Rural livelihoods
Polity class - 6 chapter -7 short Revision upsc
Working in Village
Poor families in rural areas spend a lot of time every day collecting firewood, getting water, and grazing their cattle even though they do not earn any money from these activities.
Nearly two-fifth of all rural families are agricultural labourers in our country.
Some have small plots of land while others are landless.
Debt
The farmers need to borrow money to purchase basic things like seeds, fertilisers and pesticides.
They borrow this money from moneylenders.
Farmers sometimes are unable to pay back their loans due to crop failure, which makes them in debt.
The debt has been an issue of farmers' suicide.
Agricultural Labourers
They depend on the work which they do in other people's fields to earn a living.
The 80 per cent of farmers belong to small groups.
Other occupations of people in rural areas depend upon collection from the forest, animal husbandry, dairy produce, fishing, etc.
Rural Livelihoods
People in rural areas earn their livelihood in various ways some work on farms while others earn their livelihood through non farm activities.
Rural people in different regions of the country grow different crops.
Terrace Farming
In this type of farming, the land on a hill slope is made into flat plots and carved out in steps.
The sides of each plot are raised to retain water.
This allows water to stand in the field, which is best for rice cultivation.
