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AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION
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RAINFALL
AS with the soil, the relief of the district influences the rainfall too. y The district gets rains mostly from the south-west monsoons between June and
October, and some local rains in May and scanty rains in November. The rainfall all over the district, however, is not uniforms It varies from 525 mm. to 1150 mm. The monsoon winds carrying moisture deposit much of its water in the western and north-western parts of the district where it meets first the rugged hill ranges. Nawapur gets maximum annual rainfall of about 1150 mm. Over much of the central part and areas around Sindkheda, Sakri and Dhulia
talukas, the rains are scanty ranging upto 533.4 mm. (21"). Sakri gets the minimum of the rain fall i.e. 525 mm. The town of Dhulia which was then taken to illustrate had, during the twenty-nine years ending 1879, an average rainfall of 553.212 mm. (21.78"), the amount varying from 277.876 mm. (10.94") in 1871 to 912.368 mm. (35.92") in 1878. The following table gives the yearly returns[ Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency. Vol. XII, Khandesh, 1880. p. 14.]: —
TABLE No. 1
RAINFALL, 1851-1879
|
Year |
Millimeters |
Inches |
Year |
Millimeters |
Inches |
Year |
Millimeters |
Inches |
1851 |
566.768 |
(21.92) |
1861 |
689.356 |
(27.14) |
1871 |
277.876 |
(10.94) |
1852 |
497.586 |
(19.59) |
1862 |
— |
— | 1872 |
778.510 |
(30.65) |
1853 |
483.616 |
(19.04) |
1863 |
415.036 |
(16.34) |
1873 |
763.016 |
(30.04) |
1854 |
765.556 |
(30.14) |
1864 |
282.448 |
(11.12) |
1874 |
531.876 |
(20.94) |
1855 |
368.300 |
(14.50) |
1865 |
481.076 |
(18.94) |
1875 |
759.460 |
(29.90) |
1856 |
638.048 |
(25.12) |
1866 |
362.712 |
(14.28) |
1876 |
333.756 |
(13.14) |
1857 |
632.968 |
(24.92) |
1867 |
492.252 |
(19.38) |
1877 |
639.826 |
(25.19) |
1858 |
548.386 |
(21.59) |
1868 |
298.704 |
(11.76) |
1878 |
912.368 |
(35.92) |
1859 |
617.474 |
(24.31) |
1869 |
814.578 |
(32.07) |
1879 |
526.034 |
(20.71) |
1860 |
575.056 |
(22.64) |
1870 |
750.062 |
(29.53) |
— |
— |
— |
The district thus, removed from the extremes of scarce and of abundant rainfall, has an average supply of 762 mm. (30"). Nevertheless the district as a whole can be considered safe from famine. The Fact-Finding Committee appointed by the then Government of Bombay in 1960 also concluded that the entire Dhulia district may be regarded as free from scarcity.
The human endeavours to augment the agricultural output in the district by constructing minor and major irrigation projects and irrigation wells are hindered as about 95.11 per cent of the gross cropped area is still dependant on the vagaries of nature. The rainfall in the district has been a prime determinant of the cropping pattern and the agricultural operations in the district. The following table gives the average rainfall obtaining in the district since 1901:—
TABLE
No. 2
RAINFALL RETURNS, DHULIA DISTRICT
Average rainfall in millimetres
|
Station |
Number of years of data |
April |
May |
June |
July |
|
Dhulia |
59 |
R. F.* |
