The Gazetteers Department

Agricultural output can be increased by increasing the scope of intensive and extensive cultivation with adequate facilities for the supply of improved seeds and manures and facilities for irrigation. There is considerable scope for intensive as well as extensive cultivation in the district. Owing to scarcity of manures like cow dung and other indigenous manures and the prohibitive cost of chemical fertilisers in the district 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 which do not give maximum output are used liberally because of their low cost and easy availability. Till recently cultivators were wasting away compost manure as they did not know how to use it. The Department of Agriculture has now started giving them training in the new methods of manuring. In the absence of stocks of improved seeds, it is a practice in this district to sow seeds which are preserved from the last years stock. This does not give good results. Use of improved seeds can bring about increase in the average yield by about 10 per cent. The Government of Maharashtra has introduced such a scheme for multiplication and distribution of improved seeds, particularly paddy and nagli; but it has not yet covered the whole area which is suitable for the introduction of improved seeds. Moreover, seed supply is also not regularly made to cultivators owing to transport difficulties. Regular supply of these seeds will increase the paddy output. Provision of irrigation facilities is also inadequate as only 3.8 per cent. of the total cultivable land was. brought under irrigation till 1955-56. Though no major irrigation-facilities can be contemplated, minor schemes like construction of small bandharas and tanks can increase the output of agriculture. Adequate facilities for well irrigation will provide for the growth of more vegetation and garden crops like supari and mirchi.

Similarly, area under cultivation can be further increased if the 7,15,678 acres of land, which is cultivable waste, is brought under cultivation. Improvement on these lines will add to the agricultural output.

Cashewnuts.

Cashew is a commodity of considerable commercial importance to the Konkan region. Ratnagiri district occupies most of the area under cashew-nut in Maharashtra State. The district provides maximum scope for extension of cashew-nut cultivation where deforestation and absence of vegetation have caused soil erosion. Out of the two million acres of land available for agricultural purposes, one million acres are classed as nagli areas, cultivable waste and barren land which have steep slopes and where shifting cultivation causes considerable erosion. The whole area is well suited for cashew-nut cultivation. The schemes of cashew-nut cultivation launched by the Government of Maharashtra contemplate the expansion by 9,000 acres of the area under the crop in the Konkan region. The scheme will be successful if necessary financial assistance and supply of selected pedigreed seed is made available free of cost to cultivators for bringing these lands under the crop. The district would then become a potential supplier of the world's requirement of cashew-nut kernels.

Mango.

Among the new food crops, Alphonso mangoes are the most valuable product of the region. Mango claims to be the national fruit of the people. Of all the varieties grown in India, Alphonso which is grown in the district possesses most of the desirable commercial attractions, like golden yellow colour, flavour, taste and the best keeping quality. It is also a best canner. The district with its congenial climatic conditions, ideal soils for cultivation of this variety and proximity of the terminal market like Bombay city is admirably suited for growing this world's most luscious fruit. During the last two decades new orchards of Alphonso and Pairi varieties have been continuously growing. The area under mango orchards in the district is about 21 per cent. of the total area under mangoes in the whole of Maharashtra State. Area under mango orchards can further be extended as there is a growing demand for the same variety. Considerable potentialities exist for profitable and successful export of the fruit to foreign markets, both as a fresh table fruit and for the numerous products it yields. There is also an unlimited scope for the extension of area under mango orchards in the district. The slopes of the Sahyadri hills are suitable for extension of such orchards.

Forest Resources.

Forests are an important source of fuel and raw material such as bamboos, gum, katha, timber, teak wood, hirda, shikekai, etc. Ratnagiri district has a total area of 46,892 acres of forests. About a century ago, forests in Ratnagiri were extremely rich in forest wealth. Slopes of the Bankot creek were clothed with fine teak. During the two Great World Wars the cutting of teak wood was so heavy and wanton that it rendered vast forest areas barren and unproductive. In spite of such heavy cutting, several hills of the Sahyadri mountains still contain teakwood trees. Forest area thus needs to be extended considerably with a proper reafforestation and regeneration. The scope for reafforestation has been further enlarged with the merger of princely State of Sawantwadi which had a vast area of forests. During the First Five Year Plan, work of reafforestation was taken up in the Khed taluka and some progress was achieved but still much remains to be done. Exploitation of other minor forest products such as shikekai, shembi bark, sawari cotton which command good markets can also be further increased so as to meet the growing requirements. There is also every possibility of developing farms growing medical plants required in Ayurvedic medicines.

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