(i) The major cause of poverty among India's rural people is the lack of access to productive assets and financial resources. High level of illiteracy and lack of adequate health facilities are also responsible for the poor staying poor in rural India.
(ii) The agricultural productivity can be raised by providing proper marketing facilities, provisions of better irrigational facilities, reduction of population burden on land, development of cottage and small scale industries and encouraging co-operative farming.

Sixty five percent of our population lives in villages. Agriculture is the main occupation. Most of the villages are at a distance from cities. The houses of our villages are mostly made of mud, have thatched roofs and the people keep cattle at home. Some villages lack proper medical aid

Before independence, our villages were extremely backward. Most of the villages did not have modern facilities of irrigation. Farmers were mostly illiterate and superstitious. They did not have a scientific outlook and old methods of cultivation were followed. Zamindars or the British Government paid no heed towards the improvement of the farmers. People were mostly poor, though they worked hard.

People in Pudupet earn their living by fishing. Their houses are close to the sea and are surrounded by catamarans and nets. Early in the morning, fishermen with their catamarans get into the sea for fishing and in the evening the catamarans return with their catch. Women gather to buy them and later, they sell their fish in the local market

The people of Chizami have their own individual fields but they also work collectively in each other's fields. They form groups of six or eight and take an entire mountain side to clean the weeds on it. All groups eat together once their work for the day is over. This goes on for several days until the job is completed.

The causes for the growth of agricultural labourers are as follows :
(i) Increase in population.
(ii) Decline of cottage and handicraft industries.
(iii) Increased indebtedness.
(iv) Eviction of small farmers and tenants from the land.

The three problems faced by the Indian farmers are :
(i) Lack of availability of water for irrigation. The high yielding variety of seeds, chemical fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides, etc., are very expensive and the farmers find it difficult to purchase them.
(ii) Most of the farmers have small holdings which are uneconomical.
(iii) In case of a crop failure, it becomes difficult in paying off the loans taken from the banks and private money lenders. In order to pay the debts, they are compelled to sell their produce at cheaper rates.

Shekar's family had just finished the harvesting. He is the owner of two acres of land and manages to do all the work in the field with the help of his family members. It is subsistence agriculture for which outside labourers are not required

Yes, there are self-help programmes available for the fishing community. The programmes make sure that at least one member in each family should be engaged in a profession. It also facilitates training in tailoring, nursing, driving, education, handicrafts and repair of electronic gadgets.

Terrace farming is practiced in hilly areas. It helps in stopping soil erosion. The land is cut into steps. Sikkim and Nagaland are the two states where terrace farming is put to use extensively.

Poverty and illiteracy are the two main factors responsible for the sufferings of farmers in rural India. A large proportion of poor people live in rural areas. Poverty remains a chronic condition for 30% of India's rural population.

During the monsoon season, the fishermen cannot go to the sea because it is when the fish breed. These months are the most difficult ones. They survive by borrowing money from traders. Because of this, they face the problem of selling fish to traders the low prices and cannot do their own auctions

People in villages near in coastal areas earn their livelihood by fishing. Their houses are close to the sea and one finds rows of catamarans and nets lying around. At about 7 a.m., there are lot of activities on the beach and this is the time when catamarans return with their catch and women gather to buy and sell fish.

Seasonal unemployment is found basically in the agricultural sector. In the industrial sector, people are employed normally for all the days in a year. But this is not true for agriculture. This is due to the fact that agricultural operations require labour only during certain seasons. In between the seasons, the workers in agriculture remain idle or have no productive work to be engaged in.

If I were a member of fishing family, I would say, we must take loan from the bank to improve the condition of our occupation because:
(i) The best quality net for fishing costs very high.
(ii) Catamaran engines are very useful for fishing because with the help of these we can go far away to catch fishes.
(iii) Poor fishermen cannot purchase these items because they are very costly. So, we must take loan from the bank to improve our social status.