Solutions to NCERT Class 9 Economics 2024-2025 Chapter 1: The Story of Village Palampur

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Find Solutions for NCERT Class 9 Economics Chapter 1: The Story of Village Palampur, here.

Exercises

1. Every village in India is surveyed once in ten years during the Census and some of details are presented in the following format. Fill up the following based on information on Palampur.

a. LOCATION:

b. TOTAL AREA OF THE VILLAGE:

c. LAND USE (in hectares):

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

Answer:

a. Location: Palampur, nearest small town is Shahpur

b. Total Area of The Village: 226 hectares

c. Land Use (in hectares):

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

d. Facilities:

Educational
Medical
Market
Electricity Supply
Communication
Nearest town

Answer:

Facilities:

Educational	Two primary schools, One high school
Medical	Primary health centre, Private dispensary
Market	Mandi or village market
Electricity Supply	Supply available to run water pumps and farm machines
Communication	Various transport facilities from bullock cart, vans to trucks
Nearest town	Shahranpur

2. Modern farming methods require more inputs which are manufactured in industry. Do you agree?
Answer:

I agree that modern farming methods are important to increase farm production per hectare during a single season and inputs for such intensive farming are manufactured in industries. Chemical fertilisers and pesticides are produced by chemical industries. Some of the farm machineries like tractors and threshers, which make ploughing and harvesting easier, are also produced in factories. HYV seeds developed by bio-industries are also an important factor which can almost treble farm production.

 3. How did the spread of electricity help farmers in Palampur?
Answer:

The spread of electricity was instrumental in transforming the irrigation system in Palampur. Before the advent of electricity, Persian wheels were used by farmers to draw water from wells to irrigate their small fields. Farmers in Palampur realised that the electric run tubewells could irrigate much larger tracts of land more effectively. So, soon after the first few tubewells were installed by the government, farmers started setting up private tubewells. As a result, by mid 1970s the entire 200 hectares of land was irrigated making it possible for farmers to raise three different crops in a year. Such an effective irrigation system was made possible by easy availability of electricity throughout the year.

4. Is it important to increase the area under irrigation? Why?
Answer:

It is important to increase the area under irrigation to facilitate multiple cropping. Multiple cropping is possible only if uninterrupted water supply is available throughout the year. Thus, increasing the area under irrigation would lead to enhanced production through multiple cropping and contribute to the economic development of the region.

5. Construct a table on the distribution of land among the 450 families of Palampur.
Answer:

A total of 450 families live in Palampur. The total land available is 200 hectares. The distribution of land among them is as follows:

Number of families	Farming status	Distribution of Land
150	Landless	Nil
240	Small farmer	Own less than 2 hectares each
60	Medium and Large farmers	Own more than 2 hectares

6. Why are the wages for farm labourers in Palampur less than minimum wages?
Answer:

The wages for farm labourers in Palampur are lower than the prescribed minimum wages for the following reasons:

(i) There is surplus labour since most large farms have been mechanised.
(ii) The farm labourers often are compelled to borrow money from the large farmers who employ them to meet their needs because it is difficult for them to avail institutional loans.
(iii) They find it difficult to repay their loans because there is no surplus.
(iv) The large farmers take advantage of the situation and pay them wages at lower rates than the prescribed minimum wages.
(v) There is stiff competition among the landless labour, marginal and small farmers for scarce farm work so they are willing to work for lower wages.

7. In your region, talk to two labourers. Choose either farm labourers or labourers working at construction sites. What wages do they get? Are they paid in cash or kind? Do they get work regularly? Are they in debt?
Answer:

(a)Let us take the example of Kamal who is a native of Madhupur and works at a construction
site some 5 km away from his home. The information gathered from him about his work is as follows:
(i) Wages: As a casual labour Kamal is paid ₹150 per day
(ii) Kamal receives his wages in cash
(iii) He does not get work every day.
(iv) Kamal is hardly able to make two ends meet , so he has to take loans from the contactor and is in perpetual debt.

(b) Saira works as a farm labourer for a large farmer in Madhupur during peak seasons. The information gathered from her is as follows:
(i) Wages: She is paid ₹ 50 per day
(ii) She receives ₹ 50 per day in cash and some wheat and vegetables in kind.
(iii) She is only employed during the sowing and harvesting seasons, so she has no work for the rest of the year.
(iv) She works as a house maid for the rest of the year and barely manages to meet her family’s needs. For medical and other exigencies, she is compelled to borrow funds from her employer, so she is in perpetual debt.

