AGRICULTURE AND IRRIGATION

SOILS

The soils of the Satara district fall under the Deccan trap. As in other parts of the Deccan, the hills in this district are composed of soft layers of amygdaloidal trap, occasionally separated by hard basalt and capped by laterite or iron clay. The soils of the district fall under following three main categories: -

(a) Medium black to deep black soils on the plane lands.

(b) Lighter soils on slopes and in the eastern part of the district.

(c) Laterite soils in the hilly region on the western side and on the small hillock on the eastern side.

Medium black Soil.

These are found along the belts of the rivers Krishna and Koyna, the breadth of the belts varying with the bed of the rivers. They are brownish to dark brown in colour. The broadest of the belts is to be found along the Krishna valley, which yields the best garden crops of the district. The chemical analysis of the soil shows that the soil is rich in lime. At certain places like Phaltan, a clear band of lime is found at a depth of a few feet in the soil. The soil is fertile and under proper irrigation and careful management yields substantially. The nitrogen content of the soil is fairly good and the organic matter content of the soil is high. The soil is rich in its clay content and colloidal complex is fully saturated with exchangeable bases. This is due to dry spell of monsoon. The soil, if not well looked after, gives rise to alkalisation which results in salty patches. Such salty patches are observed in the southern part of Phaltan taluka. Medium black soil is also to be found in Koregaon, western part of Vaduj, Khandala taluka and in the northern part of the Phaltan taluka along the Nira river.

The soils in the eastern part of the taluka are deep to medium black. The rainfall in this area varies between 30" and 40". Crops like groundnut, wheat, jowar (rabi) and, at certain places, where irrigation facilities are available, sugar-cane and turmeric are, taken.

Light Soil.

Light soil of the district is locally known as malran or murum mal and is brown in colour. These are hard and rocky and are commonly found in the planes on the eastern side. These are also to be found on the slopes of the hillocks situated in the eastern side. These soils are well-drained, light in nature and sandy loam in texture. They are rich in lime but shallow in depth. The chemical analysis of the soil indicates that they are deficient in fertility constitutents like nitrogen, organic carbon, phosphorus. However, the potash contents of the soils are fairly high. The clay complex of the soils is poor in exchangeable bases. Therefore, the soils in this category yield good produce only if bulky manures and heavy fertilisers are applied and proper irrigation is provided. At certain places, where sufficient water is available, paddy crop is also taken. However, the soil is better suited for bajra.

Laterite Soil.

Laterite soils are red in colour and are mainly found in Mahabaleshwar hills and along the whole mountain range comprising the entire Koyna valley On account of the red colour of the soil, they are locally known as tambad mati At certain places blending of the black soils with laterite or red soils has taken place. Soils of this type are located at the heads of the rivers. On the top of the hills where water cannot be confined, these soils are used for kumri cultivation or " wood ash " tillage.

On account of heavy rainfall in this region, these soils arc subjected to heavy leaching and a high degree of erosion. As a result of this, all the soluble salts get leached out leaving behind sesqui-oxides. The reason for the red colour of the soil is the high content of Iron Oxides in the sesqui-oxides of these soils. The depth of the soil varies from 1' to 10'. The chemical analysis of these soils indicates that they are rich in clay and clay-loam in texture. However, as the soils are subjected to heavy leaching, the colloidal complex of the clay of these soils gets unsaturated of the exchangeable bases and thus the soils become acidic. They are rich in nitrogen but poor in organic matter except in the soils of deep forest region. The ratio of carbon to nitrogen is fairly wide and varies between 1: 10 and 1: 20. The main crops taken on them consist of the hill millets like ragi, vari, nachni and sava. At certain places, rice is taken by adopting the kumri cultivation. At places with high altitudes, especially around Mahabaleshwar, fruits like strawberries, goose-berries which require cold climate are grown.

The general analysis of the typical soils of the district is given in the table below:-

TABLE No. 3.

CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF THE SOILS IN SATARA DISTRICT.

The soils of the district are also classified, on the basis of crops taken, into the following three zones:-

(1) Paddy zone comprising Mahabaleshwar, western parts of Jaoli, Wai, Khandala, Patan, and Satara talukas. The area under this zone measured about 1,07,000 acres in 1956-57. The soils in this zone are laterite, and mostly light with a depth varying between 3' and 6'.

(2) Jowar zone comprising eastern parts of Jaoli, Wai, Khandala, Satara, Patan, Karad and Koregaon talukas. The area under this zone measured about 14,35,000 acres in 1956-57.

(3) Bajri zone comprising Khatav, Man, Phaltan and eastern part of Khandala talukas. The area under this zone measured 10,63,500 acres.

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