AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION

AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS

Agricultural operations vary according to such factors as the nature of crops, the extent of rainfall and the types of soils obtaining in a particular region. Broadly speaking, these represent a series of operations and have to be performed one after another in proper time. These consist of opening up of the land by digging or ploughing; further pulverising the soil; cleaning the fields; spreading the manure and mixing it with the soil; sowing the seed or planting the sets or seedlings; inter-culturing; weeding; earthing up; irrigating; applying effective manures at top-dressings; spraying or dusting of insecticides; protecting the crop from birds, stray cattle and wild animals; and, at a final stage, right from harvesting and threshing to storing; and making arrangements for sending it to market. Besides, there are a number of occasional operations performed for effecting a permanent improvement of the soil which include bunding, levelling, land-reclamation, etc.

Rabbing.

In Satara district nearly 40 per cent. of the paddy cultivation is done by transplanting in low-lying areas. The seedlings are grown in June by the rab method. However, due to extensive propaganda of the Japanese method of paddy cultivation, rabbing is being slowly replaced by application of farmyard manures and fertilisers.

In March or April a plot is chosen for a seed-bed either in the rice field itself or on higher ground close to the field and ploughed once and levelled. Six gunthas are enough for raising sufficient seedlings for an acre of land. After rabi crops are harvested in November, lands generally remain fallow in winter. During this period, cow-dung, grass and leaves are spread on the ground. A second layer consisting of branches and brush-wood is added, then the land is covered with grass and finally, the fine earth is sprinkled on the layers. These layers of cow-dung, brush-wood, grass and leaves are called rab. The rab is then set fire to. This is usually practised at the end of summer when the rab is dry and burns easily. One-tenth of cultivated area is rabbed for raising seedlings. The seedlings are vigorous and the land becomes free of seeds. If instead, ammonium sulphate is applied to the seed-beds, seedlings are said to grow vigorously but, at the same time, the weeds also grow in abundance. Till recently, agriculturists in the district preferred rabbing to the use of ammonium sulphate on account of the comparatively high cost of fertilisers as also because collecting of leaves, stems, wood-choppings from nearby jungles is a less expensive matter for farmers.

Ploughing.

Ploughing is done almost every year by wooden or iron ploughs. It is a primary operation which helps to open the land, dig out deep rooted weeds or stubbles, aerate the soil and to trap and store water for the crop. Usually, the land is ploughed immediately after the ante-monsoon showers are received by end of May or by the beginning of June. For, it is not possible to plough it at the end of the harvest, because the land sets very hard on drying as soon as rains are over on account of the intensive puddling done to it during the process of paddy cultivation. The first ploughing is done in June. In places where rice is transplanted, fields are carefully embanked so as to allow the water to spread evenly in the fields and to remain there at a desirable depth. For this purpose fields are left alone for two or three weeks which helps raising of paddy seedlings. In case there is excessive accumulation of water, suitable outlets are provided in the bunds to drain off superfluous stock of water. At the end of June or by the beginning of July, land is puddled vigorously under stagnant water conditions, usually three or four times, or till a particular muddy physical condition of the soil is obtained. The idea behind pudling the land is to make the soil so sticky as to prevent water percolation below the surface. On an average, the plough opens up an area of 10-15 gunthas in a day and the total cost of ploughing an acre of land averages Rs. 25-30. The nature of ploughing— light or heavy and number thereof depends upon the type of soil and requirements of the crop. For instance, deep ploughing is absolutely essential for sugarcane and root crops like sweet potatoes. A wooden plough is used for light ploughing, while an iron plough, for heavy and deep ploughing.

Pulverisation.

The big clods left in the field after ploughing have to be crushed and pulverised. This is done by using the beam harrow (maind), the wooden plank (phali) and the blade harrow (kulav or pharat). The Agriculture Department has introduced the Norwegian Harrow, the beam harrow (mind) being an ineffective clod crusher. The former is used by progressive cultivators in the sugarcane tract of the district. The wooden plank is used when clods are small and soft. It is operated by a team of one driver and a pair of bullocks and two or three acres are pulverised in a day. The blade harrow (kulav or pharat) is worked by a driver with a pair of bullocks or by two drivers with two pairs of bullocks and two to three acres are covered in a day. A big harrow called kongya kulav is used in Satara, Wai and Koregaon talukas. It requires two pairs of bullocks. In rabi season, however, a small wooden hammer worked by manual labour is used to break the clods.

Cleaning the field.

The work of cleaning the field is usually undertaken by women. They work in batches of six or eight to clean an acre of land. The remnants of previous crops such as stubbles, shrubs, etc. hinder smooth working of implements, effective sowing and inter-culturing and encourage hibernation of insects. In case they are buried deep, they arc raked up by a harrow.

Manuring.

Pulverisation and cleaning of the field are followed by manuring which could be regarded as an agricultural operation of prime importance. Well-rotten farmyard manure or pit-compost is trans-ported to the fields in bullock-carts. The manure is evenly spread over the field and mixed in the soil with a harrow (kulav). One person spreads about five cart-loads of farmyard manure per day, each cart-load weighing about half a ton. In many parts of the district, it is common practice to quarter the cattle or sheep on the field for a few days. Their dung and urine serve as good manure. One thou-sand sheep quartered in an acre for one night provide five or six cart-load manure. A harrow worked by a driver with a pair of bullocks for mixing manure with the soil covers two or three acres a day. The use of chemical fertilisers is becoming popular and progressive farmers are conscious of the desirability of using them in adequate quantities for ensuring vigorous growth, good quality and increase in the yield of crop. This is particularly true of Karad, Khatav, Koregaon, Phaltan and Satara talukas producing commercial crops, where comparatively improved agricultural practices are followed.

