AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION

IRRIGATION

Since agriculture is the prime occupation of the people, which is subject to uncertainty of rainfall, irrigation plays an important part in improving the rural economy. The following table shows the net area irrigated by different sources of irrigation in 1956-57:-

TABLE No. 38

NET AREA IRRIGATED BY DIFFERENT SOURCES OF IRRIGATION IN JAEGAON DISTRICT IN 1956-57.

In 1956-57, the district had 88,704 acres under irrigation, of which 22,008 acres were irrigated more than once. The percentage that the total gross irrigated area hears to the total sown area works out to 3.75. This proportion has remained more or less stationary for a number of years, though it was low when Khandesh Gazetteer was first compiled (1880). Out of the total irrigated area, 86 per cent was under food crops and the rest under non-food crops. More than 50 per cent of total irrigated area was in the Parola, Raver, Yawal and Amalner talukas. The sugarcane grown in the district was by large taken on irrigated lands. Nearly 55 per cent and 40 per cent of the areas under rice and wheat respectively were irrigated. A large acreage under gram was also irrigated. The following tables throw a sufficient light in this respect:—

TABLE No. 39

AREA IN ACRES UNDER FOOD CROPS IRRIGATED IN EACH TALUKA OF JALGAON DISTRICT IN 1956-57.

TABLE No. 40

AREA IN ACRES UNDER NON-FOOD CROPS IRRIGATED IN EACH TALUKA OF JALGAON DISTRICT IN 1956-57.

Table No. 40 shows the sources of irrigation.

Sources of Irrigation.

Area under canal irrigation was 4,969 acres in 1956-57. As regards tank irrigation, excepting the three tanks of Hartala, Mhaswa and Velhala, there are no other tanks of much importance. These three tanks were constructed in pretty old times, and no information on date of their construction, expenditure incurred on them. etc.. is available. A brief description of each of them is given in the pages that follow.

Well irrigation occupies an important place in Indian agriculture. In 1956-57, there were 34,689 wells in the district which irrigated nearly 70 per cent of the net area irrigated in that year. Most of the wells arc masonry and owned privately. The largest number of wells was in Raver and Amalner talukas.

Co-operative Lift Irrigation.

Co-operative lift irrigation societies are a recent development in the district. The first society was registered in 1947, in Umarkheda. Government encourage the organization of co-operative lift irrigation schemes by granting financial and technical aid to societies undertaking such schemes. These societies aim at—

(i) encouraging owners of lands, permanent tenants and protected tenants to pool their lands into sizeable blocks for irrigation purposes;

(ii) acquiring lands for irrigation, and

(iii) purchasing appliances, machinery, pumps, etc., for irrigation purposes.

By June 1958, there were in all six co-operative lift irrigation societies. Besides, there are two multipurpose societies and one cotton sale society doing this work. The area under the first six units was 1,381 acres. They have installed either pumps or oil engines on rivers or wells from where water is lifted and made available to societies' lands. The position with regard to membership, share capital, reserve fund, etc.. of these societies by June 1958 is given below: —

Jamda Canals.

Till 1958, there was no major irrigation work. The Jamda Canals are the only medium irrigation work. It consists of a masonry weir found entirely on a sound sheet rock. The weir is located just near the village Jamda. Construction of the waste weir and canal was started in 1863 and completed in 1887 at a cost of Rs. 10,88,661. The work of re-modelling and extension of Jamda right and left bank canal was started in the scarcity period in 1953 and completed by March, 1957 at a cost of Rs. 9,86,240.

TABLE NO. 41

SOURCES OF WATER-SUPPLY IN EACH TALUKA OF JALGAON DISTRICT
IN 1956-57

The weir has a length of 1,540 feet and an average height of 12 feet above the bed of the river. Its top width is eight feet and bottom width 11 feet. The weir in plan is convex down stream and at the screen walls on the left and right sides. Four and three scouring sluices, respectively are provided to keep the mouth of the canal clean of sand. The length of the left bank canal is 27 miles. The canal section is designed for carrying 250 cusecs of water. The length of the right bank canal is 19 miles and its section is designed to carry a discharge of 100 cusecs. The villages from Bhadgaon peta and Chalisgaon taluka get the benefit of this scheme.