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

There are ways to increase production on the same piece of land through modern farming methods. Farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh were first to introduce such methods as follows:

(i) Multiple cropping: The most common way of increasing production is multiple cropping. It means growing more than one crop on a particular piece of land. For example, the farmers of Palampur grow two main crops like jowar/bajra and wheat. Many are growing potato as the third crop.

(ii) Irrigation and electricity: Farming these days is not dependent on rainfall alone. Irrigation is vitally important for round the year cultivation. Irrigation system is driven by electricity. In Palampur electricity is readily available so that water sources can be tapped throughout the year. On the other hand, the rainfall deficient Deccan plateau faces problems to introduce multi-cropping as irrigation system is inadequate.

(iii) HYV seeds: The green revolution of the late 1960s has shown the importance of HYV or High Yield Variety seeds to increase agricultural production from the same plot of land. HYV cultivation, however needs plenty of water, chemical fertilisers and pesticides. In Palampur, the yield of wheat grown from the traditional varieties was 1300 kg per hectare while the HYV variety yielded 3200 kg per hectare.

(iv) Farm machinery: Modern farm machineries like tractors for ploughing, harvesters for harvesting and threshers for threshing have become indispensable for farmers in Punjab and Haryana as well as Western Uttar Pradesh. The use of these machineries leads to higher productivity cand hence higher agricultural output.

9. Describe the work of a farmer with 1 hectare of land.
Answer:

A farmer owning 1 hectare of land has to cultivate his land on his own since he cannot afford to hire additional farm labour. He may take the help of his family members to grow wheat or some other crop. For this, he needs cash to buy seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, and also has to arrange for repairing the farm equipment. Since the earnings from 1 hectare of land is barely enough to meet his needs, he has no surplus to finance the inputs he requires to cultivate his land. So, he is obliged to borrow money at high interest from a large farmer since he cannot avail institutional loans. To repay the loan he has to supplement his income by working on the land of the large farmer. So, although he works hard on his own field as well as on the farm of his employer he is left with no surplus and has to borrow again the next year.

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

The affluent big farmers and medium farmers are able to generate their own capital to a large extent and they are also in a position to obtain institutional finance to meet large capital expenditure like purchase of tractors, and other farm equipment. They sell their surplus farm products and a part of the earnings is saved and kept for buying inputs for the next season. Thus, large farmers are able to generate working capital out of their own savings.

By contrast the conditions of small farmers is pathetic, the earnings of small farmers are barely at subsistence level and they do not have any surplus fund to invest the following year. So, they are forced to borrow funds from money lenders or big farmers to purchase their essential farming inputs. They cannot compete with big farmers on even terms though enterprise is not lacking on their part. About 80% of the farmers in India are small landholders who do not have enough purchasing power, so they are subjected to exploitation.

11. On what terms did Savita get a loan from Tejpal Singh? Would Savita’s condition be different if she could get a loan from the bank at a low rate of interest?
Answer:

Savita got the loan from Tejpal Singh under the following conditions:

(i) Savita had to pay interest on loan amount @24% for four months
(ii) During harvest season Savita had to work on Tejpal Singh’s farm at ₹100 per day
It is obvious that that terms of the loan are tough and exploitative. Savita’s conditions could have been different if she could get a loan from a bank. The bank would have charged 10-12% interest per year (whereas the terms set by Tejpal Singh require Savita to pay 24% for four months which works out to 72% per year) enabling Savita save on cost of capital.

12. Talk to some old residents in your region and write a short report on the changes in irrigation and changes in production methods during the last 30 years. (Optional)
Answer:

Some old residents in my region were able to enlighten me about the changes in irrigation and methods of production during the last thirty years.

They told me that the traditional irrigation system relied mainly on surface irrigation where the natural gradient was utilised to channelise water from catchment areas such as springs, streams, rivers etc. They also spoke about moat pully system and the use of submersible pumps to draw underground water. But there was considerable water wastage in these methods. So, to help water conservation, modern methods of irrigation have been adopted now as described below:
 Drip irrigation: It uses narrow pipes laid on the field to drip water through small holes. There is no water wastage so the method is very important for water conservation. It reduces runoff and water evaporation.
Sub-surface irrigation: This is a sub-surface water delivery system that uses buried drip lines to carry water directly to the roots.
Sprinkler system is a method of rotating nozzles spraying water droplets across the land. This method is suitable for sandy soil, uneven land and for protecting plants from weather conditions and is not exactly suitable for our region which has rich alluvial soil.

