A Seed Tells a Farmer's Story Class 5 Notes CBSE EVS Chapter 19 (Free PDF Download)

Summary of a Seed Tells a Farmers Story

• Earlier, farmers used to grow several types of food grains.

• A small part of food grains was kept aside from a good crop every year.

• Crops that yield more money are now grown by farmers.

• Farmers avoid growing Bajra and Jowar now. They buy new types of seeds.

• In early times, farmers used natural fertilizers or manures like dried leaves or cow dung cakes, etc.

• Nowadays, the process has been changed. Farmers spend a lot of money on fertilizers, insecticides, etc., which have affected the soil.

I am a Small Seed!

• Damjibhai saves some seeds from a good crop every year.

• Good seeds were usually stored in a dried gourd (lauki ) which was coated with mud.

• But in the year 1940, Damjibhai himself made a strong wooden box to store the bajra seeds.

• He put in neem leaves to protect them from insects.

• Even in farming, everyone in the village helped each other.

• During winters, they enjoyed undhiya which was a kind of stew.

• The meaning of undhiya is ‘upside down’ in Gujarati.

• Farmers would grow different kinds of crops according to seasons.

• The farmers kept enough for their needs and sold the rest to shopkeepers from the city. 

• Some farmers also grew cotton.

• To make cloth, family members spun cotton on a charkha (spinning wheel) at home.

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When Times Changed

• Over time a lot of things changed in the village.

• Some places started to get water from the canal.

• Soon electricity came into the village.

• People realized that only wheat and cotton got better prices in the market, so they started to grow only wheat and cotton.

• Soon bajra and jowar and other vegetables were forgotten.

• Damjibhai’s son Hasmukh looked after the responsibility of farming and family.

• He rebuilt the old house, bought new machines for farming, and set up an electric motor to pump water.

• He also bought a tractor to farm efficiently and a motorcycle to travel to the market easily.

• After all these changes, bullocks were not needed anymore.

• Because of machines, the need for workers became very less in the fields.

More and More Expenses

• Without cows and buffaloes, there was no cow dung fertilizer.

• So, Hasmukh had to buy chemical fertilizers, which were harmful to the soil.

• Insects were easily attracted to the new kinds of seeds.

• Medicines needed to be used to keep the insects away from the corps.

• All of these were very expensive.

• The water from the canal was not sufficient for the crops, so the farmers had to lift water from deep underground.

• Hasmukh had to take loans to bear the expenses, and all the little profit that was made was used to repay the loans.

• His educated son Paresh realized that there is no more profit left in farming anymore.

• As a result, Paresh decided to become a truck driver.

Case Study of Andhra Pradesh

• Many farmers are being sent to jail.

• Farmers take loans from banks and when they’re unable to repay they were sent to jail.

• Nalappa Reddy had a loan of Rs. 24,000 from the bank.

• He was unable to repay that loan so, he borrowed more money from another moneylender of Rs. 34,000.

• Reddy was still unable to repay the whole loan.

• The banks sends the farmer to jail for being unable to repay small loans but they don’t take any action against the big businessmen who take loans of much bigger amounts.

• Due to this, many farmers commit suicide in India every year.

• According to government figures 1,50,000 farmers have died like this between 1997 and 2005.

Bhaskarabhai Farm

• Bhaskarabhai’s farm was covered with dead leaves and was full of wild grasses and plants.

• Most of the trees were dry as if it was eaten by insects.

• Some plants had colourful leaves, known as Croton plants, which indicate if the soil is dry or not.

•  The roots of the croton do not go deep in the ground, so when the top layer of the soil becomes dry, the croton leaves bend and become limp.

• This signal tells Bhaskarbhai which part of his farm needs to be watered.

• Bhaskarabhai does not buy any fertilizers made in factories.

• His soil is fertile because of all the dried leaves which slowly rot and mix with it.

• He had a lot of earthworms under the soil.

• These are his soil's best friends. The earthworms soften the soil as they keep digging underneath to make tunnels.

• The earthworms also eat the dead leaves and plants, and their droppings fertilise the soil.

• All the dead leaves, peels of vegetables and fruits, and leftover food and earthworms, all these turn into waste and then into compost.

