CHAPTER-5 RURAL DEVELOPMENT
I. Choose the correct answer (Each question carries one mark)
1. Most of the agricultural laborers are
a) Rich b) middle class c) poor d) upper class
2. Leather industry and tourism are
a) Non -farm sector b) Farm sector c) other sectors d) Productive activities
3. The increased milk production can be mainly attributed to the successful implementation of
a) Operation food b) operation flood c) operation blue d) operation fruit
4. It is an agricultural allied activity
a) Poultry b) Cottage industry c) small industry d) tourism
5. NABARD was set up in
c) 1982
II. Fill in the blanks (Each question carries one mark)
1. The real growth of India is possible only from the development of Villages.
2. The major source of livelihood in the rural area is -Ag1iculture
3. SHGs have helped in the empowerment of Women
4. Organic Farming is free from Chemicals.
5. India has adopted social banking and multiagency approach to meet rural credit in the year -1969
6. The buffer stocks of wheat and rice are maintained by -Food Corporation in India.
III. Match the following. (Each question carries on mark)
A B
1. RRB b. Institutional source
2. Money lender d. non-institutional source
3. Green revolution e. Food grains production
4. Hadaspar mandi c. Pune
5. Operation flood a. Milk production
IV. Answer the following questions in a word / sentence each. (Each question carries one mark)
1. What is rural credit?
Rural Development means improvement of socio-economic life of rural people by providing basic infrastructures
which make to engage in productive activities.
2. Give the meaning of agricultural marketing?
It refers to process of assembling, storing, processing, grading, packing and distributing the agricultural products
throughout the country.
3. What is organic farming?
It is the farming which relies on crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest for growing crops.
It is the system of farming that restores, maintains and enhances the ecological balance.
4. Which is the apex institution in rural financing system?
NABARD - national bank for agriculture and rural development.
5. SHGs- Expand.
Self-Help Groups.
6. State the schema of central government which encourages all adults to open bank accounts.
Ans: Jan-dhan yojana.
7. Give the meaning of agricultural diversification
Agriculture diversification refers to a change in cropping patterns and shift of agriculture to other allied activities
and non-agriculture sector.
8. How does the fishing community regard the water body?
The fishing community regards the water body as 'mother' or 'provider'.
V. Answer the following question in four sentences each. (Each question carries Two mark)
1. Give the meaning of rural development.
Rural development implies to improve the socio-economic life of rural people by providing basic infrastructure
which enables them to engage in productive activities.
Rural development is involved inbuilding every aspect of human life and enables the rural economy as seif
supporting and self-governing.
2. How money lenders and traders exploited the rural farmers?
Money lenders and traders are exploited the rural farmers by lending them on high interest rates and are
manipulating the accounts to keep them in a dept-trap and faulty weighing system.
3. Name any two institutional sources of rural credit.
• NABARD - national bank for agriculture and rural development.
• Commercial banks
• RRBs - regional rural banks
• Co-operative societies
• Land development banks and SHGs - self-help groups - micro credit schemes
4. What is micro credit program?
Ans: The credit given to the needy persons, who lack access to traditional banking services, without collateral, as
a part of renovating fund to take up self-employment for income generation are referred to as micro credit
programs. In this program the borrowed fund is repayable in small instalments at reasonable interest rates.
5. Write any two facilities of Jan-Dhan Yojan
• The bank account holders can get Rs one-two lakh accidental insurance coverage and overdraft facilities of Rs
10,000/-
• The bank account holders can get the wages from government, old age pension and other social security
payments of the government
6. GiYe two examples for alternative market.
• Raitha sante - Kamataka
• Apni mandi -Punjab, Haryana, rajasthan
• Hadasparmadi – pune
• Rythu bazar - andrapradesh and Telangana
• Uzhavar sandies - tamilnadu
• National and multi-national fast food chains
7. What are the two aspects of diversification of agricultural activities?
• Change in cropping pattern
• Shift of workforce from agriculture to other aligned activities
8. Which are the main two seasons of ag1iculture?
• The kharif season
• The rabi season
9. Name the two life giving sources of fishing community.
Sea, oceans, rivers, lakes, national aquatic ponds, streams etc. are the life-giving sources for the fishing
community.
