AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION

SOILS

Soil is the most important factor in the process of production. Its structure which, to a very great extent, controls the cropping pattern is formed by such constituents as thickness, texture, consistency, Ca Co₃., Mg., P₂O₅. etc., which vary from place to place. A general description of the soil of the district as regards its topographical distribution is given in the old gazetteer [Central Provinces District Gazetteers, Chanda District, Vol. A., 1909, p. 142.] of the district. It shows how the soils of western, central and eastern  parts of the district differ from each other. The old account reads thus:

"The soil of the district falls into clearly defined longitudinal bands, and each of these bands displays cropping of a wholly different kind from that of its immediate neighbour. On the extreme west, on the left banks of the Wardha and the Godavari, there is found a deep and rich black loam overlying trap and itself probably largely composed of disintegrated trap. The impervious nature of the underlying trap makes the soil extremely retentive of moisture, and it is found to be peculiarly suited to the growth of open field crops, such as cotton, jwari and staples of the rabi type. Further east occurs a belt of shallower brown or yellow loam overlying sandstone. This soil drains rapidly and would be of little value without irrigation, but when watered is ideal for rice and cane. As the country is interspersed with numerous hills affording excellent sites for tanks, we find this tract studded with villages devoted to the cultivation of rice, and for the most part possessing excellent tanks. Further eastward again, on either bank of the Wainganga, the black loam reappears and is accompanied by a prevalence of open field spring crops, with occasional rice villages intervening wherever a good site can be found for a tank. Eastward of the Wainganga valley the soil becomes poor and hills are abundant, the consequence being that rice is the staple crop of the zamindaris which occupy this tract."

There were nine types of soil which were distinguished at settlement and recorded in the old gazetteer of the district. Their local designation varied according to the language prevailing in different tracts. These local names were kali, bersi kanhar, morand, khardi, wardi, retari, bardi, pandhri and kachhar. These types of soil are still found in the district. A brief description of each is given below: -

Kali.-This type of soil is mainly confined to the riverain tracts and is found in the valley of Wardha and Wainganga. It is formed from trap and is deep retentive and fertile. "In the hot weather it is chequered by deep and wide fissures, but with the advent of the rains it is rapidly transformed into a quagmire." It is suitable only for rabi crop.

Kanhar.-This type of soil differs from kali in depth and moisture holding capacity and is less fertile than kali. It is observed in river valleys as well as in tank bed. It contains small amount of grit in the form of lime. Inferior type of kanhar is known as bersi kanhar and is coarser in texture. It is mainly noticed in the Wainganga valley.

Morand.-This is the most common soil of the district. It is a light coloured loam containing more sand than is found in bersi and larger particles of stone. It responds well to irrigation due to its loamy texture. Both, the kharif and rabi crops can be grown on this soil. In the open fields, the principal crops on this soil are til and jowar, but when embanked for both rice and rabi, the favourite second crop is gram.

Khardi.-It is a very poor soil, of light colour and full, of stones, but when embanked sometimes improves itself into morand. In the open it grows only til and jowar. But its outturn is very low. Even so, it requires plenty of manure or frequent resting.

Wardi.-It is the principal rice soil of the heavy rice tracts. It is a light coloured soil, as good as sand with just sufficient clay to keep it from crumbling in the dry season. If unirrigated it would be a very poor soil indeed, but, with the irrigation in this district wardi can be the most popular soil. It never gets water-logged, and with full irrigation and some manure it gives a very full crop of rice and fair crop of cane. When dry wardi is almost as hard as stone, and cannot, as a rule, be ploughed before the rains have well set in.

Retari and bardi.-These soils are quite useless without irrigation. The first type of soil is mostly sand and the second is nothing but pebbles. Neither soil is brought under the plough.

Pandhri.-This is really an artificial soil. It is the grey soil that is found on and around a village site obtaining its colour and its fertility from the ashes and refuse that accumulate upon it from the neighbouring houses. It grows maize, tobacco and similar crops well, without irrigation.

In the Sironcha tahsil an alluvial soil known as Kachhar occurs freely along the banks of the Godavari, and has been recognised as a distinct class for purposes of assessment. This soil is also known and recognised in other parts of the district that border on a large river, but the capriciousness of the floods that control the deposit has prevented Kachhar land from being ranked as a distinct soil class except along the Godavari, where floods are of annual occurrence and reach certain limits with regularity almost every year.

Of the total cultivated area of the district in 1906, kali covered one per cent; kanhar, 9; bersi kanhar, 32; morand, 40; khardi, 5; and wardi, 13; other soils being of no importance.

During the period prior to 1909, on the basis of position and the lie of the ground as well as on the actual soil, position classes were given at the settlement to the soils growing wheat, rice and garden crops. For mutafarikat or miscellaneous crop land, no separate position classes were deemed necessary. For wheat land, there were three favoured positions: bandhan, land with a high embankment, bandhia, land with a low embankment, and lawan, low lying land receiving drainage but not embanked. Another position class of land was sadharan, that of an ordinary flat field, neither receiving moisture from elsewhere nor transmitting its own. The other two disadvantageous positions were, wahuri, land cut up by small nullahs, which was drained somewhat rapidly, and pathar, land lying at the top of a slope and apt to be scoured away in years of heavy rain. The rice land was also classified as irrigated and unirrigated. The position classes of unirrigated rice land were tekra, sawan, and jhilan, corresponding, respectively, to the pathar, sadharan, and lawan positions of the wheat land with the exception that rice land is always embanked. The position classes of irrigated land were warsalang and murkhand.

The values of some physical and chemical constants of the above described soils are given below: -

Description of typical profiles with their analysis is given in the following tables: -

TABLE No. 3

ANALYTICAL DESCRIPTION OF TYPICAL SOIL PROFILES IN CHANDRAPUR

DISTRICT.

TABLE No. 3-contd.

TABLE No. 4

ANALYTICAL DATA OF TYPICAL PROFILES OF SOILS IN CHANDRAPUR DISTRICT.

TABLE No. 4-contd.

TABLE No. 4-contd.

TABLE No. 4-contd.

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