The elders were of the opinion that the irrigation system should be matched with water conservation as underground water resources are fast depleting.
The discussion also included the changes in production methods from manual farming to adoption of mechanised farming. Over the last thirty years other modern methods have also been adopted like multiple crop farming. The senior residents also appreciated the need to introduce hybrid seeds as well as fertilisers and insecticides to increase production. But they cautioned that overuse of insecticides has to be avoided as there could be potential health hazards.

13. What are the non-farm production activities taking place in your region? Make a short list.
Answer:

The non- farm production activities taking place in my region are as follows:

(i) Dairy: It is a common occupation. Milking buffalos and selling the milk in the nearest village market is a regular occupation. Enterprising people have mobile collection facilities and chilling arrangement and the collected milk is transported to distant towns and cities.

(ii) Micro scale manufacturing: This is also another non-farm occupation. These produce mostly small tools made through family enterprise.

(iii) Retail shops: selling soap toothpaste, biscuits, batteries etc.

(iv) Mechanical crushing of sugarcane after buying them from farmers and selling processed jaggery has been taken up by many.

(v) People have opened eateries at busy bus stands.

(vi) Tailoring shops meet the requirements of the residents for garments.

(iv) Transport: People are engaged in different modes of transport. They ferry people and goods from one place to another and are engaged as rickshaw pullers, tractor and truck drivers.

(vii) Computer training centre to provide computer literacy to the youth.

(viii) Shops selling cell phones and network services.

14. What can be done so that more non-farm production activities can be started in villages?
Answer:

Considering that agricultural land is fixed there has to be more non-farm production activities in place to create employment. But non-farm activities require capital to set-up.
People with some savings should be encouraged to take up business activities. But not everyone is lucky. Funds have to be arranged for them through loans and that too without any security so that they can move forward. The banks should come forward with liberal terms to encourage entrepreneurs.

Small scale village industries like making of pottery, weaving, making of pickles, papad, and candy, should be promoted by the government by providing seed capital, training and help in marketing the products.

Here, good road conditions, transport and communication are necessary. With government intervention in this sector, it is expected that self-employment in villages would increase in future.

Marketing of non-farm production is a challenge and has to be carefully planned. Suppose someone is starting a computer centre. He has to choose a place where he can get sufficient number of students. The government should introduce incentive schemes to involve people in small non-farming activities.

Solutions to In-Text Questions for NCERT Class 9 Economics Chapter 1: The Story of Village Palampur

Let’s Discuss (Page 3)

The following Table 1.1 shows the land under cultivation in India in units of million hectares. Plot this on the graph provided. What does the graph show? Discuss in class.

Answer:

Let’s discuss (page 4)

Is it important to increase the area under irrigation? Why?
Answer:
Yes. The main reason why the farmers in Palampur are able to grow three different crops in a year in Palampur is the well- developed irrigation system. People saw that the electricity driven tubewells could irrigate the land more effectively. After some government initiative, the farmers started setting up private tubewells and by mid 1970s, the entire area was brought under irrigation.

You have read about the crops grown in Palampur. Fill the following table based on information on the crops grown in your region.

Name of Crop	Month Sown	Month Harvested	Source of irrigation (Rain, tanks, tubewells, canals, etc.)

Answer:

Name of Crop	Month Sown	Month Harvested	Source of irrigation (Rain, tanks, tubewells, canals, etc.)
Jowar and Bajra	July, August	September, October	Rain, tanks, canals
Potato	October	December	Canals,Drip irrigation
Wheat	October, November	April, May	Tube well, Canals

Let’s discuss (page 5)

What is the difference between multiple cropping and modern farming method?
Answer:
When different crops are grown on the same plot of land, it is called multiple cropping.
It increases gross output from the land. On the other hand, modern farming involves use of hybrid seeds, fertilisers and insecticides so that yield of each crop is increased from the same plot of land.

The following table shows the production of wheat and pulses in India after the Green Revolution in units of million tonnes. Plot this on a graph.

