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AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION
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AGRICULTURAL SEASONS
As in the other area of the State, there are also two agricultural seasons viz., kharif and rabi in this district. The kharif season starts from June, i.e., from the first day of the mrug nakshatra and continues up to the end of November. The south-west monŽsoon starts from June. This is mainly useful for pre-sowing and preparatory tillage of the soil. The regular south-west rains set in by the fourth week of June. The sowing operations start as soon as sufficient rain is received. However special importance is given to sowing of cotton crop during the mrug nakshatra. Early sowing of cotton results in good yield. About 30 to 50 mm rainfall is deemed sufficient for sowing of kharif crops particularly cotton.
The main kharif crops are cotton, jowar, bajri, mug, udid, tur,
matki, groundnut, chillis and kharif vegetables. Jowar is mostly
grown in this district in kharif season. The sowing of kharif
crops starts from June, if timely rains are received and harvesting is done from September to November. Crops like cotton, chillis are picked up during October and December in a number of successive pickings each after an interval of 10 to 15 days.
Rabi season starts from the middle of the October and contiŽnues up to February. The major rabi crops in this district are wheat, gram, safflower and linseed. Sowing of wheat and gram begins from the first week of October. They are sown in the non-irrigated fields. The crops in the irrigated fields can be sown later. Wheat and gram are ready for harvesting in March. Linseed is harvested in February. Rabi wheat is taken as a second crop in fields retaining moisture and are sown after mug, udid and groundnut. Gram is taken as a second crop in fields occupied by bajri in kharif season. Rabi crops particularly wheat are grown in irrigated land for better yields. Spices and vegeŽtables like radish, cabbage, brinjal, tomato, etc., are grown as second crops in rabi season when the kharif harvest is over. It will thus be seen that there are some crops like jowar, which are taken as either kharif crops or rabi crops depending mainly upon the system of crop rotation followed by the cultivators having regard to the type of the soil, climatic conditions, yield of the crop and the expenses to be incurred, etc.
The district has more area under kharif than under rabi crops. There are, however, local variations in this broad pattern. The southernmost tahsils (Mehkar) have considerable proportion of rabi crops, while in Malkapur and Jalgaon tahsils in the north, most of the cropped area is under kharif alone.
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