemical fertilisers 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. Chemical fertilizers can also kill bacteria and other micro-organisms in the soil. This means some time after their use, the soil will be less fertile than ever before.