NCERT Summary: Rural Livelihoods - Notes | Study Social Studies (SST) Class 6 - Class 6

Kalpattu village

• People in Kalpattu village are involved in different professions such as blacksmiths, teachers, washer men, weavers, barbers, mechanics, shopkeepers and traders.
  • There are also some shopkeepers and traders.
  • There are variety of small shops such as tea shops, grocery shops, barber shops, a cloth shop, a tailor and two fertiliser and seed shops.
• Most of the families earn a living through agriculture.
• Paddy is the main crop that is grown in irrigated lands.

Rural Livelihoods

• Nearly two-fifth of all rural families are agricultural labourers in India.
• There are some who have small plots of land while others are landless.
• People do not have their own land, work on the fields of larger landowners to earn their living.
• In India, 80 percent of farmers have small sized lands and only 20 percent of large farmers cultivate most of the land in the villages.
• Many of large farmers have started other businesses such as shops, moneylending, trading, small factories etc.
• Apart from farming, many people in rural areas depend upon collection from the forest, animal husbandry, dairy produce, fishing etc.
• Rural people in different regions of the country grow different crops. 
  • But there are various similarities in their life situations and in the problems that they face.
• Some families in rural areas which thrive on large acres of lands, business and other activities.
• Most small farmers, agricultural labourers, fishing families, crafts persons in the villages do not find enough work to keep them employed throughout the year.
• Farmers often borrow money from traders and moneylenders to buy seeds and fertilisers.