AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION

OIL SEEDS

Oil-seeds occupy nearly 4 per cent. of the gross cropped area in Malvan, Vengurla, Sawantwadi and Dapoli talukas. Cocoanut and Sesamum are the only important oil-seeds; ground-nut and niger are grown in negligible quantities.

TABLE No. 18.

AREA UNDER OIL-SEEDS (TALUKA-WISE) IN RATNAGIRI DISTRICT, 1955-56.

(In acres).

*Acreage under non-edible oil-seeds was nil.

(In acres).

Naral.

Cocoanuts (Naral) occupy more than 50 per cent. of the area under oil-seeds. In fact acreage under cocoanuts was the highest in the whole of Bombay State in 1955-56. Cocoanut gardening is usually concentrated on the sandy soils of the coast, but is also found in the interior. Most of the gardens are pretty old and, therefore, cultivators have mainly to look after their maintenance, which consists of (i) replacing old palms; (ii) clearing and weeding; (iii) manuring; (iv) irrigation; and (v) pest control.

(i) Replacing old palms.-Seedlings, about two years old, are either bought or prepared at home from the nuts of good (and early) bearing varieties for replacement. Palms, 25 to 30 years old, are considered suitable for this purpose. These nuts are planted at a distance of one to one and a half feet, slightly slanting, in well worked soils. Sprouting takes place after six months. One to two years old seedlings are planted in pits of size 2' X 2' X 3', prepared specially as follows:-

Well-rotten farm yard manure, bone-meal (about 5 lbs.) and ash are put in the pit and the seedlings are planted nine inches below the ground. The pit is gradually filled in as the plant grows. Young plants are carefully manured and irrigated, without which the trunk; does not grow uniformly and shows bulging. Those properly taken  care of begin to yield fruit after five years on coastal sandy soils Cocoanut palms in the interior begin to yield fruit two or three years later and continue to yield fruit for about 80 years or so. Ripe nuts are harvested by hand plucking once or twice a year. The average yield per tree in this district is said to be low and is estimated at 20 to 30 nuts per year, which is mainly because of the close planting and incidence of pests like beetles and rats.

(ii) Weeding.-During the rainy season, owing to abundant rain water, weeding alone is possible.

(iii) Manuring.-Before the onset of monsoon, cocoanut palms are manured with farm yard manures or twigs of trees like bhad, karanj, etc., are buried around the tree. Fish manure is also given at the rate of 10 lbs. per plant in August or September. Salt is sometimes applied in August at the rate of four lbs. per tree.

(iv) Irrigation.-All the cocoanut gardens are irrigated by well water. Adequate watering is necessary both in winter and summer and its absence results in low yield.

(v) Pest control.-Rhinoceros beetle is a serious pest of cocoanut palms. These beetles burrow in the crown and damage the shooting leaf and inflorescence. Its incidence can be reduced by keeping the gardens clean. The beetle is pulled out by means of iron wire and holes are plugged with sand and D.D.T. mixture. Rhinoceros beetle is largely responsible for the low yield of cocoanuts. Red weevil causes considerable damage. It gets into the holes made by the Rhinoceros beetle and breeds there. It damages the bark and the shoot. In some gardens, rats are also responsible for causing considerable damage. Owing to close planting of trees, rats can freely move from crown to crown and do the damage. These rats, however, come down in monsoon when arrangements can be made to protect the trees. Slanting iron sheets are fixed all around the trunk, at a height of 6-8 feet, to prevent the rats from climbing up again. Cleaning of the crown also helps in putting down the nuisance of rats and incidence of beetles.

Cocoanut Varieties.

Many varieties of cocoanut are known. Banvali is a well-known variety of the region. Differences in fruit colour such as green-brown or dark-brown are observed. There are different varieties according to the size of the fruit viz. small, medium and large. There are differences in the shapes of fruit also. Varieties also differ in the coarseness of husk or the sweetness of water in the fruit. Other varieties of cocoanuts observed here are those yielding nuts which are (a) round green, (b) green elongated, (c) reddish round, and (d) reddish elongated. Another variety known as moha, though famous for its sweet kopra, when wet, is not grown on a large scale because of its lesser yield and lower oil contents. It is also not possible to secure an assured supply of its seedling.

Cocoanut palms in this area were used mainly for tapping till 1946 and little attention was paid to their yield. With the enforcement of prohibition in 1946 attempts are being made to increase the yield of cocoanuts. Every part of cocoanut palm is useful. The fruit yields kopra and coir whereas shells are used for making several articles. The trunk of the tree, when cut longitudinally, can be used to serve as water channel; leaves are used for making mats (zap, zavali) which are used for roofing the huts; and midribs are used for making stick-brooms. The sap of cocoanut palm (madi now called neera) is a nourishing drink. Coastal inhabitants use kopra and cocoanut oil profusely in the preparation of daily meals. Cocoanut oil cake is considered to be an excellent cattle feed and is also used for manuring.

Sesamum (til) occupied 12,933 acres in 1955-56 of which nearly 60 per cent, were in Dapoli, Mandangad, Guhagar, Lanje, Rajapur and Kankavli talukas. Sesamum is taken either as a rotational crop with hill millets or as a sole crop on varkas lands. It does best, however, on light sandy loams. Sowing is done late in July and harvesting is complete by the end of October. Despite the fact that the acreage under it is considerable, little attention has been paid by the cultivators to grow it in a systematic manner and enhance its value as an important cash crop of the district. The annual yield of sesamum is about 300 lbs. per acre.

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