AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION

FRUITS

Fruits occupied 1,965 acres in 1958-59 of which Shriwardhan, Alibag and Mhasla sub-divisions shared nearly seventy-five per cent. Mango and banana are the only important fruits grown in the district. The following table gives taluka-wise distribution of fruits in the district in 1958-59:—

TABLE No. 63

AREA UNDER FRUITS (TALUKA-WISE)

(1958-59).

Amba.

Amba (mango) is a deep-rooted crop requiring a deep and well drained. soil. For a successful fruiting, it requires distinct dry weather from October to June for a period of about eight month It thrives well in the area receiving a rainfall varying from eight to a hundred inches. As all these conditions are found to be present in varying degrees throughout the district, the crop thrives satisfactorily in it. In 1958-59 it occupied 1,529 acres in which the share of Shriwardhan, Alibag and Mhasla sub-divisions worked out to over seventy-five per cent. The following table shows taluka-wise distribution of the mango crop in the district in 1958-59:—

TABLE No. 64

AREA UNDER MANGO (TALUKA-WISE) (1958-59).

However, besides the area which is exclusively dedicated for the cultivation of the crop, there are abundant tracts where a number of mango trees of the country (raival) variety are found to grow unplanted. Where, however, planting of the crop takes place, special care and provision have to be exercised at the nursery of the crop. Thus, for planting the mango grafts, pits of 3' x 3' x 3' each must be dug. The spacing between two plants depends upon the maximum growth in the different soils and climatic conditions, although the growth does not usually exceed forty feet. The pits are filled up with a good soil after discarding the sub-soil. Fifty pounds of farm-yard manure and from ten to fifteen pounds of bone-meal are mixed with the top soil. While planting, care is taken to place the root ball below the surface level so that the roots are not disturbed at the instance of high winds. Soil round the plant is pressed, so that it may not shake. The aftercare consists of watering for about two years after planting. Generally, after four or five years, mango plantations do not require any watering, as the roots penetrate sufficiently deep into the soil. Every year, the crop requires a regular manuring. At the onset of the monsoons, from a hundred to two hundred pounds of farm-yard manure, depending on the age of the plants, together with twenty pounds of bone-meal and ten pounds of ash are given per plant. The tree flowers by January. For the first four years, the flowers are nipped off and the tree is not allowed to fruit. On an average, the mango tree bears five hundred fruits, when it is from ten to twenty years old. A sufficiently grown-up tree bears up to two thousand fruits during favourable seasons. The fruits are picked, when they are mature. Picking is generally done by hand and the fruit delicately handled but while doing so, sufficient care must be taken to avoid scratching. The fruit is then exposed to air for about twenty-four hours and ripened in rice straw. The planted fruit has two varieties, the alphonso (apus) and the pairi. Alphonso is considered to be the best quality, as it is fibreless and possesses a very delicious taste and a nice fragrance. Besides, it has the best keeping quality and appears well as a table fruit. It is green in colour and enriched by a yellow glow on the, outer or the exposed side arid weighs, on an average, eight ounces. It is oblong in shape, slightly thickened at the upper end and without any prominent beak. The pairi is perhaps the second best quality. The fruit is enriched with crimson on the exposed side and has a prominent beak. It weighs about six ounces and gives a delicious flavour, when ripe. When compared with the alphonso fruit, however, it has a low keeping capacity. The first and the most obvious use of the. mango fruit is as food when ripe. When green, the stone is extracted, the fruit cut into slices and put into curries, made into pickles with salt, sweet oil, chillies and other ingredients or into preserves known as moramba or gulamba being boiled and cooked in syrups of sugar or gur respectively. It is also dried and made into amboshi used for adding acidity to certain curries. When ripe, the flesh or pulp is eaten or the juice is consumed or squeezed, spread in plates and dried into an excellent thin cake known as ambapoli. The alphonso fruit is in good demand in the market, but it is only recently that the growers have been convinced about the profitability of the alphonso cultivation. The crop is assuming so much importance in recent years that a number of country (raival) mango trees are being grafted into alphonso (apus) trees with the technical advice of the Agriculture Department.

Kela.

Kele (banana) occupied 158 acres in 1958-59, in which the share of Shriwardhan and Alibag sub-divisions worked out to ninety per cent. The following table gives taluka-wise area under the banana crop in the district in 1958-59:-

TABLE No. 65

AREA UNDER Kele (TALUKA-WISE) (1958-59).

