AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION

AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS

Agricultural operations depend largely upon the crop, rainfall and soil of the tract. They consist of opening the land by digging or ploughing; harrowing by country blade-harrow so as to completely pulverise the soil; cleaning the fields by removing unwanted plants and stubbles; spreading manure and mixing it with soil; sowing seed or planting sets or transplanting seedlings; intercultuting; weeding; earthing up; irrigating; top-dressing with quick-acting manures; spraying or dusting of insecticides: preserving the crop from damage to the crop from birds, stray cattle and wild animals; harvesting; threshing; preparing the crop for market; and storing. In addition, occasional operations for permanent improvement of the soil such as bunding, levelling, trenching, draining the excess water from soil and reclaiming lands for cultivation are also undertaken by the farmers.

Ploughing.

Ploughing (nangarni) is done by wooden or iron ploughs to open the land, dig out deep-rooted weeds or stubbles, aerate the soil, and to trap and store water for crops. The black-cotton soils are ploughed once in four or five years for the following reason: the black-cotton soils crack very heavily during summer. The crevices formed due to the shrinking of the soil often go to a depth of ten feet or more. It is also believed that the top soil enters into the crevices and causes turning over to take place automatically. It is said that frequent ploughings make the soil very loose and thus cause the soil to lose its moisture content rapidly. This makes the soil more vulnerable to erosion. The light soils are ploughed every year either by wooden ploughs or by iron ploughs. Deep ploughing up to ten inches is also necessary for lands which are infested with weeds like harali, kunda, etc., which are rather difficult to eradicate. In the case of crops like sugar-cane, banana and sweet potato, the land is ploughed either with a heavy wooden plough two or three times or by a heavy iron plough. The area ploughed in a day depends largely on the condition of the soil. In the cold season, that is, after the harvest of kharip crops, when the soil is usually moist, land up to 30 gunthas can be easily ploughed. In the hot weather season, however, when the land is dry and hard, about 20 gunthas can be ploughed.

Harrowing.

After ploughing, land is exposed to sun for a long duration, usually till April. By that time, the hard clods become brittle and friable and can be broken easily with the help of a country harrow (vakhar). In April-May, harrowing is done about two or three times. After the first showers of rain and before sowing, one harrowing is generally given to break the remaining clods and clean the field and thus bring it in a proper condition for smooth sowing. Sometimes, the harrow is used also for levelling the land. In such cases, the steering is tied close to the prongs to serve like a weight. This kind of intermittent working by harrows pulverises the soil. The number of harrowings to be done depends upon the condition of the field.

Cleaning of field.

Cleaning the field begins after the land is harrowed. This operation consists of removing the suckers of perennial weeds like harali or kunda, removing shrubs, collecting remnants of the previous crops like stubbles of jowar, cotton, etc. It is usually done by women in a batch of six to eight in an acre of cultiva- tion. However, the shrubs are removed by men.

Manuring.

Farm-yard manure or compost is used as initial dose for the crops. Before the commencement of monsoon, the farmyard manure or compost is carried to the fields by bullock-carts or by trucks. A cart usually contains about half a ton of manure which is emptied into heaps at equal distance in the fields. The dose of these manures varies from crop to crop. For dry crops, it varies from five to ten cart-loads and, for irrigated crops, from 20 to 30 cart-loads per acre. This is spread evenly all over the field by means of baskets and then mixed with the soil with the help of harrow. A man or woman usually spreads about five to six cartloads of farm-yard manure or compost. In some places, sheep and goats are quartered on the fields for few days. Their dung and urine serve as a good manure. It has been estimated that a thousand sheep or goats quartered in an acre over a night give manure equal to five or six cart-loads.

Sowing.

In most crops, seeds which are preserved for the purpose are sown; but in certain cases, where seeds cannot be produced easily, parts of the plants are planted either after irrigation or after rains, in some cases, where young plants require special care and seeds are very small, seedlings are first raised in specially prepared seedbeds and then transplanted. Sowing generally starts, when there is sufficient rainfall and when conditions are favourable for the proper germination of the seeds and further establishment of young plants. Sometimes, sowing is also done in anticipation of rainfall. The seeds are either broadcast or sown (in lines) by means of a drill. In certain parts, even dibbling of seeds is also done. Groundnut is sown by the dibbling method. Even in the intensive method of jowar and cotton cultivation, some cultivators follow this practice. The distance between two plants and two rows varies from crop to crop. A seed-drill worked by a man and a pair of bullocks can sow three to four acres of land in a day according to the season. After drilling, the seeds are covered by running a light plank or a light harrow or a big harrow-blade. The quantity of seed required per acre varies from crop to crop, from few ounces to hundred pounds or so, according to the size and weight of the seed and the optimum number of plants re-quried, per acre of the crop. The following statement shows sowing periods of some of the important crops: —

Interculturing.

Interculturing (kolapani) implies tilling and stirring the soil in between the lines of a crop by an implement called hoe (kolape) for removing the weeds that take away large quantities of moisture and plant food and aerate the soil; preparing a mulch (a loose laver of dry soil as covering); conserving the soil moisture useful to the crop; pruning the root so as to encourage a deep root system and, lastly, for killing the harmful insects hibernating in the soil. Generally, two or three hoes are worked by a pair of bullocks, each hoe being handled by one labourer. This combination can intcr-culturc about four to five acres in a day. The number of inter-culturings required depends on the life and habit of the growth, of the crop; but generally, they are given thrice or four times during the lifetime of most of the crops.