2.07 |
16.28 |
126.35 |
144.26 |
|
R. D.† |
2.22 |
1.37 |
6.95 |
9.92 |
|
Nandurbar |
59 |
R. F. |
1.79 |
9.15 |
108.62 |
373.63 |
|
R. D. |
0.59 |
0.59 |
6.03 |
14.68 |
|
Nawapur |
59 |
R. F. |
2.64 |
6.85 |
147.97 |
425.97 |
|
R. D. |
0.20 |
0.68 |
5.34 |
19.32 |
|
Pimpalner |
59 |
R. F. |
3.11 |
77.13 |
97.34 |
161.93 |
|
R. D. |
0.32 |
0.73 |
2.61 |
11.68 |
|
Shahada |
58 |
R. F. |
1.62 |
11.00 |
116.60 |
205.85 |
|
R. D. |
0.17 |
0.78 |
6.28 |
14.12 |
|
Shirpur |
58 |
R. F. |
1.94 |
10.31 |
65.06 |
200.36 |
|
R. D. |
0.22 |
0.74 |
6.28 |
12.31 |
|
Sindkheda |
58 |
R. F. |
2.34 |
8.00 |
90.35 |
157.29 |
|
R. D. |
0.26 |
0.60 |
6.10 |
10.72 |
|
Taloda |
58 |
R. F. |
1.33 |
9.53 |
130.00 |
262.40 |
|
R. D. |
0.24 |
0.85 |
6.91 |
17.69 |
|
Sakri |
57 |
R. F. |
4.25 |
12.37 |
94.12 |
561.78 |
|
R. D, |
0.42 |
0.79 |
5.97 |
8.12 |
|
Ahwa |
33 |
R. F. |
5.10 |
11.38 |
209.50 |
605.17 |
|
R. D. |
0.42 |
0.85 |
11.33 |
23.94 |
|
Akkalkuwa |
6 |
R. F. |
10.75 |
92.58 |
356. 80 |
334.84 |
|
R. D. |
0.67 |
5.5 |
19.0 |
17.83 |
|
Dhadgaon |
6 |
R. F. |
2.03 |
42.16 |
104.58 |
178.28 |
|
R. D. |
0.17 |
1.83 |
7.0 |
16.83 |
|
Visarvadi |
6 |
R. F. |
0.63 |
31.14 |
109.48 |
296.84 |
|
R. D. |
0.17 |
1.33 |
4.67 |
16.0 |
*R. F. indicates average rainfall in millimetres † R. D. indicates average number of rainy days.
TABLE
No. 2—contd.
|
August |
September |
October |
November |
December |
January |
February |
March | |
105.14 |
142.62 |
40.10 |
23.86 |
4.36 |
7.0 |
2.54 |
1.98 | |
7.36 |
6.92 |
2.41 |
1.39 |
0.37 |
0.63 |
0.24 |
0.17 | |
134.91 |
122.75 |
40.40 |
16.39 |
3.49 |
7.0 |
1.18 |
1.42 | |
11.07 |
6.97 |
2.0 |
0.78 |
0.29 |
0.34 |
0.17 |
0.17 | |
280.81 |
163.53 |
44.53 |
12.15 |
3.35 |
6.61 |
1.76 |
1.54 | |
17.22 |
9.86 |
2.14 |
0.64 |
0.29 |
0.24 |
0.17 |
0.15 | |
110.02 |
112.22 |
42. 35 |
21.50 |
4.90 |
4.38 |
2.01 |
3.60 | |
8.92 |
6.64 |
2.56 |
1.20 |
0.44 |
0.34 |
0.19 |
0.32 | |
134.1 |
133.33 |
37.62 |
1014 |
5.37 |
6.36 |
0.65 |
1. 22 | |
11. 38 |
7.52 |
2.14 |
0.74 |
0.28 |
0.38 |
0.10 |
0.14 | |
133.06 |
119.31 |
37.35 |
13.24 |
3.18 |
5.30 |
1.77 |
4.18 | |
9.02 |
6.48 |
1.78 |
1.0 |
0.47 |
0.43 |
0.24 |
0.21 | |
103.73 |
109.13 |
35.56 |
18.11 |
4.48 |
5.66 |
2.67 |
1.48 | |
7.53 |
6.40 |
2.10 |
1.0 |
0.43 |
0.46 |
0.26 |
0.21 | |
183.12 |
147.01 |
30.66 |
12.40 |
4.38 |
5.79 |
1.46 |
1.30 | |
14.76 |
8.03 |
1.85 |
0.74 |
0.28 |
0.26 |
0.16 |
016 | |
127.9 |
107.21 |
42.54 |
22.32 |
5.73 |
3.89 |
1. 53 |
1.70 | |
3.75 |
5.95 |
2.40 |
1.30 |
0.40 |
0.35 |
0.18 |
018 | |
482.33 |
244.37 |
58.16 |
13.66 |
3.03 |
6.90 |
1.45 |
1.54 | |
25.39 |
13.12 |
3.27 |
0.70 |
0.30 |
0.55 |
0.18 |
0.21 | |
184.08 |
85.16 |
6.62 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— | |
10.83 |
3.83 |
0.5 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— | |
227.03 |
180.61 |
79.40 |
10.85 |
0.93 |
016 |
— |
— | |
17.17 |
11.17 |
3.83 |
0.83 |
0.17 |
0.33 |
— |
— | |
384.30 |
136.88 |
117.48 |
12.45 |
— |
11.05 |
— |
— | |
19.67 |
9.83 |
4.17 |
1.0 |
— |
0.33 |
— |
— |
*R. F. indicates average rainfall in millimetres † R. D. indicates average number of rainy days.
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