Pits are dug 1 x 1' x 1' each for planting suckers. Usually two suckers are planted in one pit. A green manuring crop may be taken before planting. At the time of planting, about five pounds of castor cake or ground-nut cake are given as top-dressing. The best time for planting is from June to August. During rains, no watering is necessary and irrigation starts from September on-wards and continues. Timely and heavy irrigation is important, as large quantities of water are lost from broad leaves. A windy situation is harmful to the banana plants, as the tall broad leaves get torn. A strong wind-break is hence provided on the wind-ward side. Spacing of the crop depends on the different varieties taken in the district and varies from 5' x 5' to 10' x 10'. After planting, two harrowings are given so as to remove weeds. Irrigation beds are repaired thrice during the life of the crop. Top-dressing of five pounds of oil-cake in two doses in the third and the fourth months, respectively, is given together with the earthing. Flowering starts after about nine months and continues for three or four months more. The crop takes from eighteen to twenty months to mature after planting. It can be allowed to multiply in the same field. Two or three and even six crops can be taken one after another. The hanging dry leaves afford a good protection to the green stem and should not, as far as possible, be removed, lest the stem is likely to be scorched in hot weather. The crop is harvested, when the fruits get rounded and dry petals drop down. The banana (kele) is a nutritious fruit. Flower spikes or plantain flowers (kelphul) are used as a vegetable and the juice of the inner part of the stem, which falls as soon as the fruit is harvested, is used in preparing papads. The green leaves and ashes make an excellent manure. The unripe fruit is also used as a vegetable, while leaves are used in making bidis. The stem fibres are useful to gardeners in budding and grafting and also utilised as a raw material in paper-making. The fruit of almost all varieties is consumed in its raw form, when ripe; whereas the rajeli variety is either cooked or eaten after being dried in the form of sukele.

Other Fruits.

Among other fruits of the district can be mentioned citrus fruits, guava, custard apple, pine-apple, jack fruit, papaya, bullock heart (ramphal), cashew-nut, etc. They covered 216 acres in 1958-59 in which Mangaon, Pen, Alibag and Shriwardhan sub-divisions shared almost equally. The following table shows taluka-wise distribution of other fruits in the district in 1958-59:-

TABLE No. 66

AREA UNDER OTHER FRUITS (TALUKA-WISE) (1958-59).

Kagadi Limbu.

Kagadi Limbu (lime) is propagated mostly by budding. The planting is effected after the buds have successfully established. Pits of the size of 2' x 2' x 2' each are dug twenty feet apart and filled with soil which is mixed with manure. Watering is given regularly till harvesting. Inter-crops like vegetables can be taken during early years till fruiting starts. An essential oil is extracted from the skin of the fruit.

Papanas.

Papanas (pomeno) requires a rich soil, constant watering and liberal manuring. It is a round-headed bushy tree attaining a height of about fifteen feet. Its method of cultivation is the same as that of the lime (kagdi limbu). It yields fruit throughout the year. On an average, a tree bears thirty or forty fruits per year, depending on its age and condition. There are two varieties of the fruit, red and rose. The red variety is very popular and sweeter than the other one. The fruit is eaten along with sugar or salt and much relished.

Kaju.

Kaju (cashew-nut) requires a coastal climate and is grown also on the slopes of hills. Most of the crop taken in the district is unplanted or wild, although recently some attempts have been made by agriculturists to take a planted crop. Generally, the seeds are planted twenty feet apart during the beginning of the monsoon. About hundred plants are accommodated in an acre of land. The seed germinates in about three weeks. The plant begins to bear fruit from its fourth year or even earlier, if it is irrigated occasionally. The tree flowers twice during the year, for the first time in December and next in May. Cashew-nuts are relished as a dessert, while planks taken from the tree trunk are useful in preparing sailing vessels, packing cases and charcoal. Exudation from the trunk is used as a varnish.

Papai.

Papai grows in almost all parts of the district. It requires a well-drained soil about two feet deep. Although there exists a good scope for a scientific plantation of the fruit, it is hardly resorted to in the district. It ripens within four or five days. On an average, the tree bears to the extent of forty fruits, each weigh-ing about two pounds. The fruit becomes pale yellow, when ripe and has a sweet taste and peculiar fine flavour. It is eaten with great relish.

Phanas.

Phanas (jack fruit) is common in all parts of the district. It is never cultivated as a sole crop but grown without much care being taken on its cultivation. It is propagated by fresh seeds. A pit is dug and filled with cow-dung and the seed sown in June-July. The tree is then left to itself. It bears fruit on its stem or in the axils of branches. The fruit becomes mature in May. There are two varieties of the fruit, barka having a soft pulp and kapa having a firm pulp. When ripe, both are eaten with relish, but the former is commonly used in the preparation of phanaspoli. The raw fruit is also used as a vegetable. Each tree yields annually about fifty fruits, but the same rises up to 300 fruits in good years. The phanas seeds, when parched or roasted, are palatable and nutritious.