10. List out any two employment options for women in rural areas.
• Flower harvesting
• Nursery maintenance
• Bee keeping
• Tissue culture
• Food processing
• Propagation of fruits and flowers
• Livestock rearing
• Making handicrafts.
VI. ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IN TIVELVE SENTENCES
1. B1iefly explain the major problems of rural development.
List out the major problems of rural development.
The major problems which need fresh initiatives for development in rural India are:
a) Development of Human resources: The development of human resources includes promotion of literacy
particularly female literacy, education and skill development, providing health care by addressing both sanitation and
public health.
b) Land Reforms: The land reforms include ceiling on land holdings, prevention of fragmentation and subdivision of land
and making the tiller as the owner of the land.
c) Infrastructure Development: The development of infrastructure like provision of electricity, irrigation, banking,
marketing, transportation, agricultural research centers, information etc.
d) Poverty alleviation measures: Special measures for poverty alleviation and bringing progress among weaker sections
of the population and giving importance to productive employment opportunities also part of major issues of rural
economy.
e) Development of productive resources: This means that people engaged in frum and non-farm activities in rural
areas have to be provided with various means that help them to increase their productivity. They also need to be
given opportunities to diversify into various non-farm activities such as food processing dairying, livestock, fisheries,
tourism etc.
2. Write about rural credit system in India.
• The financial assistance availed by the rural people for both agricultural and nonagricultural activities can be
termed as rural credit.
• Growth of rural economy depends on often injection of capital to realize higher productivity in agriculture and
nonagricultural sector.
• The time duration between sowing and income earning after production is too long for rural farmers.
• so, they borrow various sources to meet their initial investment in agriculture to purchase seeds fertilizers, and
even for their family expenses.
• The sources of rural credit can be classified into: Institutional sources and non-institutional sources
• The institutional structure of rural banking consists commercial banks, regional rural banks- RRBs, co-
operatives, land development banks and NABARD.
• The non-institutional sources of rural credit are money lenders, traders and commission agents and land lords.
• At the time of independence, money lenders and traders exploited small and marginal farmers and landless
laborers by lending to them on high rate of interest and by manipulating the accounts to keep them in a dept-
trap.
• After the nationalization of commercial banks in I969, India adopted social banking and multi-agency
approach to adequately meets the need of rural credit.
• National bank for agriculture and rural development was set up in 1982 as an apex body to co-ordinate rural
financing system and to provide refinancing to rural credit institutions.
• Recently self-help groups- SHGs have emerged to fill the gap in the fam1er credit system The SHGs promote
thrift in small proportions by a minimum contribution from each member. From the pooled money credit is
given to the needy members to be repayable in small investments at reasonable interest rates.
• Such credit provisions are generally referred to as micro-credit programmers.
3. Explain the drawbacks of agricultural market.
Agricultural marketing is a process that involves the assembling, storage, processing, transportation, packaging, grading
and distribution of different agricultural commodities across the country.
The major drawbacks of agriculture marketing in India are as follows:
• Farmers are forced to sell their products at low prices –
Before independence, farmers were selling their produce to money lenders and traders at lower price by forcibly.
• Long chain of middlemen taking away the profit of farmers.
There are number of middlemen between producers and final consumers in the agricultural market. They will get a
lion share from the income.
• No proper storage facilities to protect the agricultural products. -
Some agriculture products are perishable and some are durable which required proper cold storage facility and
warehousing / buffer stock facility. But there were no proper storage facilities for the products. The farmers did
not have the proper storage facilities to keep back their produce for selling later at a better price. The traditional
method of storage resulted in loss of quality.
• Manipulation of accounts. –
Money lenders and traders cheated the farmers by using Faulty methods of weighing to measuring agricultural
products and manipulating the accounts.
• Lack of market information:
The farmers do not have required information on prices prevailing in market. They often forced to sell at low
prices.
