HARD
7th Jammu and Kashmir Board
IMPORTANT
Earn 100

"Swapna, a small farmer in Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh) grows cotton on her small piece of land. The bolls of the cotton plant are ripe and some have already burst, so Swapna is busy picking cotton. The bolls, which carry the cotton in them, do not burst open all at once so it takes several days to harvest the cotton. Once the cotton is collected, instead of selling it at Kurnool cotton market, Swapna and her husband take the harvest to the local trader. At the beginning of the cropping season, Swapna had borrowed Rs 2,500 from the trader at a very high interest rate to buy seeds, fertilisers, pesticides for cultivation. At that time, the local trader made Swapna agree to another condition. He made her promise to sell all her cotton to him. Cultivation of cotton requires high levels of inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides and the farmers have to incur heavy expenses on account of these. Most often, the small farmers need to borrow money to meet these expenses. At the trader’s yard, two of his men weigh the bags of cotton. At a price of Rs 1,500 per quintal, the cotton fetches Rs 6,000. The trader deducts Rs 3,000 for repayment of loan and interest and pays Swapna Rs 3,000."

Where do you think large farmers would sell their cotton? How is their situation different from Swapna's?

Important Questions on A Shirt in the Market

HARD
7th Jammu and Kashmir Board
IMPORTANT
What are the following people doing at the Erode cloth market— merchants, weavers, exporters?
MEDIUM
7th Jammu and Kashmir Board
IMPORTANT
In what ways are weavers dependent on cloth merchants?
HARD
7th Jammu and Kashmir Board
IMPORTANT
If the weavers were to buy yarn on their own and sell cloth, they would probably earn three times more. Do you think this is possible? How? Discuss.
MEDIUM
7th Jammu and Kashmir Board
IMPORTANT
What are the demands foreign buyers make on the garment exporters? Why do the garment exporters agree to these demands?
MEDIUM
7th Jammu and Kashmir Board
IMPORTANT
How do the garment exporters meet the conditions set by the foreign buyers?
HARD
7th Jammu and Kashmir Board
IMPORTANT
Why do you think more women are employed in the Impex garment factory? Discuss.
HARD
7th Jammu and Kashmir Board
IMPORTANT

The shirt below shows the profit made by the businessperson and the various costs that he had to pay. Find out from the diagram below, what the cost price includes.

Question Image

HARD
7th Jammu and Kashmir Board
IMPORTANT
Compare the earnings per shirt of the worker in the garment factory, the garment exporter and the businessperson in the market abroad. What do you find?