Ananas

Ananas (pine-apple) thrives well in Chaul, Revdanda, Murud and Shriwardhan sub-divisions of the district. It is a herbaceous perennial plant with short stout stem with roots directly attacned and surrounded by a whorl of long narrow striped leaves. The plant is from two to four feet tall. It is not propagated by seed but gives out vegetative parts known as crowns, slips, suckers, etc. Crowns are the tops of the fruits and slips are borne on the fruit stem or at the base of the fruit. Suckers may arise lower down on the stock or from the roots. Suckers which shoot out from the roots are called "ratoons". Even the stem of the pine-apple cut into pieces can be used for propagation, as it has adventitious buds. Ratoons take sixteen months to bear fruit. Sidesuckers take twenty months and slips and crowns two and three years respectively. For new plantations, sidesuckers are used and can be directly planted. Slips and crowns are first planted in the field after two months and crown is planted after six months. The plant bears only one fruit and the succeeding fruits are borne on the ratoons. After the fruit of the mother plant is picked, the stalk withers and the nutrition going to the parent plant is transferred to the suckers which develop earlier tharf the newly planted one. Suckers aged three or four months are selected. To prepare them for planting, dry leaves at the base should be stripped off up to an inch or two and the tip cut off, if this part is injured or infected by disease. The suckers should then be cured in the sun by exposing for a week or more. Planting can be done within two or three weeks after suckers are collected. Slips are usually planted to a depth of from two to four inches, while suckers, from three to five inches according to their size. For planting, a small hole is made in the soil, a slip or sucker inserted into it and the soil compacted roundabout it, so that the first bud remains one inch above the surface. Planting is done in flat beds each at a distance of three feet from the other. An acre of land accommodates 5,000 plants. The proper season of planting extends from August to October. The plant takes sixteen months to flower and three or four months more to ripen. The stage of maturity is ascertained by the greenish yellow colour of the fruit. The main harvesting season extends from May to July and from November to December. The fruit is harvested, by keeping a stalk of two or three inches. The crown of the fruit is retained for good appearance. The fruit is very useful as a table fruit and widely used for canning and jam-making. About 50,000 fruits are sent to Bombay every year.

Tad.

Tad (palmyra palm) grows well in the district. It does not require special care, even if it is grown as a special crop. The tree is considered as full-grown when about thirty years old. It is then tapped for juice at short regular intervals. The juice provides a nourishing drink, if taken fresh early in the morning and is known as nira. The juice is also made into a kind of gul. Besides juice, the palm yields the fruit called tad-gola which is eaten with much relish. The palm is useful in many other ways. It provides wood for beams to cottages and water channels and the leaf for thatching, making hats and rain-hoods. etc. The fibres of leaves are used in preparing ropes.

Shindi

Shindi (date palm) found in its natural condition is a self-sown tree. The land is carefully ploughed before the rains and, when the first rains have fallen, self-sown plants aged one or two years are planted in the Soil. The trees are then carefully watered and manured, till they are from six to eight years old. Tapping is done after short regular intervals. An average tree begins to yield sap, when it is about thirty years old. The sap called shindi extracted from tapping is used by some as a cooling beverage. The juice gives alcohol after fermentation and distillation. The sap can be boiled to give an inferior gul. Though the tree is cultivated chiefly for sap, it is also useful in a variety of ways. It provides material for making brooms, baskets, mats, ropes, etc., from the leaves and its wood is useful for beams of cottages and water conduits.

Miscellaneous.

Besides the fruits aforesaid, there are a number of wild fruits in the district. Avla, in size and appearance, is much like a gooseberry, ribbed like a melon and of a semi-transparent yellow colour. It is very sour and astringent and extensively used, cooked and preserved as pickles. It is also dried and the substance known as avalkutti is used as a medicine. Bakul is eaten with relish while its flowers are cream-coloured with a pleasing fragrance. Bel has a size of a cricket ball with a hard green shell and, although seldom eaten raw, makes a delicious syrup and a pleasant preserve since it possesses valuable heating properties especially in cases of dysentery and diarrhoea. Furthermore, the tree is considered as sacred and a favourite of the God Shiva. Its leaves are hence used on like occasions. Bhokar has a sticky juice. It is eaten when ripe. Bor is found both wild and cultivated. It ripens in the cold weather and is eaten with relish. The fruit is also dried with salt and eaten. Karvand is a black round-shaped fruit and contains several small seeds. It makes a good pickle when unripe and tarts, jellies and puddings when ripe. The ripe fruit is eaten with relish. Black plum (jambhul) is a small, purple, plum like fruit which ripens in May-June and eaten with relish. It is both cultivated and wild, although, in the district, it obtains more as a wild fruit. The juice has a great medicinal value. Kavath is a pale green round-shaped fruit and eaten with relish. When ripe, it is eaten with sugar and, when green, it is made into chutnees. Toran begins to ripen from March to the middle of May and is eaten with relish. Rayan is a bright, yellow berry. It ripens about May and possesses a sweet flavour. Forest labour, especially the kathodis or katkaris collect wild fruits such as bor, jambhul, toran, karvand, rayan, athurna, ripe cashew-apples, raw cashew kernels, etc., in the jungles and hawk the same to the nearby place or market as the case may be. This provides them with an additional source of livelihood during the season which may extend over a few days in a year. The forest labour is then found to be very busy. The kathodis are out in the jungles for collecting the fruits early in the morning. After the collection is over until noon time, they walk their way to the nearby market, often a distance of about two kos (nearly four miles). It is afternoon, till the entire collection is disposed of. Out of the small proceeds thus received, the kathodis purchase their domestic accessories, which they call as mith-mirchi, and cut their way home when it is almost evening.

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