Farming in Palampur

LAND ( First input of Production)

1. Land is fixed

For Palampur, village farming is their main production and the wellbeing of these people is related to production on the farms. But, there is a basic constraint in raising farm production. Land area under cultivation is practically fixed.

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

In the rainy season, Kharif farmers grow jowar and bajra followed by the cultivation of potato between October and December. In winter, farmers grow wheat and a part of the land is devoted to sugarcane harvested once every year. Due to well-developed irrigation, farmers can grow three different crops. Electricity transformed the system of irrigation. Multiple cropping means to grow more than one crop on a piece of land. Another way for higher yield is modern farming. In the later 1960s, the Green Revolution introduced the Indian farmer to cultivation of wheat and rice using high yielding varieties (HYVs) of seeds.

3. Will the land sustain?

Modern farming methods have overused the natural resource base. Due to increased use of chemical fertilisers, soil lost its fertility. Natural resources like soil fertility and groundwater are destroyed and it is very difficult to restore them.

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

Land is important for any kind of farming. In Palampur, about one-third of the 450 families are landless. Dalits have no land for cultivation. 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.

LABOUR ( Second input of Production)

Who will provide the labour

Small farmers cultivate their own lands. Medium and large farmers hire labourers to cultivate their fields who come either from landless families or families cultivating small plots of land. Farm labourers will not have any right over the crops grown on the land. They will be paid on wages for their work which can be cash or in-kind e.g. crop. Sometimes labourers get meals also. Wages vary from region to region, crop to crop, one farm activity to another. Farm labourers are employed on a daily basis, or for one particular farm activity like harvesting, or for the whole year.

CAPITAL ( Third input of Production)

 Capital needed in farming

Modern farming methods require a great deal of capital.
1. Most small farmers borrow money from large farmers or the village moneylenders or the traders who supply various inputs for cultivation. The rate of interest on such loans is very high.
2. The medium and large farmers have their own savings from farming. They are thus able to arrange for the capital needed.