4. Discuss about alternative markets.
It has been realized that if fam1ers directly sell their produce to consumers, it increases their incomes. The small
and marginal farmers are exploited by the middlemen. The farmers are not given appropriate price for their
product. In this context, there arose a need for an alternative market channel that would fetch them
comparatively higher price. Some of the examples of alternative markets are;
The examples for emerging alternative marketing channels are as follows:
Farmers directly sell their agricultural produce to consumers.
• Example: Apni Mandi in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan,
• RythuBazzar- vegetables and fruits markets in Andhra Pradesh,
• Uzhavzr Sandies – a farmers market in Tamil Nadu.
• Hadaspannadi - pune
• Raitha sante - Kamataka
Agricultural contracts- several domestic and multinational companies entering agreements with Indian farmers in
which farmers are encouraged to grow farm products of desired quality by providing them with not only seeds and
other inputs but also assured procurement of the produce at pre-decided prices.
The main benefits of alternative Agricultural Marketing channels are:
The farmers get seeds and other agricultural inputs.
Farmers are assured of procurement of agricultural products at pre-decided prices.
Help in reducing price risk of farmers.
Expansion of markets for farm products in India and abroad.
VII. ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IN 20 SENTENCES EACH
1. Explain the measures taken by the government to improve the agricultural marketing system.
An efficient marketing system can be an important means for raising agriculture productivity and income levels of
farmers. In the view of harmful consequences of defective agricultural marketing system, the state intervention
became necessary to regulate the activities of organized traders. The measures initiated to reform agricultural
marketing are;
a) Establishment of Regulated Market: The regulated markets are those markets which are controlled and managed
by the Government to provide orderly and transparent marketing conditions like better storage facilities, fair prices,
removing middlemen etc. This has benefited the farmers and consumers.
b) Provision of infrastructural facilities:
The provision of physical infrastructural facilities like roads, railways, warehouses, godowns, cold storages and
processing units will make agricultural sector a commercial and profit-oriented sector in India.
c) Establishment of cooperative marketing societies:
These societies are encouraged by the government to realize fair prices for agricultural products and ensure better
income to the farmers. The success of milk cooperative societies in transforming the social and economic
conditions of Gujarat is worth mentioning.
d) Minimum support price- MSP:
Government declare minimum support p1ices eve1y year to protect the interest of farmers during the price
fluctuation of agricultural produce. This instrument is aimed at protecting the income of farmers and stabilization
of prices of food grains.
e) Emergence of alternate markets:
It has been realised that if fam1ers directly sell their produce to consumers it increases income of the farmers.
Several national and international companies are increasingly entering into contract with fam1ers, by providing
them with not only inputs but also assured purchase of product at pre-determined prices. It will help the
farmers to have larger market and reduce the price risks.
f) The other measures are:
Maintenance of Buffer stocks of wheat and rice by Food Corporation of India.
Distribution of essential commodities like wheat, rice, sugar and kerosene under Public Distribution System (PDS).
2. Write about animal husbandry.
Livestock:
Agriculture is already overcrowded due to rapid growth of population and non-availability of employment in rural
areas. A major proportion of labour force needs to find alternative employment opportunities in non-agricultural sector
which has several segments.
• Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fiber, milk, eggs
and other products. Livestock comprises poultry, cattle, goats, sheep, pig, foul training, asses, horses etc.
• livestock production provides increased stability in income, food security, transport, fuel and nutrition for the
family without disturbing other food processing activities.
• It supplies meat, eggs, wood and other by-products. Many fanners in India depend on animal husbandry for their
livelihood.
• Today, livestock sector alone provides alternate livelihood options to over 70 million small and marginal farmers
including landless laborers.
• Of the distribution of livestock in India poultry accounts for the largest share with 58 percent, cattle and buffalos
with 24 percent and sheep, goats, pigs and other with 18 percent.
Dairy farming:
• The performance of dairy sector in India has been quite impressive over the last four decades. Due to successful
implementation of 'operation flood' the milk production increased by more than five times between 1960-2002.
• A remarkable increase in the production of milk is termed as 'white revolution'. Dr. Vergies Kurian is regarded as
father of white revolution. At present India is the largest milk producing country with the production of 127.9
million tons in 2011- 12.
• At present India is the largest milk producing country in the world. Here milk co operative play a major role.