Table 1.2: Production of pulses and wheat (in million Tonnes)    

	Production of pulses	Production of wheat
1965 – 66	10	10
1970 – 71	12	24
1980 – 81	11	36
1990 – 91	14	55
2000 – 01	11	70
2010 – 11	18	87
2012 – 13	18	94
2013 – 14	19	96
2014 – 15	17	87
2015 – 16	17	94
2016 – 17	23	99
2017 – 18	25	100
2018 – 19	23	104
2019 – 20	23	108
2020 – 21	25	110
2021 – 22	28	107

Answer:

Was the Green Revolution equally successful for both the crops (pulses and wheat)? Discuss. Answer:

It is apparent from the plotted data that after the Green Revolution production of pulses did not grow as much as that of wheat. The reasons may be attributed to lack of High Yield Variety of seed availability for pulses. Farm management was also not efficient as farmers were wary of cost and marketing uncertainties. Also, the basic strategy of green revolution was to increase the production of cereals like wheat, rice and maize to increase calorie intake of Indians.

What is the working capital required by the farmer using modern farming methods?
Answer:
Working capital is the cost of raw-material and money in hand for miscellaneous expenses. The farmer needs to buy seeds, fertilisers and pesticides and repair their farm machineries. For a small farmer owning 1 hectare of land the working capital requirement would be at least ₹3000.

Suggested Activity (page 5)

During your field visit talk to some farmers of your region. Find out:

1. What kind of farming methods, modern, traditional or mixed do the farmers use?
Answer:

I talked to some farmers near Saharanpur in North Western Uttar Pradesh. They use modern farming techniques opting for hybrid seeds to get maximum production from their land.The farmers usually raise two main crops – bajra and wheat. They also cultivate potato in between.

2. What are the sources of irrigation?
Answer:
They buy water – mainly underground water or hire water pumps on hourly basis. They are aware of ground water depletion and are thinking of pooling resources together for drip irrigation.

3. How much of cultivated land is irrigated?
Answer:
Nearly the entire cultivated land is irrigated and this is not a problem for them.

4. From where do farmers obtain the inputs that they use?
Answer:
The farmers obtain the inputs like seeds, fertilisers from traders on credit or they obtain loan from money lenders at a high rate of interest. It is hard to get low interest bank loans.

Activity 2 (page 5)
After reading the following reports from newspapers/magazines, write a letter to the Agriculture Minister in your own words telling him how the use of chemical fertilisers can be harmful.

Answer:
Letter to Agriculture minister telling him about harmful use of chemical fertilisers:

23 Rajendra Colony
Bhatinda

15^th December, 2024

The Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture
Government of India

Subject: Hazards of using chemical fertilisers

Respected Sir,

I am a student of Central School, Bhatinda and would draw your kind attention to one of the most pressing problems of our region.
It is a fact that India has made huge progress in agriculture since the Green Revolution of the sixties. The secret of this success is intensive cultivation of the land using chemical fertilisers. In fact, in order to get more production, the farmers have overused the synthetic fertilisers so much so that the soil is gradually losing its fertility. Chemical fertilisers kill bacteria and other nutrients in the soil which becomes less fertile than ever before. As a result, the farmers are getting less output per hectare now. Lower production is raising the cost of cultivation and consequently the prices of grains. Not only that, toxic fertilisers are seeping through the soil to contaminate ground water.

The situation being such, I would humbly suggest that farmers be persuaded to use bio-fertilisers with natural nutrients which can bring back soil health. If the cost of cultivation goes up because of this the government should come forward to offer subsidies to farmers.

I would sincerely hope that you will consider my suggestions and save Indian agriculture.

Yours sincerely,

Vidit Sharma

Answer:
The cluster of small plots of land that mainly are seen on the upper left and upper right corners of the diagram are cultivated by small farmers. They are already outlined and shaded.

Why do so many families of farmers cultivate such small plots of land?
Answer:
In India many families of farmers cultivate small plots of land measuring 1-2 hectares. The fragmentation of agricultural land happens when an original landholder dies and the land is divided among his heirs. Modern farming techniques cannot be adopted in small plots of land, so the production is often not enough for subsistence.

The distribution of farmers in India and the amount of land they cultivate is given in the following Graph 1.1. Discuss in the classroom.

Graph 1.1: Distribution of Cultivated Area and Farmers

Answer:
The distribution of agricultural land in Palampur is strikingly unequal with one-third of 450 families being landless. Big farmers who constitute 15% of agriculturists own more than 55% of the farm land and the remaining land – less than 45% is shared among small and marginal farmers who constitute 85 % of the farming community.
Similar situation is present all over India because of inheritance problems as well as lack of proper land reforms. India lacks specific policies to specify the maximum quantity of agricultural land a person can hold.