Weeding.

The weeds that are in line with the crop and escape from the hoe are required to be removed by hand with the help of the weeding hook (khurpi). Six to eight women are required to weed an acre, depending on the kind and the extent of the weed growth. Two to three weedings are generally done for most of the crops.

Earthing up.

This is an important operation in the case of banana, sugar- cane and some vegetables. The soil is dug from nearabout the plants and heaped up at the base of the plants so as to cover the roots, to ensure support to the plants and to prevent logging. Digging is done mostly by hand with the help of a spade (kudali). The soil is brought at the base of the plants by a phawada and a eghamela or even by hands only.

Irrigating.

Most of the land is irrigated by well water only which is lifted by mots and pumps. Usually, the fields are irrigated frequently. The interval between two consecutive waterings, however, varies between 4 to 10 days and the quantity of water supplied to the fields for irrigation varies from 1.5 acre inches to 2.5 acre inches, depending upon the crop and season. Wheat is generally irrigated three or four times. However, when it is taken on rather light soil or when sown somewhat late, about six waterings are usually given. For bananas, irrigation has to be done eight days in October to January; four days in February to May, and then as and when required in rainy season. In all, about 60 to 70 irrigations are required by the banana crop. Vegetables in kharip are irrigated, whenever necessary, while in rabi, the interval is about eight to ten days. Presently, some of the cultivators grow cotton and jowar under irrigation.

Top dressing.

Top-dressing (varkhat) means application of quick-acting manures on the surface of the soil which are then mixed with the soil. Some crops require additional manures after germination. Two or three doses are given according to the requirements and nature of the crop. The manure is spread till it gets mixed tip in the soil and acts on the crop. For crops like cotton, jowar, wheat, etc., it is generally given three weeks after sowing if only one dose is to be applied. Tor banana and longstanding vegetables like brinjais and chillies, two to four doses are necessary.

Crop Protection.

The farmer takes precautionary measures to reduce the incidence of certain pests and diseases. It is customary to treat the jowar seed with sulphur for control of smut or kani disease. Whenever any insect or disease appears in a crop, the farmers either spray or dust the special insecticides or fungicides recommended for that crop by the Department of Agriculture.

The standing grain crops have to he watered, lest birds and other animals eat away the grain. During kharip season, no special attempts are made to watch the grain crops from the attack of birds. In rabi season, a very small acreage under rabi jowar needs to be attended to. Slings (gofan) are used in throwing stones to scare away the attacking birds. Stray cattle are generally caught and impounded in the cattle-pound. Wild animals are cither shot or hunted. Sometimes fences are raised to keep them off. In this connection, co-operative crop protection societies, that have been formed at certain places in the district are doing good work.

Harvesting.

The time of harvesting (khudani, kapani) depends on the crop taken. Given below is the harvesting time of some important crops: —

Food crops such as jowar, bajri, wheat, gram and paddy arc harvested by cutting the plants close to the ground by a sickle (vila). In the case of jowar, the plants are put into swaths (alasya) and the ear-heads are removed by cutting and brought to the threshing yard. In the case of bajri, sometimes ear-heads arc-harvested from the standing plants. Otherwise, the plants are cur, bundled and heaped and ear-heads are then removed from the bundle. There also exists the practice of stocking these bundles with the ear-heads followed by threshing at some convenient time. This method is also followed in the case of wheat. Paddy is harvested and threshed on the spot by bearing a handful of plants against the head surface. Groundnut crop is harvested by uprooting the plants and twisting them immediately to separate the pods from the plants. In the case of cotton, it is picked up by hand from the fully opened bolls from the standing crop of cotton at specific intervals of 15 to 21 days. Pulses are mostly cut or uprooted and the whole plants are carried directly to the threshing yards. Sometimes, pods arc also picked up direct from the standing plants for more than once. Root crops like potatoes or sweet potatoes are harvested by digging with spade, in the case of banana, the fully developed buncn is cut with sickle from the standing plant. The plant is also cut afterwards.

Thrashing and preparing for the Market.

Grain crops such as jowar, wheat, bajri and pulses are trampled under the feet of bullocks till the material is broken into chaff. In the case of jowar, bullock-carts are sometimes used for this purpose. Grain is then separated from the chaff by winnowing against the breeze. Nowadays some of the progressive farmers are using the winnowing fans recommended by the Agricultural Department. Some of the root vegetables like potatoes and sweet potatoes are dug out and cleaned well by rubbing out the soil. In the case of bananas, the harvested bunches are loaded in wagons and transported to the markets like Bombay, Delhi, etc.

Storing.

Grains are stored either for the purpose of seed or for consumption. When required for seed, the quantity is usually small, especially when an individual farmer preserves his own seeds. On the other hand, when it is required for consumption, the quantity stored is considerably large. Storage methods, therefore, vary according to the use of the grain. The seed is preserved in cylindrical bins (kanagis) made of bamboos, tur or cotton stalks and well plastered on all sides with cow-dung and mud. This method is effective in keeping off the insects that might attack from the outside. But many seeds, especially pulses, have small insects or eggs on them before they arc stored. To prevent this, dry leaves of limb are mixed with the grain and castor oil is applied to the seeds. Use of Gamaxine is also recommended for this purpose.

In the case of grains required for consumption, they are stored in underground pits or in cellars in residential buildings. Before storing, however, the grain is thoroughly dried.

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