• So, it is a good way to get natural fertilizer without spending any money.

Fill in the Blanks:

1. Without cows and buffaloes, there was no ___.

Ans: cow dung

2. Hasmukh was making a lot of money from ___.

Ans: farming

3. At home, family members spun cotton on a ___ to make clothes.

Ans: charkha

Choose the Correct Option:

1. What was the name of the son of Damjibhai/

1. Hasmukh

2. Gurpreet

3. Krishna

4. Sukhdev

Ans: (a) Hasmukh

2. What is the meaning of ‘undhiya’ in Gujarati?

1. Pot curry

2. A food made in upside down pot

3. Fried vegetables

4. None of the above

Ans: (b) A food made in upside down pot

Solved Examples

1. Are rotis made in your home? From which grains are they made?

Ans: Yes, rotis are made at my home. They are typically made from wheat and on some occasions, maize.

2. Have you eaten roti made from Bajra and Jowar? Did you like these?

Ans: Yes, I have eaten bajra and jowar roti. They were delicious.

3. What can happen to Hasmukh’s farm after some years?

Ans: Because Hasmukh uses chemical fertilizers, his farm will lose fertility after a few years. Hasmukh is on the verge of bankruptcy because he borrowed money to buy a tractor, seeds, and fertilizer. He may be unable to work properly on his farm in the future.

4. Damjibhai’s son Hasmukh chose to become a farmer like his father, Hasmukh’s son Paresh is not a farmer, but a truck driver. Why would he have done so?

Ans: Paresh could see that his father was losing money. Farming had become a capital-intensive, low-profit activity. As a result, Paresh would have decided to change careers.

Practice Questions

1. What kind of progress would you like to see in your area?

Ans: In my area, I would like to see the following progress:

1. Improved roads

2. Overall cleanliness, with no overflowing drains

3. A reliable public transportation system

4. A large park and playground where children can play and adults can relax.

2. Have there been any changes near your area, which may be difficult to call ‘progress’? What changes are these? What are the different opinions about them?

Ans: Yes, there have been many changes that may not be considered progress in the true sense. Consider the increasing number of vehicles on the road. More vehicles have made travel easier, but they have also contributed to air pollution. Similarly, numerous factories are being built near cities and villages. These factories produce goods for people, but they also pollute the air and water. Some machines have been developed that can do the work of thousands of people, displacing thousands of people. Many of the gadgets in our homes have made us reliant on them. We are becoming more sluggish.

Important Points to Remember

• The way of farming has changed a lot from the early days.

• Nowadays, people use more and more chemical products on the crops which makes the items less tasty.

• We should try to produce crops in a more organic way.

• We should use natural fertilizers and manure on crops like cow dung, leaves, etc.

Importance of CBSE Class 5 EVS Chapter 19 A Seed Tells a Farmer’s Story

This chapter is the autobiography of a bajra seed. It explains how the farmers use seeds to grow new plants. It also elaborates what kind of crops are grown at different times using different techniques.

The farmers also keep ample harvest for themselves and sell the rest. It also describes how traditional food items were made with seeds and vegetables. It further informs us that as time passed, seeds were not stored at home. Farmers started to buy seeds directly from the markets.

The techniques of farming in A Seed Tells a Farmer’s Story have gone through a lot of changes in due course of time. You will learn how these farming techniques have become better and how the yield has increased.

This chapter is very important as it tells us about how agriculture was carried on in the 1940s. It also explains the differences between modern and old crop-producing techniques.

Benefits of Vedantu’s Class 5 EVS Chapter 19 worksheet and Revision Notes

• The simpler explanation of the agricultural concepts in these revision notes will help you understand the fundamental concepts of this chapter easily.

• Resolve doubts on your own and find out the answer to all exercise questions by referring to these notes. Find out and remember the name of any two festivals related to farming in this chapter.

• Recall what you have studied in this chapter and answer questions, such as write any two methods to protect seeds from insects. Your comprehension skills will increase when you use the notes to revise this chapter.

• Solve the worksheets to test your answering skills and concentrate on the sections where you need to work more.
  

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