Let’s Discuss

Would you agree that that the distribution of cultivated land is unequal in Palampur? Do you find a similar situation for India?
Answer:
Yes, the distribution of cultivable land in Palampur is uneven. The same is true for rest of India as well. As the chart above shows that about 55% of the land is in the hands of 15% medium, semi medium and big farmers. The rest 45% is shared among 85% of cultivators who are small and marginal farmers. The result is uneven distribution of wealth and lop-sided development.

Let’s discuss (page 7)

Identify the work being done on the field in picture 1.6 and arrange them in a proper sequence.

Answer:
The sequence will be
1. Ploughing by bullocks
2. Sowing
3. Spraying of insecticides
4. Cultivation by traditional methods
5. Cultivation by modern methods
6. Cutting of crops

Let’s discuss (page 9)
(i) Why are farm labourers like Dala and Ramkali poor?
Answer:
Dala and Ramkali are landless farmers who are poor because of the following factors:
(a) Having no land of their own, they are forced to slog it out for the big farmers for a paltry sum of ₹160 per day although the government rate is ₹300 per day. These people have no right over the produce.
(b) Since opportunities for work is limited there is heavy competition among the workers and the big landholders take advantage of it by offering them low wages.
(c) There is no standard rate as wages vary from region to region and from crop to crop.
(d) The employment is seasonal and activity based like sowing, harvesting etc. For the rest of the year, they have to find alternative employment like working in the brick field etc where wages are not high either. So, they become migrant labourers who at the mercy of contractors.
(e) To make both ends meet, they often borrow money from village moneylenders at exorbitant rate of interest. They have to spend much of their meagre income to pay back the loans.

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 (based on your imagination) the work that the migrants of Gosaipur and Majauli might do at the place of destination?

Answer:

Most people migrate in search of employment.
Most of the migrants (in our case from Bihar) work as labourers in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Mumbai, Surat, Hyderabad or Nagpur where there is seasonal demand for extra manpower. Many of them go to work at construction sites all over the country. Others also work on farms during sowing and harvesting seasons.

Let’s discuss the story so far…(Page 9)

We have read about the three factors of production—land, labour and capital— and how they are used in farming. Let us fill in the blanks given below:

Among the three factors of production, we found that labour is the most abundant factor of production. There are many people who are willing to work as farm labourers in the villages, whereas the opportunities of work are limited. They belong to either landless families or ______. They are paid low wages, and lead a difficult life.

In contrast to labour, _______is a scarce factor of production. Cultivated land area is ____. Moreover, even the existing land is distributed _______(equally/unequally) among the people engaged in farming. There are a large number of small farmers who cultivate small plots of land and live in conditions not much better than the landless farm labourer. To make the maximum use of the existing land, farmers use _________and ___________ . Both these have led to increase in production of crops.

Modern farming methods require a great deal of _________. Small farmers usually need to borrow money to arrange for the capital, and are put to great distress to repay the loan. Therefore, capital too is a scarce factor of production, particularly for the small farmers.

Though both land and capital are scarce, there is a basic difference between the two factors of production. _________is a natural resource, whereas _________is man-made. It is possible to increase capital, whereas land is fixed. Therefore, it is very important that we take good care of land and other natural resources used in farming

Answer:

Among the three factors of production, we found that labour is the most abundant factor of production. There are many people who are willing to work as farm labourers in the villages, where the opportunities of work are limited. They belong to either landless families or small farmers. They are paid low wages, and lead a difficult life.

In contrast to labour, land is a scarce factor of production. Cultivated land area is small. Moreover, even the existing land is distributed unequally(equally/unequally) among the people engaged in farming. There are a large number of small farmers who cultivate small plots of land and live in conditions not much better than the landless farm labourer. To make the maximum use of the existing land, farmers use chemical fertilisers and modern farming methods. Both these have led to increase in production of crops.

Modern farming methods require a great deal of capital. Small farmers usually need to borrow money to arrange for the capital, and are put to great distress to repay the loan. Therefore, capital too is a scarce factor of production, particularly for the small farmers.

Though both land and capital are scarce, there is a basic difference between the two factors of production. Land is a natural resource, whereas capital is man-made. It is possible to increase capital, whereas land is fixed. Therefore, it is very important that we take good care of land and other natural resources used in farming.

