Rampur: Village Economy

Key Points:

1. Rampur lies in the fertile alluvial plains of the Gengetic basin in the Western part of U.P. Farming is the main production activity in Rampur. Majority of the working people are dependent on farming for their livelihood.
2. There is no land is left idle in Rampur. During the Kharif season farmers grow Jowar and Bajra. It is followed by cultivation of potato between October and December. In the Rabi season fields are sown with Wheat.
3. Farmers in Rampur are able to grow three different crops in a year due to the well – developed irrigation system. Electricity transformed the system of irrigation in Rampur. They used Persian wheels to draw water from the wells.
4. Most of irrigation in India is based on tapping underground water. As a result, underground water tables have fallen rapidly across the country.
5. There are four requirements for the production of goods and services. They are land, labor, Capital and organization.
6. Farming requires a great deal of hard work. Small farmers along with their family members mostly cultivate their own fields. Small farmers keep substantial share of production for their own family needs.
7. Only 25% of the people working in Rampur are engaged in activities other than agriculture such as dairy farming, small scale manufacturing, shop-keeping and transport. MNREGA has provided some support to the incomes of rural workers.

Key Points:

1. Factors of Production: Land, Labor, Capital and Organization are called factors of production.
2. Land: An area of ground, especially when used for a particular purpose such as farming or building. It is an essential factor for production.
3. Labour: People who will do the work. Those who do not have a right over the crops grown on the land but are paid wages are farm laborers.
4. Working Capital: Capital requirement for raw material and money for other expenditure.
5. Fixed Capital: Capital required for the purchase of machines and Constructing buildings for production.
6. Surplus: An excess of production.
7. Farm Activities: The work done in agriculture to produce Agricultural Production. Agricultural activities such as farming, irrigating, ploughing and harvesting.
8. Non-Farm activities: Other than the agricultural activities like dairy, small-scale manufacturing, shop keeping etc.

Essay Answer Questions
1. Land is also required for production of goods in an urban area. In what ways is the use of land different from a rural area?

1. Land is the first requirement for any production. It is required for production of goods in an urban area on industries. This is entirely different from the use of land on a rural area.
2. Land is the most crucial factor necessary for farm production unfortunately, not all the people engaged in agriculture have sufficient land for cultivation. The upper caste families own majority of the land in the village. Most of the landless are Dalits.
3. Raising agricultural production has mounted a great deal of pressure on land and other natural resources. There is urgent need to review the methods of production and ensure sustainable use of the resources.
4. In urban areas, land is used for constructions, laying roads, bus terminals, hospitals, educational institutions, parks, theatres etc. Thus, the use of land different from a rural area.
5. In the rural area, the land is required for the farming and non-farming activities. Many families of farmers have only small plots of land. They make use of those lands for producing crops.

2. Water is a natural resource for production, particularly for agricultural production, now requires greater capital for its use. Can you explain the statement?

1. Farmers can grow multiple crops in a year only if the irrigation system is well-developed. Electricity transformed the system of irrigation a great deal. The Electricity-run tube wells could irrigate much larger areas of land easily.
2. Not all villages in India have well developed irrigation systems. Apart from riverside plains; coastal regions in our country are well irrigated.
3. In contrast, plateau regions such as the Deccan plateau have low levels of irrigation. Even today, a little less than 40 percent of the total cultivated area in the country is irrigated. In the remaining areas, farming is largely dependent on rainfall.
4. Though intensive use of natural resource such as water has led to increased production and yields, its use has not always been judicious.
5. Most of the irrigation is India is based on tapping underground water. As a result underground water tables have fallen rapidly across the country.
6. The use of diesel or electricity for irrigation is rising. Lifting the ground water to surface is a very expensive process and it has to be brought down.
7. Hence, water, a natural resource for production, particularly for agriculture, now requires greater capital for its use.

3. How do the medium and large farmers obtain capital for farming? How is it different from the small farmers?

1. The farmers require a sufficient amount of capital for production. Most of the small farmers have to borrow money for their working capital. They borrow from large farmers or money lenders in the village. The rate of interest on such loans is usually very high. They are put to a great distress to repay them.
2. In contrast to the small farmers, the medium and large farmers generally have their own savings from farming. They are thus able to arrange the working capital needed for farming. Further, they can get loans from the banks at lower rate of interest.

