What different activities are done by the people of Kalpattu village?
Kalpattu is coastal village in Tamil Nadu. As the village is surrounded by low hills, paddy is the main crop here. Most of the families earn a living through agriculture. Besides agriculture, people do many non-farm activities such as making baskets, utensils, pots, bricks, bullock carts, etc. The village has no dearth of service providers like blacksmiths, nurses, teachers, washermen, weavers, barbers, cycle repair mechanics and so on. One can find here shopkeepers and traders too. There is a bazaar where a variety of small shops such as tea shops, grocery shops, a tailor, seed shop etc. can be found. There are some coconut groves around the village. A group of people earn their living by working in mango orchards. In the village, there are small farmers as well as big farmers. There are landless labourers too who work in other's field.
You have probably noticed that people in Kalpattu are engaged in a variety of non farm work. List five of these.
Imagine you are a member of a fishing family and you are discussing whether to take a loan from the bank for an engine. What would you say?
Poor rural labourers like Thulasi often do not have access to good medical facilities, good schools, and other resources. You have read about inequality in the first unit of this text. The difference between her and Ramalingam is one of inequality. Do you think this is a fair situation? What do you think can be done? Discuss in class.
What do you think the government can do to help fanners like Sekar when they get into debt? Discuss.
Name some other activities which poor families in rural areas often do for the household apart from farming. [V. Imp.]
List the different types of people you read about in Kalpattu who depend on farming. Who is the poorest among them and why?
State whether these sentences are true CD or false (F).
(i)Ramalingam is a big farmer having twenty acres of land.
(ii) Sekar takes loan from Thulasi and buys seeds and fertilizers.
(iii) In coastal areas we find fishing villages.
(iv) In India 60 percent farmers are small Farmers.
(v) Sekar takes help of other small farmers at the time of harvesting.
Under which circumstances poor farmers find themselves unable to pay back their loans? What happens after that?
Fill in the blanks with appropriate words to complete each sentence:
(i)The people of Chizami village do ………………………………………….. farming.
(ii) Nearly ……. of all rural families are agricultural labourers in India.
(iii) Sekar has a hybrid cow, whose milk he sells in the local ………………
(iv) In some villages in central India, both farming and ……………….. from forest are important sources of livelihood.
(v) The people of Pudupet village earn their living by………………