The Gazetteers Department

The agricultural season in 1931-32, was on the whole quite satisfactory. The rabi crops fared well. The general state of agriculture in the year was good. In 1932-33, the south-west as well as north-east monsoons yielded copious rain which resulted in good kharif and rabi seasons. The year 1933-34 had a fairly good agricultural season. The August rain was so heavy, that crops in the Godavari valley region were submerged under water. The kharif season witnessed good results except the damage due to floods. The rabi season was spoilt in certain respects by unseasonal rains and hailstorms. Agricultural conditions were less satisfactory in 1934-35. The kharif season met with indifferent and scanty rains. The sowing of the important commercial crops, viz., cotton and groundnut, was affected badly. Consequently, the total yields were poor. There was shortage of water and fodder in some parts of the district. The kharif season of 1935-36 was more satisfactory than in the previous year. The rabi crops were partly spoilt by rains at the time of the harvest. The condition of agriculture was less satisfactory in 1936-37 than in the preceding year. The cash crops encountered failures. There was a heavy shortage of water and fodder in the entire region of Marathwada. The performance of agriculture during 1937-38 was not better than in the previous year. The jowar and castor seed crops suffered badly. Abnormal rains spoilt the agricultural crops in 1938-39. Jowar and cotton were badly affected. The rabi crops were hit hard by scanty rains from the north-east monsoons. The yield of some of the crops was below the average of the preceding quinquennium. The vagaries of the monsoons proved injurious to agricultural production in 1939-40 also. The Monsoon was late and weak. Consequently, the kharif season was affected severely.

Agricultural conditions during the decade 1941—51 on the whole were not unfavourable although some portions of the district passed through difficult times. The events leading to the police Action in September 1948 considerably upset the agriculturists and agricultural production. Some parts of the district, especially the western-most tahsils of Ashti and Patoda, suffered from irregular and deficient rainfall during 1942, 1946 and 1950. However, conditions never deteriorated into a famine.