• In rural areas there are 133 lakh milk co-operatives and collecting the milk on grading basis and ensure better
prices to farmers. Further, the collected milk is processes and milk products are marketed in urban areas. Gujarat
state has achieved spectacular progress in the milk production and emerged as largest milk production state.
• Following successful story of Gujarat, Karnataka has emerged as another major milk producing state.
• Karnataka State Milk Federation (KMF) in the state is encouraging the people to increase milk production.
• Now a day’s KMF is involving in the production of other dairy products.
3. Briefly explain the followin2 a2ricultural allied activities
Horticulture:
• Horticulture refers to the growing of diverse agricultural crops like fruits, flowers, vegetables, tuber crops,
medicinal and aromatic plants, spices and plantation crops.
• India is blessed with diversified climate and soil as it leads to adopt diverse horticultural crops. These crops
provide food and nutrition, employment, income and sustainable livelihood to the poor. Horticulture sector
contributes nearly one-third of the value of the agriculture output and 6 percent of GDP of India.
• India has emerged as a world leader in producing a variety of fruits like mangoes, bananas, coconuts, cashew nuts
and a number of spices. India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables. Flower harvesting nursery
maintenance, hybrid seeds production, tissue culture, propagation of fruits and flowers and food processing have
become remunerative job options for women in rural areas.
• Economic condition of many farmers engaged in horticulture has improved and it has become a means of
improving livelihood for many unprivileged classes.
• But the productivity of horticulture crops is low in India as compared to other countries. It requires improved
technology, credit facilities, infrastructure like electricity, cold storage system, market linkages and dissemination.
Fisheries:
• The fishing community regards the WATER BODY as 'mother' or 'provider'. The water bodies consisting of sea,
oceans, rivers, lakes, natural aquatic plants, streams, tanks etc are an integral and life - giving sources for the
fishing community.
• After the budgetary support and introduction to new technologies the production of fisheries and aquaculh1re
has improved remarkably in India. Presently fishing production from inland sources contributes about 64
percent to the total value of fish production and balance 36 percent comes from the marine sector. Today fish
production accounts for 0.8 percent of the total GDP and 14 million of employment opportunities.
• However, a large number of fish worker families are poor. Rampant unemployment, low per capita incomes,
absence of mobility of labors to other sectors, high rate of illiteracy and indebtedness are some major
problems faced by fishing community. There is a need to increase credit facilities to meet working capital
requirement for marketing.
• Therefore, there is a need to increase the credit facilities through cooperatives, regional banks and self-help
groups for fishing community to meet the working capital requirements for processing, storing and marketing.
• Welfare program for fishing community have to be reoriented in a manner which can provide long term gains
and sustenance of their livelihood.
4. List out the benefits and limitations of organic farming.
Organic farming is the system of agriculture that relies on technologies which restores, maintains and
enhances ecological balance and sustainable development crop rotation, green manure, compost and
biological test are the important methods of organic farming.
Benefits of organic farming:
a) The cost of production and prices of agricultural produce are cheaper than conventional agriculture.
b) It reduces the harmful effects on environment and provides healthy food to the people. The food
has more nutritional value.
c) The locally produced organic inputs such as green manure, compost and biological pest are cheaper than
chemical
fertilizer, pesticides etc.
d) It guarantees the conservation of fertility of soil and uncontaminated environment.
e) It generates higher income through exports as the demand for organically grown crops is on a rise.
f) It increases the employment opportunities as it requires more labor input.
g) It increases the quality and quantity of agricultural product in the long run.
Limitations of organic farming:
a) Lower yields compared to conventional farming system
b) Higher production cost
c) Market limitations due to limited output and higher prices.
d) Shorter shelf duration because of lack of artificial preservatives.
e) Pest and disease management is not effective as in synthetic method.
V. ASSIGNMENT AND PROJECT ORIENTED QUESTION
1. Prepare a list of any five popular agricultural products of organic farming system.
• Oil seeds
• Medicinal plants
• Cotton
• Sugarcane
• Cereals and millets
• Coffee and tea
• Fruits and vegetables
• Spices and dry fruits.
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