Rural Livelihood Class 6

                            CHAPTER 8

     RURAL LIVELIHOOD

Q1. List any five non-farming jobs that people do in rural areas.

Ans: People in rural areas engage in variety of non-farming work. They are as:

1.             Making baskets

2.             Utensil making

3.             Driving bullock carts

4.             Gold smith

5.             Blacksmith etc.

Q2. Imagine you are a member of a fishing family and you are discussing wheather to take a loan for an engine. What would you say?

Ans: I would say that it is better to tke a loan from bank for this purpose than to go to the money lender. Money lenders usually charge high rate of interest which pushes the borrower in great hardships

Q3. What do you think government can do to help farmers when they get into debt? Discuss.

Ans: The government can help farmers when they get into debt in the following ways:

1.             Government can provide assistance to these farmers.

2.             Interest free loan or loan at the lowest rate can help them.

3.             Seeds fertilizers and pesticides can be provided on subsidized rate.

4.             Compensation can be given in case of natural disaster.

Q4. Thulasi gets paid very little money for the work she does? Why do you think agriculture labourers like her are forced to accept low wages?

Ans: Agriculture labourer like Thulasi are forced to accept low wages because:

1.             They are under the debt of the landlords or the money lenders who employ them on low wages.

2.             They are unskilled and so cannot access to higher paid jobs.

3.             They are very poor and do not own land.

Q5. In what ways would her way of earning a living has been different if Thulasi owned some farm land?

Ans: If Thulasi owned soe land.

1.             She would have grown her own grain.

2.             She wouldn’t have to work in other farmer’s fields on low wages.

3.             She would sell the crop and earn money, she would have money to spend on her children.

Q6. What are the crops grown in your region or nearby rural area? What kind of work do agriculture labourers do?

  

Ans: The crop grown in my region or nearby rural area are wheat, corn, rice and cotton.

The work that agricultural labourers do are:

Ploughing, irrigation, weeding, harvesting and storage of crops.

Q7. What work does Sekar’s family do? Why do you think Sekar does not usually employ labourers for doing farming work?

Ans: Sekar’s family does harvesting and other agricultural work on their own fields. Sekar does not employ labourers because he will have to give some amount in return.

Q8. Why does Sekar not go to the town market to get a better price for his paddy?

Ans: Sekar does not go to the town market to get better price for his paddy because he has taken seeds and fertilizers as loan from a trader. So to pay back his loan he has to sell his paddy to him at a somewhat lower price than the market.

Q9. What are the similarities and differences between Sekar’s and Thulasi’s lives?

Ans: Similarities:

1.  Sekar and Thulasi are both agricultural labourers.

2.  Both have taken loan at high interest rate.

3.  Both work at low wages.

Differences:

1.  Thulasi is a land less farmer but Sekar has a small piece of land.

2.  Thulasi has a definite source of income but Sekar’s income depends upon his crops.

Q10. What is terrace farming?

Ans: The land on the hill slop is made into flat plot and carved out in steps. The sides of each plot are raised in order to retain water. This allows water to stand in the fields, which is best for rice cultivation. This is called terrace farming.

Q11. What is debt?

Ans: Debt is an amount of money that you owe to a person, bank, company etc. on interest.

Q12. Under which circumstances poor farmers find themselves unable to pay back their loans? What happens after that?

Ans: poor farmers have to take loans for the agriculture purpose. Sometimes they successfully pay back the loans but there are moments when they are unable to pay that in time because of the crop failure. This is a very tough time for them. They have to borrow money again. So loans become so large that no matter how much they earn, they are unable to repay the loan amount. Due to this they are caught in debt. Whenever this kind of situation occurs farmers become helpless.

Q13. Who is landless farmers? What problem does he has to face?

Ans: A landless farmer owns no land. He has to work as a farmlabourer in rich farmer’s land. Often, he is underpaid. He remains poor and struggles to earn a livelihood.

Q14. Write difference in the life of  a small farmer and a big farmer.

A.14. Small Farmer
       1.They own small piece of land
       2.The crop they grow barely enough to meet their needs.
       3. They have to borrow money to buy seeds, pesticides etc. They are poor

           Big Farmer
       1. They own large farm land.
       2. They grow a large crop and sell large part of the produce in the market.
       3. They grow rich and earn lots of money and start new business.

Q.15.What do you mean by Livelihood?

A.15. Livelihood is a way of earning money in order to live.

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