Short Answer Questions
1. Every village in India is surveyed once is ten years during the census and the details are presented is the following format. Filling the following based on information on Rampur.
a. Location: Rampur in UP
b. Total Area of the village:264
c. Land use (in hectares): 264 Hectares

Cultivated Land		Land not available for cultivation(Area covering dwellings, roads, ponds, grazing ground
Irrigated	Unirrigated
200	38	26 hectares

d. Facilities

Educational: Schools are available, one high school, two primary schools
Medical : PHC is available and also one private dispensary
Market : Raiganj (shopping area), which is a small market
Electricity supply : Yes, fully electrified
Communication : Yes, Post Office, Television, Telephone and Transportation facilities
Nearest town : Raiganj, Jahangirabad.

2. Why are the wages for farm laborers in Rampur less than minimum wages?
There is a heavy competition among the farm laborers is getting work is Rampur. This is the reason for a minimum wages to the farm laborers. In Rampur, there are many labourers who don’t secure their daily work. Most of the farm laborers in the Rampur village come from farmers’ families cultivating small plots of land. They themselves agree to work at much lower wages than what was fixed by the government due to the prevailing condition.

3. Talk to two laborers from your region. Choose either farm labourers or labourers working at construction sites. What wages do they get? Are they paid in each or kind? Do they get work regularly? Are they in debt?

S.No	Talk to the laborers	Details
1	Name of the farm laborer	S. Ramesh, Lingampally, Medak Dist.
2	Name of The laborer at Construction.	M. Narsimlu, R.C.Puram, Hyderabad
3	Wages of Farm labour	Rs. 150/ per a day.
4	Wage of Construction labour	Rs. 250/ per a day.
5	Are they paid in cash of kind	‘Yes’ they were paid in cash
6	Do they get work regularly	Seasonal works (having work for 9 months in a year)
7	Are they in debt	Both are indebtedness.

4. What are the different ways of increasing production on the
4. What are the different ways of increasing production on the same piece of land? Use examples to explain?

1. Growing two to three main crops in a year as per their season keep the condition of the land high. In Rampur village, people cultivate wheat, sugarcane and potatoes in the same land in different seasons.
2. Multiple cropping is the most common way of increasing production from the land.
3. By adopting modern farming method, it could be possible to increase production on the same amount of land.

5. On what term did Savita get a loan from Tejpal? Would Savita’s condition be different if she could get a loan from the bank at a low rate of interest?

1. Savita agreed to pay a 36% interest per annum for the loan received from Giriraj Tejpal.
2. She also promised to work on his field as a farm labourer during the harvest season at Rs. 100/ per a day.
3. If Savita gets a loan from bank at a lower rate of interest her financial condition would be different. She would lead a happy life.

6. Talk to some elderly persons in your region and write a small report on the changes in irrigation and changes in production method during the last 30 years?

1. During the last 30 years, number of changes took place in the production methods of farming.
2. Before 30 years the farms depended upon rainfall for the cultivation. They produce crops by adopting natural methods of cultivation. There were no irrigation facilities.
3. The irrigation methods had been changed. Now farmers use bore wells and tube wells for better yielding.
4. Human resources are mostly replaced by agricultural machines. Indian agriculture has witnessed mechanization on a large scale.
5. The use of high yielding seeds has increased. The farmers have to setup their own pump-sets for irrigation.
6. Farmers now grow at least two main crops. Multiple cropping is the most common way of increasing production from land.

7. What are the main non-farm production activities taking place in your region? Write a brief report on any one such activity?

1. There are many non-farm production activities in our region. They are
   a) Dairy farming
   b) Horticulture
   c) Bee Culture
   d) Poultry
   e) Shop Keeping
   f) Brick making
   g) Small Scale industries etc.
   
2. Horticulture is the cultivation. Processing and marketing of flowers, ornamental plants and food.
3. The climate of my region is quite suitable for the horticulture. Production of horticulture crops will increase in demand. It is in a state of rapid growth. Floriculture is full of career opportunities.

8. Imagine a situation where labour is the scarce factor of production instead of land. Would the story of Rampur be different? How Discuss?

1. If the labour is scarce instead of land, the story of Rampur would be different. The demand for labour would increase.
2. After land, labour is the next necessary factor of production farming requires a great deal of hard work. Small farmers along with their families mostly cultivate their own fields. They provide labour required for farming themselves.
3. Medium and large formers hire farm labourers to work on their fields. If labour is scarce those who depend on like labourers would be in trouble.

9. 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 the work that the migrant of Gosaipur and Majauli might do at the place of destination?

1. Normally, people migrate to urban areas to earn money. The migrants in this case are unskilled workers.
2. They hope for better employment, better shelter.
3. The attraction of more economically developed places for migrants has always provided the incentives for people to move. They are considered to be labor migrants.
4. These migrants are employed by the large farmers of those areas as regular workers.

Published date : 18 Dec 2014 07:59PM