The Gazetteers Department

The system of rotation of crops and the pattern of cropping vary from soil to soil depending upon irrigation and other available facilities. On heavy soils, cultivators generally grow cotton crop during the first year, and jowar during the second year. During the third, it is left fallow in the kharif season and wheat is grown in the rabi season.

Generally, all over the district, deep-rooted crops like cotton are rotated with shallow rooted crops such as jowar, wheat and groundnut. Similarly non-leguminous crops such as cotton, jowar and wheat are rotated with the leguminous crops like groundnut, mug, chavli, tur, etc. Roots of the deep-rooted crops penetrate into the soil to a depth of 2.30 metres (9") to 4.60 metres (18"). If the cultivation of deep-rooted crops is continued year after year on the same land, the soils are required to be heavily manured every year, the reason being that the plant nutrients in the soil till a particular depth up to which the roots penetrate are depleted. The cultivator being familiar with this phenomenon rotates deep-rooted crops with shallow-rooted crops so as to achieve the twin objectives, viz., using fully the available plant food present in the soil without allowing the soils to deteriorate in fertility. Leguminous crops such as groundnut, sann, tur, mug, etc., have nodules all over their roots. These nodules contain nitrogen fixing bacteria. They fix the nitrogen directly from the air into the soil. Thus leguminous crops leave behind them manurial value beneficial to the subsequent crop and also improve the fertility and texture of the soil.

Crop rotation commonly observed on medium types of soils comprises cotton crop during the 1st year, jowar during the 2nd year and groundnut during the third. Unlike heavy and medium types of soils, lighter types of soils have four-fold crop rotation: cotton crop during the first year, jowar during the second year, tur and other miscellaneous crops during the third and groundnut during the fourth. Groundnut is rotated with cotton in Chandur, Morshi and Amravati talukas. The cultivators in Daryapur and Achalpur talukas do not follow rotation but grow cotton because of its high price. At many places in the district where irrigation facilities are available, cotton is followed by groundnut in kharif season and by wheat in the rabi season. The latter type is known as the double cropping system. Many cultivators take gram or peas after groundnut. Yet another system of crop rotation is followed on heavier types of soils. Cultivators keep the land fallow during kharif season, prepare it during the rainy season whenever there is a break of rains and grow wheat crop in the rabi season. During the second year, cotton crop is grown.

Various other crop combinations are in vogue with the cultivators. Tur, mug, udid and bajra are seldom grown as a sole crop. They are usually produced as a catch crop with other main crops. It is only in very light type of soils which are either eroded or slopping that these crops are produced as single crops. Tur is generally produced as a line crop with cotton. After every eighth and twelfth row of cotton, tur is sown. Either mug or udid crop is sown in alternate lines with jowar. Sometimes, mug or udid seed is mixed with jowar and then sown. Mug or udid crops get ready for harvest within two to three months. It is harvested earlier, and the jowar crop is left behind for its full growth. In this case, farmer gets mug or udid crop as a catch crop. Thus, if the season proves to be unfavourable, the farmer gets at least one crop.

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