The area under command of Jamda canals is about 55,000 acres out of which irrigable area is 24,000 acres, while area actually irrigated in 1956-57 was 6,722 acres. The crops irrigated and grown here are vegetables, sugar-cane, plantains, fruits, wheat, rice, maize, jowar. gram, fodder, lucern grass, cotton, tobacco, kardai, groundnut, chillies and garlic. Water rates charged per acre are Rs. 6 for kharip, Rs. 8 for rahi, Rs. 3 for single watering and Rs. 8 for pre-seasonal irrigation in rahi and hot seasons.

Minor Irrigation Works.

Most of the irrigation works in the district are minor irrigation works. There are, however, some works which are old and comparatively bigger in size. Brief account of each of them is given in the following paragraphs. Rest of the minor irrigation works are shown in the following table: —

TABLE No. 42

MINOR IRRIGATION WORKS* IN JALGAON DISTRICT, 1956-57.

TABLE No. 42—contd.

MINOR IRRIGATION WORKS* IN JALGAON DISTRICT, 1956-57.—contd.

*The following are smaller irrigation works in the charge of the Revenue Department:—

1. Patonda bandhara across Titur river near Chalisgaon taluka, Chalisgaon.

2. Toli bandhara across Bori river near village Toli, taluka Parola.

3. Phapora bandhara across Bori river near village Phapora, taluka Amalner.

4. Mudi bandhara across Panzara river, taluka Amalner.

5. Mandal bandhara across Panzara river, taluka Amalner.

†Date of construction, and other datails are not available.

Mhaswa Tank.

The tank is situated near Parola and serves some villages in Parola taluka. The work was started and completed in 1887 at a cost of Rs. 1,40,930. The tank consists of an earthen embankment with a length of 1,404 feet, a maximum height of 44 feet and storage capacity 158.5 million c. ft. The present capacity of the tank is 87.03 million c. ft., the remaining portion having under-gone silting during the last seventy years. The waste weir is a masonry bar 385 feet in length and three feet in width at the top. There are two irrigation channels on each bank of the nalla across which the tank is constructed. The length of each channel is 3.5 miles. The channel on west side has a discharging capacity of 18 cusecs and that on east a capacity of 9 cusecs. The area under command of this tank is 4,075 acres. The area actually irrigated in 1956-57 was 507 acres. The crops usually irrigated are wheat, jowar, gram and cotton, water rates per acre being Rs. 6 for kharip and Rs. 8 for rabi seasons.

Velhale Tank.

The tank is situated near the village Velhale in Bhusawal taluka. The work was started during the scarcity period in January 1953 and completed in March 1955 at a cost of Rs. 7,85,736. There is an earthen dam 1,000' in length and with a maximum height of 53.25' in the gauge portion. The net available storage of the tank is 74.44 million c. ft. The waste weir is in cutting on the left bank and is of drowned channel type. The waste weir is 420 feet in length. The canal is designed to discharge 20 cusecs for a length of about a mile. The length of the canal is four miles six furlongs and has three distributaries.

The area under command of this tank is about 2,200 acres of which that of 1,470 acres is irrigable. The area actually irrigated from the above tank during the year 1956-57 was 236 acres. The crops irrigated generally are wheat, gram, cotton, ground-nut and chillies. The water rates per acre are Rs. 12 for hot weather season, Rs. 6 for kharip season and Rs. 8 for rabi.

Hartala Tank.

Hartala tank is a very old tank situated about four miles from Edlabad near the village Hartala in Edlabad taluka. The work consists of an earthen dam 1,200' in length and a maximum height of 5½. The top width of the dam is 6'. A masonry waste weir with 136' length has been provided in the east end. The small channels called east and west pats (canals), distribute water to the fields. Each pat is about a mile in length. Distributing channels run off from these pats. The entire length of distributaries running from these channels is 5½ miles. The tank is in the charge of the Revenue Department. The tank commands land of this village exclusively, the irrigable area being 415 acres. Area actually irrigated in 1956-57 was 115 acres. Generally, the crops grown in the vicinity of this tank are wheat, jowar, bajri, gram, lucern grass, cotton and tobacco. The water rates per acre are Rs. 12 for hot weather, Rs. 6 for kharip and Rs. 8 for rabi seasons.

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