Let’s discuss (page 11)

Let us take three farmers. Each has grown wheat on his field though the production is different (see Column 2). The consumption of wheat by each farmer family is the same (Column 3). The whole of surplus wheat this year is used as capital for next year’s production. Also suppose, production is twice the capital used in production. Complete the tables.
Comparison of the production of wheat by the three farmers over the years is shown in the following tables:

Farmer 1

	Production	Consumption	Surplus = Production – Consumption	Capital for the next year
Year 1	100	40	60	60
Year 2	120	40
Year 3		40

Farmer 2

	Production	Consumption	Surplus	Capital for the next year
Year 1	80	40
Year 2		40
Year 3		40

Farmer 3

	Production	Consumption	Surplus	Capital for the next year
Year 1	60	40
Year 2		40
Year 3		40

Assumption 1. The consumption of wheat by each farmer is same
Assumption 2. The whole of surplus wheat this year is used as capital for the next year
Assumption 3. Production is twice the capital used in production

Answer:

Farmer 1

	Production	Consumption	Surplus = Production – Consumption	Capital for the next year
Year 1	100	40	60	60
Year 2	120	40	80	80
Year 3	160	40	120	120

Farmer 2

	Production	Consumption	Surplus	Capital for the  next year
Year 1	80	40	40	40
Year 2	80	40	40	40
Year 3	80	40	40	40

Farmer 3

	Production	Consumption	Surplus	Capital for the next year
Year 1	60	40	20	20
Year 2	40	40	Nil	Nil
Year 3	Nil	40	Nil	Nil

Compare the production of wheat by the three farmers over the years
Answer:
In case of farmer 1 production has consistently risen
In case of farmer 2 production has remained stagnant
In case of farmer 3 production has dropped below subsistence level

What happens to Farmer 3 in Year 3? Can he continue production? What will he have to do to continue production?
In case of farmer 3, the year 3 was a really bad year as he had no capital to start farming. The option before him is to take loan from money lenders to continue production. If he does not do that he has to work as a labour or daily wage earner working for someone else.

Let’s discuss (page 12)
What capital did Mishrilal need to set up his jaggery manufacturing unit?
Answer:
Mishrilal needed fixed capital to buy a mechanical sugarcane crushing machine.
He also needed working capital to buy sugarcane from other farmers.

Who provides the labour in this case?
Answer:
Mishrilal carries out the work himself with the help of family members.

Can you guess why Mishrilal is unable to increase his profit?
Answer:
Mishrilal is unable to increase his profit because the traders who buy his jaggery keep a handsome margin for themselves, thus adversely impacting Mishrilal’s profit.

Could you think of any reasons when he might face a loss?
Answer:
If the price of jaggery falls Mishrilal might have to incur loss. Losses may also occur if the electricity charges to run his machine increases.

Why does Mishrilal sell his jaggery to traders in Shahpur and not in the village?
Answer:
Mishrilal sells the jaggery to traders in Shahpur who have access to a wider market at a better price.

Let’s discuss (page 12)

In what ways is Kareem’s capital and labour different from Mishrilal’s?
Answer:
Capital: Kareem’s capital is invested in purchase of computers whereas Mishrilal’s capital is invested in a mechanical sugarcane crushing machine.

Labour: Mishrilal‘s unit is a family run enterprise, while Kareem employed two trained women in his computer centre.

(ii) Why didn’t start a computer centre earlier?
Answer:
One possible reason could be that others could not foresee the prospect of a computer training centre in the rural setting.
Being farmers they did not possess the technical knowledge to run a computer centre.

Let’s discuss (page 13)

What is Kishora’s fixed capital?
Answer:
Kishora’s fixed capital was the buffalo and a wooden cart he had purchased with the bank loan.

What do you think would be his working capital?
Answer:
His earnings from various sources like selling milk, transporting commodities, working in transport sector, procuring potter’s clay all contribute towards his working capital expenses.

In how many production activities is Kishora involved?
Answer:

Kishora is involved in the following production activities:
Selling buffalo milk
Transporting various commodities like jaggery.
Procuring clay from the Ganga for the potters
Working in transport sector
Working as a farm labour

Would you say that Kishora has benefited from the better roads of Palampur?
Answer:
Yes. The better roads of Palampur have enabled Kishora to transport goods to Shahpur on a regular basis.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on NCERT Class 9 Economics Chapter 1: The Story of Village Palampur