Sowings.

For most of the crops, seeds are sown directly. In certain crops. however, it is not easy to produce the seeds, parts of the plants being planted either after irrigation or after rains. In the case of paddy, for instance, the seed is very small and the tender plant requires special care. Seedlings are first raised in a specially prepared seed-bed and then transplanted. The seed-bed area is covered by a rab with a layer three inches thick, which is set fire to in April-May. After the work with hand is over, seeds are sown, in the beginning of June, either in anticipation of rains or immediately after rains. The sowing operation continues till mid-June. After a few showers, plants begin to shoot and are allowed to grow for three or four weeks. By this time, fields are ploughed twice or thrice to allow the mud to get as softened as possible. Plants are pulled, tied in bundles and are transplanted. According to the local method, eight or ten seedlings per hill are transplanted five or six inches apart, whereas under the improved method, transplanting is done 9-12 inches apart with only three or four seedlings per hill. The method of broadcasting the seed is also followed in some parts of the district, if the field remains even after ploughing, inaccessible for sowing due to incessant rains or is too poor to render transplantation economical. The sowing operations in the kharif season roughly coincide with the arrival of the monsoons. Rabi crops are sown in September-October. The following statement shows the sowing period of some important crops in the district:—

Inter-culturing.

Inter-culturing refers to tilling the soil in between the lines of a crop. An implement called hoe is used for this purpose. The operation is undertaken for removing the weeds (which deprive moisture and plant food), aerating the soil, preparing a mulch (a loose layer of dry soil as covering), soil moisture, pruning the roots with a view to encouraging a deep root system and, finally, for killing the harmful insects hibernating in the soil. Inter-culturing assumes great significance in the Japanese method of paddy cultivation. Two kinds of hoes, viz. the slit hoe (phaticha kolpa) and the entire blade hoe (duba kolpa) are in use.

Weeding.

In the process of inter-culturing the weeds in line with the crop escape the hoe and must be removed with the help of a weeding hook (khurpe). Generally, female or child labour is employed for this purpose. Six to eight female hands weed an acre of land. Usually two or three weedings arc sufficient for most of the crops in the district.

Earthing up.

The soil is dug from near the plant and heaped up at its base. This supports the plant, prevents lodging and keeps tubes and roots under the soil. Earthing up is necessary in crops like sugarcane, tubers like potatoes, some vegetables and fruit trees, etc. The pick-axe (kudali) is used for digging the soil, and spade (phavadi), for heaping it up.

Top-dressing.

In this process, quick-acting manures are mixed up with the soil by stirring it with a special implement. Some crops require additional amounts of manure. For instance, sugar-cane requires four or five top-dressings. Manuring helps the crop reach its full-fledged growth.

Irrigation.

The sources of irrigation in the district arc Government canals, wells, bandharas and percolation tanks. The percolation tanks in central and eastern parts of the district are specially meant for use in the hot season. In canal tracks, water is available mostly by gravitational flow, while in the case of wells, rivers and tanks, it is lifted by water lifts, such as mots, Persian wheels or pumps. Fields are irrigated frequently. The interval between two consecutive waterings depends on rainfall, moisture retentivity of the soil, nature and requirements of the crop, etc. and varies from eight to fifteen days. The quantity of water supplied varies from one to two and a half acre-inches. An acre-inch measures 3,630 cubic feet or 101 tons of water.

Crop Protection.

It preserves the crop from pests and diseases by adopting protective as well as curative measures. These include spraying or dusting special insecticides or fungicides.

Moreover. the standing crop has to be guarded against birds and other animals. To frighten them away, a scare-crow is placed at the centre of the field. But as this is an inadequate measure, birds and animals have to be scared away by shouting, stone-slinging and by providing trenches or fences. Sometimes they are shot and killed. Stray cattle are a source of nuisance and have to be impounded. Special watchmen are hired for nights to guard the crop from theft. They are usually paid collectively by cultivators of the fields served.

Harvesting.

This operation is next in importance to ploughing or sowing. The process is commonly known as kadhani or kopani. The    The following statement gives the harvesting time for some important crops: —

Food-grain crops such as rice, jowar, bajri, etc. are harvested by cutting the plants close to the ground by a sickle (vila). The harvested plants arc put into swaths, earheads removed by cutting or breaking and carted to the threshing yard (khala). The stems or stalks are dried, bundled and stocked as fodder. Pulses are mostly cut as whole plants and removed directly to the threshing floor. Vegetables are picked by hand and leafy ones are uprooted. Root crops like potatoes, groundnut, sweet potatoes, etc. are harvested by digging with spade (phavada). Cotton is picked by hand.

Threshing and preparing for Market.

The crop is allowed to dry for two or three days whereafter it is tied into bundles and stacked in a heap. After three or four weeks, it is threshed by beating the sheaves against well-cleaned threshing yard (khala). Grain crops like jowar and pulses are trampled under the feet of bullocks. The grain is separated from the chaff by-winnowing against the breeze. Root vegetables are dug out and cleaned well by drying or washing. Some crops like ginger and turmeric are dried and cured specially.

Storing.

Grains arc stored either for purposes of seed or for future consumption. For seed, the quantity stored is small. For consumption it is considerably large.

Grains are preserved in cylindrical bins called kangees made of bamboo and well-plastered on all sides with a mixture of cow-dung and mud so as to prevent insects from attacking the grain from outside. Special care has to be taken when grains are preserved for seed. For consumption in distant future, grains are thoroughly dried and then stored in under-ground pits or in cellars fitted in houses. Bins made of aluminium sheets are also used.

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