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AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION
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AGRICULTURAL POPULATION
BULDHANA DISTRICT HAS A LARGE AGRICULTURAL POPULATION. Out of the total workers in the district, 85.3 per cent constitute the agricultural workers as per 1971 Census. Agriculture is the main source of livelihood of the people in the district. Maratha, Kunbi, Lewa Patidar, Nihal, Korkus, Lamani, Banjara, Vanjari, Mahars, Kolis, Dhangars form the bulk of Buldhana district husbandmen.
The district is broadly divided into two zones.—(1) The Payanghat (or the plains) comprising Jalgaon, Malkapur and Khamgaon tahsils. It has fertile soil, moderate rainfall and hot weather, as a result of which food as well as non-food crops are grown in this zone. This zone accounts for about half the total geographical area of the district.
(2) The other Zone is the Balaghat, comprising two southern tahsils of Chikhli and Mehkar. It has hilly land, forests, cool climate and shallow soils and it grows cotton, jowar, pulses and bajri on the uplands and wheat in the better soils in the valleys. The people living in 1,397 villages scattered throughout the district as stated earlier follow agriculture as their main source of livelihood and is the mainstay of the rural economy of the district. The table No. 1 gives the livelihood pattern of the people in the district in 1971.
TABLE No. 1
OCCUPATIONAL DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION IN BULDHANA DISTRICT IN 1971.
|
Item |
Total |
Rural |
Urban | |
P |
M |
F |
P |
M |
F |
P |
M |
F |
(1) |
(2) |
(3) |
(4) |
(5) |
(6) |
(7) |
(8) |
(9) |
(10) | |
I. Cultivators |
1,78,121 |
1,26,492 |
51,629 |
1,71,439 |
1,20,701 |
50,738 |
6,682 |
5,791 |
891 | |
II. Agricultural labourers |
2,74,227 |
1,41,264 |
1,32,963 |
2,53,584 |
1,29,200 |
1,24,384 |
20,643 |
12,069 |
8,579 | |
III. Livestock, forestry, fishing, hunting, plantations, orchards and allied activities. |
4,265 |
3,899 |
366 |
3,047 |
2,760 |
287 |
1,218 |
1,139 |
79 | |
IV. Mining and quarrying |
173 |
138 |
35 |
149 |
124 |
25 |
24 |
14 |
10 | |
V. Manufacturing, processing, servicing, repairs— |
| |
(a) Household industry |
10,631 |
8,860 |
1,771 |
8,999 |
7,561 |
1,438 |
1,632 |
1,299 |
333 | |
(b) Other than household industry |
9,776 |
9,185 |
591 |
4,009 |
3,755 |
254 |
5,767 |
5,430 |
337 | |
VI. Construction |
3,434 |
3,081 |
353 |
1,960 |
1,647 |
313 |
1,474 |
1,434 |
40 | |
VII. Trade and Commerce |
16,909 |
16,343 |
566 |
5,619 |
5,377 |
242 |
11,290 |
10,966 |
324 | |
VIII. Transport, storage and communications |
4,812 |
4,743 |
69 |
898 |
890 |
8 |
3,914 |
3,853 |
61 | |
IX. Other services |
27,848 |
25,413 |
2,433 |
15,510 |
14,604 |
906 |
12,338 |
10,809 |
1,529 | |
X. Non-workers |
7,32,782 |
3,06,885 |
4,25,897 |
5,75,956 |
2,43,139 |
3,32,817 |
1,56,826 |
63,746 |
93,080 |
P—Persons, M—Males, and F—Females.
The cultivators and the agricultural labourers constituted 33.6 per cent and 51.7 per cent, respectively, of the total working population of the district in 1971. Only 3.11 per cent and 2.00 per cent of the working population were engaged in trade and commerce and household industry, respectively, for their livelihood. The non-workers formed 58.00 per cent of the total population of the district.
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