AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION

MANURES

For improving the fertility of the soil and consequently for increasing food production, manures and fertilisers have direct relevance. Inspite of the realization of this fact by the farmers, owing to scarcity of cow dung and other indigenous manures and prohibitive cost of chemical fertilisers, they have not been able to manure their crops sufficiently; even major crops like paddy and nagli have to go without adequate manuring which is so essential for obtaining maximum yield from the soil. Farm-yard manure and fish manure are the only fertilisers which could be used liberally, because of their low cost. Only a few progressive fanners in the district make applications of manure to paddy lands unsparingly at the rate of five cart loads of farm-yard manure (per acre), six to eight Bengali maunds of fish meal and 80 to 100 pounds of sulphate of ammonia. In the southern parts of the district where fish manure is easily and cheaply available, it is applied to nagli.

Compost Manure.

Because of the low fertility of the soil, large quantities of organic matter on the farm were being utilised for 'rab'. However, as a result of the propaganda carried on by the Department of Agriculture for the conversion of town and farm refuse into compost manure, cultivators have come to realise their folly in wasting away important manures in this way. Under the schemes introduced by the Department, pits of 10'X6'X3' size are dug and closed after they are filled in with farm refuse, cow dung, stable litter, etc. and the contents are allowed to decompose. The manure gets ready in abc it eight months and contains, on an average, nitrogen varying between 0.5 to 0.7 per cent., which however could be raised to unity bv taking necessary precautions conscientiously. The quantity of manure prepared annually in this way is about 40,000 tons. Till 1956-57, only two municipalities prepared compost manure from town refuse.

The scheme of compost making was originally introduced in 1947-48 but was later on included in the First Five-Year Plan. The progress of the scheme for 1955-56, 1956-57 and 1957-58, is shown in the following table:

TABLE No. 35.

STATEMENT SHOWING THE COMPOST AND F. Y. M. [*F.Y. M.-Farm Yard Manure.] WORK CARRIFD CUT IN THE YEARS 1955-56, 1956-57 AND 1957-58.

Manure Mixtures and other Fertilisers.

The manure mixtures were introduced in this district in 1947-48 and they were in great demand till l949-50. The demand declined in the subsequent years owing to low cost and easy availability of fish manure within the district. A special mixture of groundnut oilcake, ammonium sulphate and bone-meal (in the ratio of 8: 1: 1), formulated by the Department was found very suitable by farmers for paddy cultivation. Among other fertilisers, considerable quantities of sulphate of ammonia are imported in the district by private firms and local dealers for being sold to the farmers as per the distribution scheme of the Government.

The following statement shows the progress of distribution of manure mixtures and sulphate of ammonia since 1951-52:

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